Taxi Guys
 

I'm real disappointed in my 2 taxi's. I got an Elk 1st season out west. The Elk is still out west. Still don't have it back. Got a deer at home in the east.. Still don't have it.

Sent out 3 skins to be tanned from trapping season. (locally). Still don't have them back.

I already lost interest. The moment is over.... the thrill is gone...

Now I won't be happy shelling out money for my trophies.

I don't know what you expect but if those animals were taken during the last big game season it would be normal for you not to have them yet. Good taxidermists who have lots of customers because they are good take time to do their art. A good taxidermist is an artist, not just someone that slaps a skin on a form and ships it out the door. It is not unusual to wait a year to get a mounted elk or deer back from a good taxidermist. Did you ask about turn around time? I would be more worried if I got it back in a short period of time. it took almost 4 months for me to get this back from a taxidermist and he didn't even have to mount a hide on the head. Just skin, clean and put it in a beetle colony, then whiten it and mount it on the board. The last thing I wanted was a rush job because rush jobs are usually crap! As far as the skins from trapping season, most taxidermists send out their hides to be tanned to a place that does hundreds if not thousands of skins, the taxidermist is at their mercy as to when they get them back. Again normal. Instant satisfaction usually leads to disappointment.

Yep, if they were just taken last season there is no way I would be wanting them back this quickly if they were taken to a quality taxidermist to be mounted.

Most quality taxidermist take a minimum of 9 months to several years.

Wow... I got an Elk 8 months ago. Still don't have it back.

Did you not read what we posted? 8 months is normally way too little time to get a good quality mount back for an elk!

Quality takes time. At 8 months you're still in an acceptable window in my opinion. These things should be discussed with the taxi when you drop it off though. So you know what to expect.
-Jake

If you get something during early archery season... you would expect to be within 6 months. If you get something at the end of rifle season... you know you're waiting a looooong time.

Haven't you been reading the responses? If you want good work 6 months is not a reasonable time to expect your mount back, especially for a deer and an elk and yes I understand they are in two different shops, which really is baffling to me. You are not going to be the only person who has work to be done and the taxidermist will most likely still working on mounts from the previous seasons hunting season if he is good and has lots of clients. They will not jump you to the head of the line because you are in a hurry. What is your rush? You know where the animal skins are. Taxidermy shops are not assembly lines where your mount runs down a conveyer and has a piece added at different stations. The work is done by artists who know that what they send out the door reflects on their skill and also dictates how much new work it will generate when others see it. Additionally. I wouldn't start bugging the guy to get your work done or he may just give it back to you as is! If you want fast, just look around for the cheapest taxidermists around, it will cost less but you won't like having to look at it for decades, that is if you even hang it on the wall. There is a taxidermy thread on this site, I suggest you go on there and ask the taxidermists that post there what all is required and how much time it takes to produce an very good mount.

What your saying is poor business practice. If you can't finish all your work in the same season, & your still doing work from the previous season(s), your work will continue to pile up, more & more, and deeper & deeper, year after year. It'll be literally impossible to catch up. Which isn't fair to your customers. Any one who runs a business like that, needs to hire more help.

Never mind, obviously you know more than a lot of more experienced people who have dealt with taxidermists a whole lot longer than you do and know a whole lot more than you on what it takes to mount a specimen the right way and how a taxidermist should run his business. For several years I was one of the people who rant the testing program for people who wanted to be taxidermists in my state so I know a little something about the difference between good , mediocre and terrible taxidermists. There are a lot more of the last two categories than the first. Did you just post on this site to whine or to learn something? The members here have taken the time to give you the correct information and you chose to ignore it. I feel sorry for any taxidermist you use. I am guessing you did not go to the taxidermy thread and talk to the taxidermists that post there. You will not get instant gratification from any reputable taxidermist.

I prefer Uber.

So in your mind, it's ok that any taxi has work piled 2-3 years deep, and will never never catch up.

Any every hunter should wait 2-3 years to get back a mount, when he probably forgot about the details of the hunt.

Obviously I don't run my business like that.

Good taxidermist can get a good wait list going because there is a demand for their work. Your demand for quick turn around is also pretty unreasonable.

This will be my last last in response to you because I have wasted enough of my time . No one ever said three years and if you forget the hunt while waiting for your mount to come back you have a serious memory problem to go along with no patience. I remember hunts from 30 years ago and I don't have a mount on the wall to remind me of it. You are not looking for information, you are looking for sympathy and for someone to support your need for instant satisfaction. Don't presume to know how a taxidermy business is or should be run because you don't have a clue and you do not comprehend what you have been told by very experienced hunters.

How do you guys know how much experience a hunter has?? Did I miss filling out a questionnaire when I joined the forum ?

Looks like there are two members on this thread that need to grow up and get a life because they are showing they are more at the infantile stage than adults! For your information boys just the time a taxidermist has to wait when he sends the hide out to a company for tanning and gets it back to start mounting it may take three or four months! Then there are a tremendous amount of steps that it takes and the mount is not worked on every day, but rather with other mounts that are at the same step in the process. If the two of you aren't happy and want a crappy job for little cost let me know and I'll do them for you and have them back to you in three months. Just be aware that the hide will fall off within six months if the bugs don't eat it up first, LOL!

I've often found it takes between 8 and 11 months to get a mount back, with 9 being pretty typical. Just be patient, you'll get them eventually.