Taxidermy work delays

[bisonhunter1]

So reading thru some of the latest threads on taxidermists work has made me realize all of them are not the same (I've really know that all along anyway). Over the years I have used taxidermists in several states to get mounts/rungs/ etc done. The pattern I have seen in all this is that it seems that by in large the taxidermists I have used in Washington state, (at least 4 different ones in over 20 years) are all SLOW. In fact its going on almost 3 years on the latest projects completion from a Washington taxidermist. When I've had work done in other states (Montana and Texas ) I get my mounts back usually in less than 12 months, in a few rare cases as fast as 8 months. Is the quality the same, thru my own eyes, yes it appears to look great, to another person with more stuff or maybe even a taxidermist, maybe not so good.
In the end, i'm glad when I get stuff back in spite of the delays (which one never enjoys) but the trend I've seen again is that Washington taxidermist that I have dealt with are just SLOW for whatever reason. That doesn't mean they are all like that, but we all make choices about who to use based on our own individual reasons. By the way i'm also using a new and different taxidermist for a new project that's a little unusual, so onlt "time" will tell if this person is any better than the others as far as project completion time.

[Bean Counter]

I can't understand a business model where a turnaround is consistently more than 12 months. Theoretically, if you're good and have repeat or steady business, how would this not become downhill snowball of late work?

As a tax preparer, say I have 100 clients. If I can get 50 done during the tax season and file extensions to file 50 by the fall deadline, I can have everything done by next busy season. Assume it were legal to extend the return indefinitely until I got it done. If I then have a turnaround past 12 months, what does that mean for next years work flow? now I can only get done 30 during the busy season and have to extend say 70 returns. Before you know it, everybody is getting extended and my turnaround keeps getting longer and longer.

Unless I'm missing something.

[dfresh96]

I know when I take my next trophy in I will definitely do some research since my taxi is out of business now....seems to be hit & miss with most....it is definitely a line of work where you need to be self motivated, task oriented & organized.....I will also look at how many are employed in shop & if they outsource any work which most due to a degree.....

1 question I have is if a taxi takes on too much work & keeps telling customer after customer yours is on the table currently getting finished then months or year(s) later they haven't finished what legal actions can be taken especially if they're taking on new work?  I understand you gotta make a living but most pay 50% or more up front & im sure $ gets spent well before work is completed isn't that a sort of fraud when not completed in timely manner?

[Igottanewknee]

I know a lot of people don't like Rogers Taxidermy, but the two times I have used him, a whitetail head mount and a blacktail euro, I had them back within 3 months. I know Roger did them himself, and they were great quality. I think if I need one again, I'll run it by all my Hunt-Wa friends first for suggestions.....

[huntnphool]

So reading thru some of the latest threads on taxidermists work has made me realize all of them are not the same (I've really know that all along anyway). Over the years I have used taxidermists in several states to get mounts/rungs/ etc done. The pattern I have seen in all this is that it seems that by in large the taxidermists I have used in Washington state, (at least 4 different ones in over 20 years) are all SLOW. In fact its going on almost 3 years on the latest projects completion from a Washington taxidermist. When I've had work done in other states (Montana and Texas ) I get my mounts back usually in less than 12 months, in a few rare cases as fast as 8 months. Is the quality the same, thru my own eyes, yes it appears to look great, to another person with more stuff or maybe even a taxidermist, maybe not so good.
In the end, i'm glad when I get stuff back in spite of the delays (which one never enjoys) but the trend I've seen again is that Washington taxidermist that I have dealt with are just SLOW for whatever reason. That doesn't mean they are all like that, but we all make choices about who to use based on our own individual reasons. By the way i'm also using a new and different taxidermist for a new project that's a little unusual, so onlt "time" will tell if this person is any better than the others as far as project completion time.

Funny you should mention this. I remember a thread a while back asking what the average time to get taxi work back, seemed the answers were all over the map, but there were a lot of people getting theirs back in 6 months or less, which seemed way too fast for me.

 Now what I find amusing is the number of threads recently, of guys that have received their mounts back in what most perceive as a "reasonable time", only to post pics on huntwa complaining about how disappointed they are in the work, and based on the images rightfully so! I would rather wait twice as long for my quality mount than half the time and be disappointed.

"Quality" work takes time, http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,147879.msg1961884.html#msg1961884 and I have no issues waiting however long it takes to have my mount finished when I know that the finished product will be stunning. I have more than a couple mounts, all have taken well over a year but not one of them have I been disappointed with or needed to have repaired down the road.

