DoctorDeath

I have been reading a lot of discussion in the Taxidermist forum and there seems to be a common theam ...return time. The guys in the business (in general not ALL)seem to feel the hunter should be very patient if they want quality work and expect to wait between 12 to 24 months to get their trophy back. They seem to feel that because they have such a back log of work and thier work is under such demand that we (the hunter) should understand the time restrants they are under... assuming we all expect quality work when we drop off our trophy to be mounted what is a "reasonable" amount of time to wait to get it back? I am talking about a whitetail or muledeercommercial typemount not a show mount.. Please post YOUR thoughts on this subject ..we have a lot of taxidermist on this web site and it might give them some insight on the hunters concerns...I hope we can stay on the subject of this poll ...

dd

timbercruiser

A friend of mine does about 60 deer mounts peryear and after watching and helping him a little it seems that unless the taxidermist does large volume work six ornine months should be plenty of time to get your mount back. About 8 or ten actual hours of work (over time) should getthe mountdone.

longrifle1000

I have no idea on how long it should take. But I know what time I will wait, 12 months max. If a taxi. can't it done in 12 or under, I'm going to go to a different one. I'm sure their are lots of people who will wait 2-3 yeas. And I'm sure their are taxidermists that are that good, for the wait. But, all I need is a deer mounted for my personal enjoyment. I don't need it to be show winning quality. JMHO

ahankster

My input is this,
I brought a cape and head to one of the better taxidermists in my area about 3 weeks ago. We spent a good bit of time talking and me learning about his business. It was a slow morning and he is a very sociable and likeable fellow. During the hour and a half or so I spent there, at least six more people came in and dropped off capes, a bobcat and other "stuff". The "check in" process was being handled by his flesher while we drank a cup of coffee and chatted.

His process goes something like this,
He fleshes and cuts the horns within two days on every cape he gets. The hides are packaged and when he gets a certain number, go to a tanner for processing. The rack goes into the drying room to wait for the cape to return.
He works, from what I could see 10 or so at a time, each at a little different stage of completeion, doing a little on each one a day. As one is completed, he starts another.
He took me into the rack drying room. Oh my goodness. Looked like Santa's worst nightmare. A small narrow room, maybe 4 feet wide and 25 or 30 feet long, sawdust all over the floor and 100 watt lightbulbs along the wall to provide constant low, dry heat. Never seen so many horns in one place. All neatly hanging on rails along the wallwith a big tag with hunters name, type/style mount and other infoattached to each set. Very orgainized, clean and efficient. Was at a minimum 300 to 400 sets of horns in there, could have been more it was impossible to count.

This particular guy does 400 to 600 deer mounts a year, that does not include turkeys, fish or anything else. He is widely sought and well known for a quality product. His prices are very reasonable (better than most).

I am sure there are people out there that are doing more mounts than him, but this is his policy. It is up front and honest.
If you get a cape to him by the end of deer season plus a week or so, he will have it back to you by the start of bow season in October, or November at the latest. That is 7 or 8 months. To me, this is more than reasonable, especially considering the quality of his work, price, and the number of mounts he does. He does hire people to flesh, splitand do some of the meat labor, but he does all them mounting, gluing, painting and artwork that makes a quality mount.

So, after seeing his operation, quality and turnaround time, I think that any taxi that is saying 12 to 24 months is plain full of poop.
R
Hank

NY Bowhunter

I dont really care..... I'm a patient lad. I usually pick mine up at the same time I'm dropping off my new one for the following season . Saves me a trip.

MN_Deerman

I think it's out of their control, a taxi has a certain amount of backlog that he has tocomplete before he getsto mine. I'm sure they all know that hunters would like to get their mount back asap but there isn't really anything they can do about it. They don't set the schedule, it's set by how many people want their services. If 120 mounts are before yours, and you want it in a few months, you have to find a taxi that can do this for you, one with not quite as large a backlog.

Of course, there is the possiblity that an odd taxi may purposely keep his backlog 12 months behind to appear busy but I have no proof that this actually happens.

DoctorDeath

I think your point is well made but just a littlefood for thought ..if your going to back up orders like that do you think it would be unreasonableto expectthe taxidermist to maybe hire some help to expedite the orders ..to help in the non artistic part of the process..to help reduce the time the capes are in the freezer so the turn around time might be a little quicker....just a thought...

dd

superstrutter

I took a deer to my taxidermist Dec. 11. I got it back yesterday, Feb.2. , less than two months. Of course this is not always the case. Normally it takes about 4 to 6 months. He does a great job and gets a lot of business. I think 4 to 10 months is adequate time. You have got to remember that most taxidermists are also hunters. Give them a little time to enjoy their passions too. I believe 12 months or longer is just too long though.

121553

I guess time would have to do with his reputation. If he had 10 mounts or 500 and is working by himself would depend on how much he can do on his own. How many good mounts can a good taxidermistaverage out in a day? 3 or 4, maybe 5 possibly, I really dunno, but then again a taxidermist chose that profession because he likes workingon his own and at his own pace without being rushed. If the guy has a good reputation, it will be worth the wait. Kinda like a fine wine.

Bobby

bigcountry

I think good timeframe is 6 months. At least thats what I have seen with mine. But bottom line is if a tax can't get his work done before the next season, then he has too much.Hewill always be behind and it would get worse and worse every years.If he has too much, sooner or later, he will cut corners on yours to catch up because he has been putting his buddies in front of yours. So if I have a deer head, or prong or whatever, and he says it will be over one year, I find somebody else. I know a couple of these guys. The problem is I rarely find one that treats it like a regular job. Same with Gunsmiths. The freedom they have to work on thier own time seems to make them inefficient. Some weeks, they won't work at all. Hunting, fishing whatever, some they put in 70 hours, some more. Thier work time seems sparatic. The time mgt issue comes from lack of direction. Some only work hard enough to make enough money to do what they like within reason.