Where, oh where, should I have my taxidermy done?

[billc]

You certainly do not have to justify your choice. I am proud to say that was likely my post that drew you to his fb page.

Their work is certainly on par with the commercial work of the best here in NA and far above the average to above average work available here and you cant ask for more than that.

Now that you say that I think it was a post of yours about relive. Can say it was just another one of the good ideas I got from here since I joined this site. I think we have a lot of the same taste when it comes to mounts. I just hope some of the ideas and leg work I have done can help others on here.

 

[harden]

Well I would guess anyone here knows how I voted.
I've heard it all in this business being in it for over 40 years.

"Only taxidermists that live in that country know how and is the best mounting their native species"
WRONG.......
Shipping quotes are just that mearly quotes. That's scary...

My ship quotes are golden and I don't care if you have 4 shouler mounts or 15 and 6 life-size it's 1.25 per mile one way.....
And if you do ship from overseas and any damage occurs or your not happy with the mounts "Who ya gonna call"

I'm the one walking your mounts, or my finisher Jamie, into your home and handing them to you.
Your not paying your balance till I drive up your driveway and get it out of the trailers.
You've paid your balance to a out of country taxidermist. He has your money and lives 10,000 miles away and you have a problem.
He has hundreds of new hunters and clients every year coming to lets say africa and PH's pushing their work

Guarantee a skin and INSURANCE of your trophies in the studio...????
NO Taxidermist guarantees ANY SKIN will tan or be mountable NONE of them do even let's say AFRICAN taxidermist for example.
Even Pauls price from Relive states that they are not responsible for Hair Loss or Damage.
Not even responsible for lost or stolen skins. I'm reading his price list.
What about fire or other loss?
My insurance coverage covers all my cleints skin and horns for value of the trophies AND the mounting cost wether they are in the mounting process, finished or in the freezer unmounted. Your covered.

The skill of repairing bad skins is an art and complex to say the least. It's experience that makes or breaks a mount that has issues.
In the last 10 years I have never had to call a cleint and give the news, "Your trophies cannot be mounted". I have called and told them it has issues but will be a good mount when done . And you guys have seen the trash we have polished into jewels for hunters.

Yes taxidermy if Lets say Africa is CHEAP. So is labor, I could meet African Taxidermist prices if I could pay my guys $5=10 a day.
To get the quality my clients demand I need the best artist working along with em and I have to pay 20+ times in labor cost.
Third world countries beat the US in every market for goods and services...I say support your own countrymen.

Everyone has a price they will pay. Everyone has a standard of quality they can live with that is tied directly to the pocketbook.
This is exactly why their are so many bad cheap taxidermist in every country.

The taxidermy licensing in the US and most every other country HAS NO STANDARD of QUALITY attached to IT ! NONE !
A licensed taxidermist can produce ANY QUALITY of work he or she desires as long as it is preserved ( tanned ) correctly and does not smell or have a structural/ mechanical issue . They can create an animal to look like anything that resembles that species and they have full filled their contract with you.

I have always felt that taxidermist in other countries that don't get the taxidermy work from a client really doesn't care about making it affordable or a priority to get out a dip pack shipment. Just my opinion over the last 40 years. I just got in a dip pack from Life-Form. It took a year and another hunter that was with him got his MOUNTS back in 10 months. Something very fishy about that ! Get your taxidermy back before a dip pack shipment.

Some more on this....
Support other sportsman in our country the US . By American.
Every Taxidermist on the US I know is a hunter like you.
There employees and mine are hunters just like you.
I support AH with a paid sponsorship and costs me quite a bit each year to help keep this site up and running. Thanks Jerome !
I run specials for all Members here on AH

It costs more to bring your skins home dip pack and sure taxidermy is more expensive than African Taxidermy
BUT NOT BY MUCH when you talk about your memories and the fact that they will be with you for the rest of your life
The mount you look at is the memory you will remember the most.

At ANY taxidermy studio WHO IS mouting your trophies???
BIG companies over seas and yes even here in the states have many taxidermists working for them.
Who's the foreman going to give your mount to to put create? New employee or guy just out of taxidermy school?
Websites look great anyone can make one and take really good pictures of the mounts the best taxidermist working there be it the owner or qualified employee does. But is HE doing your pieces?

Quality control...
I Mount every piece and Jamie finishes every one.....
Quality control is not an issue as the same 2 pair of hands do every piece......
Who's mounting your memory?

 

[Diamondhitch]

Dennis, good post, I only have one clarification to what you have said.

A licensed taxidermist can produce ANY QUALITY of work he or she desires as long as it is preserved ( tanned ) correctly and does not smell or have a structural/ mechanical issue .

As long as it doesn't smell going out the door any you pay the bill their obligation is done. If the hide was tanned in shop and not neutralized it can still acid rot till the hair falls off, or slowly degrade over time with one of the kooky quick fix (and cheap) "preservation" techniques that also will begin to self destruct after a few years.

