He said 10-12 months on my elk mount. It's going on a year and a half. Now I have to drive 1300 miles round trip to get it because it wasn't done within the year before I moved.

I really like the guy, and don't want to be a dick. But I still don't even have a date when it will be done yet. Just the same "soon" I was told many months ago. At what point do you say I'm picking it up and taking it to someone else?

10 - 12 Months for an "in-demand" taxidermist is normal from my experience. In your case, I'd push the guy a little...  There's not much you can do.  You have a deposit down, and he's got your Elk.

Yep 12 months seems norm its at least that on my deer and i always get em back done right

Yeah completely understandable. I had no issues with it being up to a year. But now a year and a half is starting to irritate me. Especially since he sent me a message asking for a picture of it like he forgot which was which. Also getting told the form was coming in “this week” several times and would be done soon.

I guess I just keep waiting....

Only time I’ve lost patience with a taxidermist I went to the bastards house at 12+ months since he didn’t answer his phone and the prick had moved to Oklahoma. He had taken money from 2 Oregon State Troopers so they actually hauled his ass back here and charged him. I still lost money and a hide so it could be worse.

I only used a taxidermist once, for a bear rug, I think he quoted 12 months and took 24 months. I waited untill like 14 months before I started calling.
In the OPs case I'd wait till he's done and ask him if he can ship it to you and ask if he can help you out with the shipping cost since he took so long.

Mine told me 8 months on my last Deer . 15 months later it looks great and am glad I waited . Would rather wait 2xs  the estimated time and get back Perfection  , then get a trophy back in less time and regret it .

2 year wait is pretty common in Alaska, and there are some really good taxidermists who work from home that take longer than that lol

-Clint

I had a black duck at a local taxidermist for 2 years. I called periodically after a year, but not to the point of pestering. I was always given some excuse as to why they hadn’t started the mount.

Finally stopped in one day after I had enough. Took the duck back and asked for a refund. They handed me a $100 bill (I had paid $200). Showed them the receipt and they handed me another $100.

All my other mounts have been completed around a year.

I waited on one guy about 3 years, mount came back shitty and wrong fuck him.  I also had to get the local game warden involved or I wasn’t ever going to get it back

One year or more seems very normal around here. High demand guys take longer. For me, it's all about the taxidermist managing expectations. Under promise and over deliver is the way to go. The guy I prefer doesn't take new clients and straight up tells me - "two years, at best." If it takes more than two, it is what it is in this business. I never call or harass. I remain patient because I have a good relationship with him and he will fire client's that are pushy. Also, tannery's and other suppliers are all being affected by the COVID. Your taxidermist has no control over this stuff.

I'm going on 6 years now waiting on a raccoon. I paid in full at the start of the covid crap 2 years ago. Nothing but excuses. I'm glad I stumbled across this thread because I'm going to give him a call in the morning. I need my raccoon or a refund. I think I gave him 700 to finish the work.

It depends. If you want a good job done by a good taxidermist it can easily take 1 year plus. The good ones are artists and quite often not that great at logistics and planning. But, a good one will produce something that makes you go WOW every time you look at it.

With that said, there are a shit ton of “taxidermists” who are not professional and over commit every year for cash flow reasons.

Which did you choose?

1.5 - 2 years is not unreasonable.  Try to forget about it and the time will go by faster.

slow down on the post count there old timer, lol

700 and 6 years for a raccoon??

The requested mount is proving very difficult. The taxidermist is having a hard time mounting the trash can without the trash smelling up the room.

Too early?

Dont know if you've seen the news recently or not but its been kinda hard to get stuff. I'm good friends with my taxidermist and speak to him weekly. all of the form manufacturers have had trouble filling orders for all the reasons, foam is petroleum based, labor, transport, ect. Some tanneries have even had extended turn around times as well. All of it equals extended wait times in an industry that notoriously takes a long time to begin with. I'm still waiting for a Mountain Goat I shot in 2019, and a bear I shot spring of 2020.

My son's bear has been at the shop since November 2020.  I call every few months to check.  Its always the same, covid has things backed up.

whole list of trades that have problems along these lines.

Taxadermy
gunsmith
custom cars and restoration


Sometimes it is parts and materials
sometimes it is bad planning and bad pricing where the guy under quotes the project then has to work on other jobs to pay the bills.
sometimes it is just a guy who takes on too much work.
Many times it is a combination.


Many years ago I went with a buddy to drop off his russian hog to be mounted. He had used this outfit a bunch of times and knew the owners so they gave us a tour of his place . This was a huge place that had a great reputation for the highest end exotic work . It was more or less a huge warehouse with separate sections dedicated to specific work . We dropped in on a weekday in the middle of the day and there were piles and bins stacked up all over the place. First thing to strike me was while there were dozens of guys working like the devil the place had so much stuff stacked up it looked like they needed three times the people as they had. Every place you looked there were skins , heads and animal parts from around the world along with forms and other parts and pieces.

After we left we were talking to our buddy who had just dropped off and he said ,"they are very , very good and true artists but if you get your stuff back in anything less than three times the time quoted you won the lottery"


One of those things, shouldn't be that hard , but it generally just is.

I hear that the tanners that the taxidermists rely on are going out of business... Things will probably get worse

18 months for some around here.  I'd be concerned if he took only a few weeks.  If people are waiting that long there is a reason.

I had a taxidermist take 14 months and he kept putting me off. I went down to talk to him and he admitted he was done. When I looked at it I saw the skin was out of proper alignment on the muzzle and bunched up in a few places around the antler bases. He admitted it didn't come out too well but he wasn't going to give any of the money back that I already paid him. Now, if a a taxidermist doesn't have my mount back before the next season starts, I want to know why and what he's going to do about the issues and I don't pay in full before I get my mount and it's acceptable.