Dusted off my kudu today and had a sad surprise

tedthorn

tedthorn

AH enthusiast
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South East Missouri
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Africa
1
Hunted
Eastern Cape of South Africa
I picked up this mount in December 2018

The paint is literally falling out of it's ears today as I dusted it off with a tiny swifter.
Sad deal....I'll have a local guy fix them one day.

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The oil in the tan is probably leached out and caused the paint to flake. It could be a LOT worse !! I recognize that style of ear paint and have 99% idea who did the mount. He is starting to show his face around a little more publicly but still in a sink hole with his work.
 
buck wild said:
The oil in the tan is probably leached out and caused the paint to flake. It could be a LOT worse !! I recognize that style of ear paint and have 99% idea who did the mount. He is starting to show his face around a little more publicly but still in a sink hole with his work.
Click to expand...
It doesn't take much of a search to see who did this mount.
 
Did the Wildlife Gallery mount it or just the tan? I have a dozen or so animals mounted by them dating back to 2013 and they still look fine. Both North American and African animals.
 
Hunt anything said:
Did the Wildlife Gallery mount it or just the tan? I have a dozen or so animals mounted by them dating back to 2013 and they still look fine. Both North American and African animals.
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Just the tan

Dennis Harris did the taxidermy
 
That's still a top-shelf mount. Like 1% work. However, I've always felt African antelope ears were his Achilles heal (customer service issues purposefully excluded). It's like he settled on that peachy color and overpainted white and went with it on every specimen regardless of what was underneath. I always try to take close-up photographs of each antelope ear and forward to my taxidermist to ensure we are on the same page. I will admit that I am extra; however, as the consumer, am I not the ultimate judge of commercial taxidermy?
Below is the left-ear pic I took for the taxidermist who is mounting my most recent kudu. If it helps make the OP feel better, I believe the post-cleaned kudu ears in splotchy condition are truer to life than the original perfectly-painted ones.
IMG_6704.jpg
 
JHT said:
That's still a top-shelf mount. Like 1% work. However, I've always felt African antelope ears were his Achilles heal (customer service issues purposefully excluded). It's like he settled on that peachy color and overpainted white and went with it on every specimen regardless of what was underneath. I always try to take close-up photographs of each antelope ear and forward to my taxidermist to ensure we are on the same page. I will admit that I am extra; however, as the consumer, am I not the ultimate judge of commercial taxidermy?
Below is the left-ear pic I took for the taxidermist who is mounting my most recent kudu. If it helps make the OP feel better, I believe the post-cleaned kudu ears in splotchy condition are truer to life than the original perfectly-painted ones.
View attachment 596728
Click to expand...

I agree
I've never thought the bright peach ears on my Kudu and Bushbuck ever looked authentic. I'll get them fixed to look better
 
tedthorn said:
I agree
I've never thought the bright peach ears on my Kudu and Bushbuck ever looked authentic. I'll get them fixed to look better
Click to expand...
Right. Seems to me their ears are more pinkish than peach colored. That really looked off to me. I'd like to see a photo from further away just to get a better idea of his work. A lot of distortion in that image (nose looks like he had some moose ancestors).
 
Ontario Hunter said:
Right. Seems to me their ears are more pinkish than peach colored. That really looked off to me. I'd like to see a photo from further away just to get a better idea of his work. A lot of distortion in that image (nose looks like he had some moose ancestors).
Click to expand...
You joined too late and missed all the fun. Just search Dennis Harris or Artistry of Wildlife Taxidermy on here. You'll see lots of examples of his work, mostly before his crash. He WAS a world class taxidermist before all the medical issues and other stuff. He's been keeping a low profile but I see him making a few more public outings lately. He one of the judges at the upcoming Michigan Taxidermy Assoc convention if anyone is looking for him :cautious:
 
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