The most important part of a mount unfortunately is something that cannot be seen or discovered by the consumer until it is too late. That steal of a deal isn't worth a penny if it doesn't last, this reason alone is enough to justify a few extra dollars to a top notch taxi. In my experience anyone who takes the time and has the pride to do top notch work doesn't take shortcuts or chances with a clients trophies, the rest, well... you pay your dime and take your chances.

 

[npm352]

I get mine done here. I do simple shoulder mounts myself and have someone else do anything difficult like cats. I have found that most, NOT ALL, taxidermy done in Africa looks like Helen Keller did it. I have seen some presentable mounts come out of there though.

 

[billc]

Dennis all good points but to be honest it happens in all forms of work. By your logic I should not hunt Africa because there is guides and outfitters here who I can hunt with. It just come down to wanting to try something different and using a service you feel good about. Like you already know I have a guy with in an hours drive who I think does great mounts but I could not justify paying him 6000.00 or more to do the same mounts. Just comes down to dollar and cents sometimes if people like it or not.

That old tail of guys in the united states cant mount Africa animals well is not true but it is also not true that you cant get good mounts in Africa now. Both are based on years ago info that is not true anymore. Yes I have risk using a guy in SA but I know that and am ok with it. I will not go into how I pay paul or what would happen if a problem with a mount happens but lets just say he has been more then fair on that part also.

Dennis you offer a great service and do good work. For me though relives work is what I like and the saving are worth the risk. Me using relive was not all about cost but it did figure in to why I used them in the end. It came down to the best quality work for the dollar I am paying out.
Lucky for us we have different places to pick from to hunt and do mounts. My goal was not to start a war between work here or there but to share what I am having done.

 

[Diamondhitch]

... I have found that most, NOT ALL, taxidermy done in Africa looks like Helen Keller did it...

LOL

 

[harden]

Your right D, thanks for posting that added tid bit !
Billc I didn't say anything about not hunting africa?
I THINK every hunter should experience and many times !
I know you love for it and mine also been there many time I leave next friday for another safari
This will be my 12+ safari !

No war here, Taxidermy comes down to how long will the mount last, how realistic and alive it looks.
How good were the repairs and presentation done. And how much to you want to spend.
It's like buying anything. You have a budget and a standard that each sets for themselves.
Some have lower standards than others and that will always breed the low quality taxidermist in any country.
Many people don't know what good taxidermy IS. It's real simple. it it doesn't look ALIVE and real it is bad taxidermy.

I agree with you.
Not saying Paul is not a good taxidermist , but he is not typical of an taxidermist in Africa.
What kind of insurance and legal recourse do you have dealing with a company in a foreign country, ect?
I'm true for my red white and blue and buy american whenever I can and look for it everyday.
Yes it costs more but I do prefer supporting the U S market and it's economy.

Taxidermy is like you showing a baby picture. Everyone is going to say the kid is cute even if the kid looks like Joseph Merrick

A guy just posted some Karoo taxidermy mounts. No one said anything that would put them into the real realm of the quality that they are but the quality is Africa circa 1970's and they were just done.

I do not state that quality work can't be found in africa it can be in a FEW places.
And if the shipping dollars do not get in the way you can and may come out ahead.
But I feel few do, but that's my opinion from my experience with clients informing me of the final bottom line. There are exceptions to everything.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Have you had anything mounted in Africa Dennis? LOL

 

[BRICKBURN]

.............
Shipping quotes are just that mearly quotes. That's scary...

One correction here Dennis. That I learned the hard way.
You will get an ESTIMATE from a shipper in Africa, not a QUOTE.
Even if you ask for a QUOTE, you will get an ESTIMATE. (Good companies will be close, others, not so much)
Semantics but you will notice the difference when the invoice is presented.


I just requested a D&P & Shipping ESTIMATE for 1 (ONE) set of horns and a skull.
The reply $1700.00 USD.


By the way, good reply.
It is what it is.

Like I said. If I ever manage to get a Leopard you know where it will be done!

 

[enysse]

The one big thing with mounting animals in Africa is the shipping back to the states, it's pricey and some mounts are bound to be wrecked. Maybe I've had bad luck but every time but once I've had stuff wrecking in crates. So out of 4 crates, I have one crate with no wreckage....25% is not a good standard. The damn insurance really doesn't cover the damage. My temper is momentarily down on the subject, because I have other things on the burner but for me I could live with some of the questionable taxidermy practices but what I couldn't stand was all the damn damage done on the way here to the USA. When I get time in June, I going to start the process of getting my stuff from the last trip done locally here in the USA. So far my taxidermist has been great with communication, excellent with pictures and explanations of the process....something I could only dream about when dealing with shipping and taxidermy in Africa. Because my stuff was dipped and packed properly I stand a excellent chance of having stuff done right this time.

