Issues with the Artistry of Wildlife

While I am not going to say that I admire Dennis's business practice I will say that he should take the time to respond to his few customers that he has left.

I know that he said that when he came back that he was not taking on anymore work and that he was going to concentrate on what he had in his shop but a little bit of communication goes a long ways.

And while it isn't Dennis that I am dealing with I have a deer head that is sitting in a shop waiting to get done for a year and a half. But my problem is with Covid. It shut down the tannery and now the taxidermist backed up. He doesn't want to hire more people to work in the shop just to lay them off once he gets caught up yet he has customers calling him every day asking when their mounts will be done. The nice thing is that if I really wanted to I could drive down to his shop and back in a couple of hours. It isn't like some that are having Dennis work on their mounts that it would take a day there and a day home. But sometimes you need to do what you need to do.
 
Good luck to everyone with trophies still unaccounted for. I drove up to Michigan last summer and got my stuff. Might be your best bet at this point.
 
Right now it would be nice if there was someone close that could do a drive by and see if his shop is even still there.
 
Right now it would be nice if there was someone close that could do a drive by and see if his shop is even still there.
Jim,
This is exactly what I have been waiting for, but unfortunately winter makes it hard. I work outside daily for my employment, so if it's raining or snowing badly we have the day off. I have had a few snow days but it's a 4 hour round trip for me that would be much longer if I tried to do it while it was snowing. So until I get a "rain day" I will just have to wait a bit longer. If I manage to make it up there I will keep everyone informed through this thread.
John
 
I feel for everyone affected too, but can you just picture this guys home or shop? Up to the ceiling with half bears etc, and somewhere in there is little old Dennis plucking at this or that, totally ignoring the world.
Yes...a modern day Michaelango lying on the wooden scaffolding, paint dripping into his eyes, toiling away dawn to dusk just to make his clients happy....not a spare minute left in his day to send even one one line email or to make a 30 second call.
The artists life is a hard one! Vive Il Artisto!

Kevin, joking aside, Dennis was given the benefit of the doubt a year ago. There is ZERO EXCUSE for the way that he is treating his clients.

And the sad thing is that there are some good guys here who have extremely patient with him for years and ask for nothing other than a truthful reply from him

And all this after he took their deposit money
 
And all this after he took their deposit money
Shakka,
I have been no fan of Dennis here in this thread. I have made my problems and opinions of he and his business practices known. Now that said, I must take exception with this one sentence in your post (quoted above). Dennis never asked for a deposit, unlike any other taxidermist I have dealt with, it was simply that I would pay the bill in full when the work was delivered. I do not know if he treated all of his clients this way, or if I was an exception. I also, am not trying to be argumentative or hope I do not come across as ass. Just want the record straight as to MY experience with Dennis.
John
 
Shakka,
I have been no fan of Dennis here in this thread. I have made my problems and opinions of he and his business practices known. Now that said, I must take exception with this one sentence in your post (quoted above). Dennis never asked for a deposit, unlike any other taxidermist I have dealt with, it was simply that I would pay the bill in full when the work was delivered. I do not know if he treated all of his clients this way, or if I was an exception. I also, am not trying to be argumentative or hope I do not come across as ass. Just want the record straight as to MY experience with Dennis.
John
You sound like a very fair and honest man John. I don’t know Dennis and I certainly wouldn’t let him do my trophys for free so I’m sure that I will never meet him either. just feel bad for the guys who are in limbo here...that’s the only reason for my comments
 
You sound like a very fair and honest man John. I don’t know Dennis and I certainly wouldn’t let him do my trophys for free so I’m sure that I will never meet him either. just feel bad for the guys who are in limbo here...that’s the only reason for my comments
I apologise guys, I was seeing a funny side in this Dennis episode, and it isnt funny if you are on the receiving end. I often go out to see my taxidermist, and what amazes me is the small army of skilled workers around the back getting the job done. This is very intensive and time consuming stuff, how can a one man band possibly take this on? Answer appears to be - he cant.
 
You sound like a very fair and honest man John. I don’t know Dennis and I certainly wouldn’t let him do my trophys for free so I’m sure that I will never meet him either. just feel bad for the guys who are in limbo here...that’s the only reason for my comments
Shakka,
I feel bad for all involved also. I got out cheap considering what others are going through. Loosing the Zebra cape is obviously not the end of the world, as we were not even going to have it mounted. But we did have to pay the tanning fee of $350.00 so there is that. I hope everuyone eventually gets their trophies back and can then move on.
John
 
Spoke with Dennis on 3 Feb, Wife and I spent over an hour going through the details for our mounts. Hopefully will see them late spring/early summer.
 
