Taxidermy critque
 

OK, so I just got my mount in from last November's hunt. I am not particularly pleased with the effort... even though it cost quite a bit. I do not want to post pics here, but I would e-mail some to any qualified pros who would care to offer their opinions. I'll not say (yet) what my concerns are but I'm looking for unbiased opinions. The folks to whom I have showed the mount think I'm nit-picking and that it looks all-right. Well, I am, and it does look all-right... but NOT great IMO. If you want to give it a shot, PM me your e-mail addy. Thanks all.

Well just to toss this out there, I am assuming you have seen some of their other work at least. Is it on par with their other work or sub-par to what you seen them capable of.

I most assuredly did see other mounts done by this company. The lodge in which I stayed had several... they all seemed fine. Additionally, both the guide and landowner recommended this shop. This mount just does not appear natural or a good representation of the species.

Did you see the other mounts up close as you have yours or are they hanging on the wall above your line of sight? I have a few mounts and when they are off the wall, I can notice more flaws then when they are hung up.

I sure did. Several were at eye height and one was off the wall on a table waiting to be hung.

I definitely would not be happy then and the taxidermist should be fixing the issues. You should be getting what you payed for, not some hack job. Good luck.

I would not call this mount a hack job ... but it certainly was not what I expected. I've got several folks offering critiques so we'll see what non-biased opinions say.

I just received 8 pictures of the mount from the OP and have to agree that the job really leaves a lot to be desired on what is a really huge buck. The detail on the nose, eyes, and ears is very poor and not at all representative of the face/head of a whitetail buck! It just does not look like the taxidermist knows what a whitetail should look like and I don't know how all the problems could ever be corrected.

There is a way to correct a bad job, it would require getting another cape, removing the antlers from the form and having the mount re-done.

I'm aware of that, but somehow putting a cape from another animal on something like that if it were mine would taint the trophy more than it already is!