 

[jeff]

Dennis I agree with you about the ugly baby, have seen some poor taxi work posted here and they didn't know it and were happy! But the part about buy American sounded a little hollow as we are talking about hunting another country to start with we're already spending our dollars away from home. I have to agree that average commercial work here is better most times than African taxi work.

 

[jeff]

I've used six different places in SA and Namibia just for dip and pack and have not had any of them that I thought couldn't have done better, some very poor and some decent.

 

[harden]

Have you had anything mounted in Africa Dennis? LOL

No but I have PLENTY of experience re-doing and fixing bad taxidermy work from Africa for the last 40 years.

Jeff, Lots of dip pack guys have done great for me. Quick 99 day shipping out of country and skin tan great. Others- bad hair slip, rubber skins to stiff no stretch capes and lifesize. I find the better D and P companies are NOT TAXIDERMY STUDIOS . They only do dip pack.

 

[jeff]

Swift Dip in Limpopo did the best out of all.

 

[harden]

I've had skins in from Swift dip . No problems and inexpensive I believe 90 or 95 for cape lifesize skin and horns
total
They are very resonable and they ARE NOT taxidermists.
Great ones to use in the Limpopo area.

 

[billc]

Dennis the point about hunting Africa was based on your point of keeping the money here in the states. Just like jeff said that does not wash when we are already spending the money to hunt Africa and taking that money out of the states.

I totally agree with you on the bad work that shows up here. I will just not tell someone there mounts look terrible on this site unless they ask for that type of comment. If they post and say there happy with there mounts thats ok with me. I will say things like when I looked at that companys work it looked avg at best or below avg. That is my thoughts though and someone else may feel different about that place.

My goal with my posts on relive was to share what I feel is great work that can be done in SA. Some guys want work done there and as of right now I feel relive does the best work coming out of SA. I feel they do make mounts look alive but with out all the over painting or over done details. Saying all this though is again looking at it with my eyes.

The other thing I was trying to do was help people understand a new place can do good work. Relive is a fairly new company and some guys searching may not come across them when looking for a place. They will come across places like- splitting Image, life form, karoo, bulleyes , Highveld, umlindi, hunters/collectors and such. Those places I listed I think do avg. work at best with some doing great work for there bigger clients or if you happen to get one of there better workers. Some of those may even do a few kind of animals really well but not enough that I would use them. They come up more in searches because they have been around much longer and must have big websites. Again to me bigger is not always better and some big name does nothing for me when there living on there name from past work that is not up to the quality of new stuff being done now.

For me the question being ask and why the thread was started has so many more things that would make me pick why I did in there or in the states.

 

[BRICKBURN]

No but I have PLENTY of experience re-doing and fixing bad taxidermy work from Africa for the last 40 years.
.......

 

[harden]

Those places I listed I think do avg. work at best with some doing great work for there bigger clients or if you happen to get one of there better workers. .

EXACTLY !!!!! And true for ANY STUDIO ANYWHERE that has many employees

WHO's really mounting your trophy?

At my studio I mount everything and Jamie finishes everything.
Quite simple to have quality assured.


My statement about spending money overseas. I've looked into it. I can't hunt Mid Asian Ibex in the mountains of Kygyzstan or Lion in The Kalahri or Leopard and free range plains game in the states. Just because you hunt overseas you don't have to buy or pay for everything overseas when other options are available. Do you buy your ammo in africa, did you buy your gun in africa. your boots. Your scope. your hunting clothes. your backpack and toiletries in africa. I am into supporting the American Economy as much as I can and not ashamed to let people know about it.

 

[billc]

Well that is a plus that you do all the mounting but in the end I just look at the work coming out of the shop and if quality is there I am happy. Just as you trust your finish guy they trust others also. Just a matter of how much work the owner is going to pass off to others. I knew going in paul was not mounting everything and made the choice I was ok with that. He still answers for all the work going out and that was ok with me.

I buy as much as I can here in the states and wrong or right I am worried about supporting my son and myself more then anything. As far as I am concern I know how to spend my money better then anyone in our gov. who just hands it on without any thinking really. In the end it came down to quality I was getting and the money being spent. I think I found the best of both worlds with the work I am having done now.


I will say anyone thinking of using a place in SA for doing work. Ask a lot of questions no matter who tells you to use the place. It your trophies and your money and someplace do not back up there work like others do. Nothing wrong with getting pictures and having them check in with you as they do the work.

 

[Warbird782]

Quick 99 day shipping out of country and skin tan great. Others- bad hair slip, rubber skins to stiff no stretch capes and lifesize. I find the better D and P companies are NOT TAXIDERMY STUDIOS . They only do d

@The Artistry of Wildlife are you saying that if dip and packing you should have your skins to a US taxidermist within 99 days? If so I need to put some heat on the studio that has my trophies.