You sound like a very fair and honest man John. I don’t know Dennis and I certainly wouldn’t let him do my trophys for free so I’m sure that I will never meet him either. just feel bad for the guys who are in limbo here...that’s the only reason for my comments
You posted before that Dennis did your leopard. So has he done taxidermy for you or not? Do you know him or not? The posts from you about him seem quite relentless and personal...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You posted before that Dennis did your leopard. So has he done taxidermy for you or not? Do you know him or not? The posts from you about him seem quite relentless and personal...
What’s the difference?
 
What’s the difference?

I'd suspect the difference is about a member getting the feeling a troll is posting or is it a member having an actual interest in the matter.
 
Tundra, what’s the difference on if he did my leopard or whether I know him or not?

After reading this entire thread, why are you defending him?

With that said, yes you are right....I have posted enough in this thread, and since I am not a party to any of the complaints this will be my last one and I won’t comment on it any longer. It does seem like I have a personal stake in it

PS FWIW, if you are a friend of his, maybe you can tell him to show his customers some respect and answer their inquiries
 
What’s the difference?
What's the answer? You have numerous posts criticizing and stating you would not use him, yet you have posts stating you have used him and praised him.

So again, have you used him or not? Do you have a personal agenda for this thread? Some of us have business interests here in regards to taxidermy at stake and your posts seem to be nothing but muckraking.
 
What's the answer? You have numerous posts criticizing and stating you would not use him, yet you have posts stating you have used him and praised him.

So again, have you used him or not? Do you have a personal agenda for this thread? Some of us have business interests here in regards to taxidermy at stake and your posts seem to be nothing but muckraking.
I said in my previous post that I will stop posting in this thread...I said enough already

I just sent you PM
 
Brickburn & Jeremy

if this isn’t OK. Just delete it but here are Shakka’s posts in this thread and if it is just here because he wants to see himself try to keep this going I think it isn’t OK either.
Dennis is not a friend of mine but I was very impressed with his work and after I had my first safari’s done in SA and it was terrible I said to myself I was going to have Dennis do my next one if I went back.
I did go back and I contacted him and got it set up with his help.
After he had my Trophies and I saw he started on them I flew from Denver to Detroit rented a car and drove up to his place to see him at work. A very enjoyable experience. Years later I got another great trophy and got him to do it also.
He did great work on it and I have it in my trophy room.
My question is why would someone throw kindling on a fire when they have nothing involved.


Shaka posts in this thread?



FWIW: THIS has been a great thread on how to choose a taxidermist.



I'm sure that some potential business has been lost here.



I am well aware of Dennis's health issues but there is a poster here who has been trying to reach Dennis for over a year with NO RESPONSE and who also has a trophy with him for over 3 years.....both well before Dennis's health issues.



I don't know about you but I find this totally unacceptable...I don't care how "Good" he is I wouldn't give him my business



Read some of the other posts here as well....not good



Bhfs300 said:

So you want to jump in just for the fun of it or you a relative of him?

Kind of rude to just stir the pot.



No I'm not, I'm just a guy reading this thread like you are.

I had to chase a taxidermist around for 2 years myself and I remember how frustrating it was to not get the decency of a return call or a one line, 30 second email.



It's just common decency that is question here. I too have my own business and I work anywhere from 60-80 hrs a week but if a customer of mine attempts to contact me I WILL get back to him...I don't care how busy you are you owe your customers that small bit of respect. You can always find time to shoot a one line email and I think that that is all the posters that chimed in here expect from him.



Bhfs300 said:

you seem to have a bunch of friends that like real fast.

I have had some real nasty things happen to my trophies also it never goes away you look at it everyday.

Work done turned the wrong way, ears that are flat, hair filled in poorly told that is how it is done. You can find the posts.

View attachment 358097 View attachment 358098 View attachment 358100 View attachment 358106



FWIW: I don't know you and I have no idea who any of the guys here are that "liked" my post or the member who responded to you after my post is but I will tell you one thing...If you want to do your friend Dennis a favor you should stop wasting your time here responding to me and tell HIM to respond to his customers!



You are missing the point here my friend...nobody is accusing Dennis of doing shoddy work, on the contrary it looks as though he does beautiful work and has allot of skill BUT he is NOT being a good businessman by ignoring customers calls for YEARS...even before his heart attack. That is totally unacceptable in any business.



The pictures you posted mean nothing. There are bad taxidermists and there are plenty of great ones too..which Dennis IS.



Read Dtarin's post, which is the one after mine. He is telling you about his experience with Dennis which is NOT GOOD...did you see it?? Is he a liar?



