Hey guys I was wondering if you could recommend a good taxidermist near central Illinois for my first mount. Distance isn't as much as a factor as cost and how long it will take to complete. I'm willing to drive a distance for a better shop with better quality/value.

Here is the buck for my first mount, a nice 8pt with an 18" spread, taken Tuesday morning. I'll get the cape back from the processors today and need to know what to do from there.

Check out the taxidermy net to see alot of taxidermists from Illinois.

Nice buck. Neck shot or exit wound?

I'm with you on this one I am from Springfield and want to get mine mounted.

After a quick search it looks like these shops all do very nice work. I'm sure there are more too, this is just what I came up with in a pinch.

http://www.backwoodstaxidermy.com/
http://www.missouricreekstudio.com/
http://www.wildworkstaxidermy.com/index.html
http://www.murphysart.com/

I am from Central Illinois as well I have used Idle Life Taxidermy in Secor . But I had just took my Nov 9th buck to Cliffs Taxidermy in Plainfield (near Joliet). www.cliffstaxidermy.com nice work great guy.

There's a great taxidermist just south of Charleston, Il. He specialty is deer and that's all he does! He did the biggest buck taken in the U.S. in 2005 and the biggest archery buck taken in Illinois in 2005. The name of the taxidermist is Hunters Choice Taxidermy in Lerna, Illinois. he does fabulous work, check him out!

Check out Chuck Watson of Natures Window Taxidermy in Franklin. Its on RTE 104 about 15 miles east of Jacksonville. He has an outstanding reputation as one of the best. He may be higher than some but the extra cost is well worth the quality and appearence .

i second that on chuck watson....top notch work...................................

Yup--Chuck watson would be my first choice but another guy worth checking out is Locie Murphy---Murphyswildlife art is the web site.