PS: if Dennis continues along this course he will lose business. He already lost one guy for a Leopard mount...me. I have a hunt coming up and I narrowed it down to Dennis and Animal Artistry to do my mount if I am successful. No way will I use Dennis after reading his customers comments. I will pay more money and get a 3 month guaranteed turnaround with no game playing and 2 year wait.



Before you accuse me of promoting AA, I will tell you that I do not know the owner or anyone who works there and I haven't even spoken to them yet about doing my mount.



Do your friend a favor, tell him to answer his customers.



My 2 cents take it or leave it





He doesn't get it.



Potential customers, use him at your own peril



PARA45 said:

@Shakka, man you do have a hard on for Dennis. You made your point, we got it, let it go. Let the customers deal with him like they have been. I don't have any food on this fight, but you can only kick a man on the ground so many times.



A bit of arrogance in his reply but you are right, I shouldn't have responded....it's his business to run as he see's fit. I just don't get the "Hero Worship" by some of you whether it's a PH, Taxidermist, etc. A few of you guys are being abused and are STILL joking with him and giving him a pass for what would be an email or text that takes 30 sec.....NOBODY is THAT busy. And he doubled down on that with his response. I think that his clients understand that he had a heart attack and has been laid up but nobody here seems to be pushing him to finish their mounts...they just want the respect of a quick email...is that too much to ask?



That said yes I'm done. Sorry fellas



All I can say is WOW! I'm sure glad that I read this thread before choosing a Taxidermist



Personally, I am amazed at some of the posts here defending Dennis.

I don't care if it were Michaelangelo himself doing my work, I would never tolerate being treated like that



The ironic thing is that this entire thread would have disappeared long ago if Dennis had simply given his customers the respect of a quick email letting them know whats going on with their work, or a quick text photo of progress. No one here seems to care much about how long he is taking to do the work or the quality of his work either



There is NO EXCUSE for his lack of communication



You would think that after reading these posts and getting the heads-up from his friends that he would rectify the situation but it doesn't seem so



Sad to see a master taxidermist lose his reputation for such a minor flaw in his business practice



Proneshooter said:

Another update: Dennis did not bring the Zebra cape we chose not to mount. Said he would send it to us immediately. Six weeks later no cape and no response to my attempted communications.



How long before Dennis's defenders chime in with an excuse??



Hello, just read your post where you referenced my name and called me a "serial poster." Not sure what you meant by that but I only gave my opinion on Dennis's business practices based on what I read over 7 pages of comments.



FWIW: I could care less what you think of me since I only voiced my opinion on what I read here.



Wait a few hours until his friends here come along and ask you to be patient with the "Artist."



Best of luck with the situation my friend. I would hate to be in your position



I wonder how many present and potential clients that Dennis has lost over this thread?



Yes...a modern day Michaelango lying on the wooden scaffolding, paint dripping into his eyes, toiling away dawn to dusk just to make his clients happy....not a spare minute left in his day to send even one one line email or to make a 30 second call.

The artists life is a hard one! Vive Il Artisto!



Kevin, joking aside, Dennis was given the benefit of the doubt a year ago. There is ZERO EXCUSE for the way that he is treating his clients.



And the sad thing is that there are some good guys here who have extremely patient with him for years and ask for nothing other than a truthful reply from him



And all this after he took their deposit money



Proneshooter said:

Shakka,

I have been no fan of Dennis here in this thread. I have made my problems and opinions of he and his business practices known. Now that said, I must take exception with this one sentence in your post (quoted above). Dennis never asked for a deposit, unlike any other taxidermist I have dealt with, it was simply that I would pay the bill in full when the work was delivered. I do not know if he treated all of his clients this way, or if I was an exception. I also, am not trying to be argumentative or hope I do not come across as ass. Just want the record straight as to MY experience with Dennis.

John

Click to expand...

You sound like a very fair and honest man John. I don’t know Dennis and I certainly wouldn’t let him do my trophys for free so I’m sure that I will never meet him either. just feel bad for the guys who are in limbo here...that’s the only reason for my comments



TTundra said:

You posted before that Dennis did your leopard. So has he done taxidermy for you or not? Do you know him or not? The posts from you about him seem quite relentless and personal...

What’s the difference?



Tundra, what’s the difference on if he did my leopard or whether I know him or not?



After reading this entire thread, why are you defending him?



With that said, yes you are right....I have posted enough in this thread, and since I am not a party to any of the complaints this will be my last one and I won’t comment on it any longer. It does seem like I have a personal stake in it



PS FWIW, if you are a friend of his, maybe you can tell him to show his customers some respect and answer their inquiries



I said in my previous post that I will stop posting in this thread...I said enough already



I just sent you PM
 

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