 I do know that more than one taxi recently fell victim to a tannery that had "issues", and put their work months behind, and they are still trying to get caught back up but won't cut corners or put out unacceptable work in the process.

 I have no idea what is going on with Michelle, perhaps she overextended herself and now lacks the funds to finish what she started, leaving a lot of you hung out to dry.

[JLS]

Some of the better ones I've known will run 8-18 months, depending on what you are having done and if they take in an abnormal amount of work, etc. 

I personally know one that has a turnaround of 2 years.  His work is the absolute best I have ever seen, and he never runs short on new work.  He is also one of the nicest and most honest guys I've ever had the privilege to meet.  He has good hounds too

[washingtonmuley]

If you have to wait 2 + years for a mount then those are poor business practices by the taxidermist.

[bearpaw]

Turn around time is normally based on the quality and popularity of the taxidermist. Most good taxis I have dealt with have run anywhere from 1 to 2+ years because they have a loyal clientele and a good reputation. Good taxis simply tend to get the most business and they all have a backlog. However, with these tougher economic times most of these taxis are now only running 6 to 18 months or less for turn around. I would rather wait a reasonable time for good work than get something back quick of lesser quality.

[wildweeds]

My analogy is somewhat off topic but it fits.Some years ago I worked for a man who had a custom fabrication buisness,he built horse trailers and  jet sled boats.I did something one day and was kind of braggin on myself for getting it done so fast,he checked everything with a tape measure,and said well now you can do it again because these door frames are all f d up.Kid let me tell you something,when something is absolutely perfect and nice,not one person says "How long did that take I wonder" what they say is "WHO did THAT!,because they want a name and a number" Same applies in taxidermy and painting cars really.You can get a maaco scuff n shoot or a custom shop show quality paint job.The difference is easy to see.

[washingtonmuley]

Sorry bearpaw but I get tired of the line " good taxidermist take longer". I have one of the best for big game and birds and they never take longer than 12 months. If a taxidermist has that long of wait then he/she needs to stop taking in business until he/she gets caught up. I have been around the taxidermist industry and have studied work so I do know good and bad work when I see it.

[huntnphool]

Same applies in taxidermy and painting cars really.You can get a maaco scuff n shoot or a custom shop show quality paint job.The difference is easy to see.

Spot on right there!

I have waited 18+ months for a paint job on a couple occasions! the difference being the cars were not dropped off and left that long. I had to make the appointment 18+ months before. With taxi work it's generally left there the whole time so I wonder if people perceive this differently because of it.

[JPhelps]

I have one of the best for big game and birds and they never take longer than 12 months. If a taxidermist has that long of wait then he/she needs to stop taking in business until he/she gets caught up.

That doesn't make sense.  I purposely put myself in a 2+ year long line. Why?  I know the exact quality I'm going to get from Charlie in return.  I also had 10+ very close friends also take their trophies to him knowing exactly what they are getting into.

He went through a tough situation with a tannery. Can you imagine having your livelihood in someone else's hands and not having a lot of control. There is also the process of walking on egg shells while switching the tannery. You can't afford to make him mad and lose your clients hides.  You then have to find a QUALITY tannery to replace the one you were using and then you have the downtime for the switch. 

...I can't wait for the masterpiece to be finished!!!

[Bean Counter]

I think this is a great opportunity for a taxi that advertises on here to write an in depth original post that gives a step-by-step description with photos of the steps it takes to do a rug/mount and describe what takes so long and why. 

[washingtonmuley]

I have one of the best for big game and birds and they never take longer than 12 months. If a taxidermist has that long of wait then he/she needs to stop taking in business until he/she gets caught up.

That doesn't make sense.  I purposely put myself in a 2+ year long line. Why?  I know the exact quality I'm going to get from Charlie in return.  I also had 10+ very close friends also take their trophies to him knowing exactly what they are getting into.

He went through a tough situation with a tannery. Can you imagine having your livelihood in someone else's hands and not having a lot of control. There is also the process of walking on egg shells while switching the tannery. You can't afford to make him mad and lose your clients hides.  You then have to find a QUALITY tannery to replace the one you were using and then you have the downtime for the switch. 

...I can't wait for the masterpiece to be finished!!!

Jason,
Please explain what doesn't make sense.

[whacker1]

It seems to me that the life cycle of a good taxidemist is the following.

1.  Initial open of business brings in work and turn around is very short and quality is very good

2.  a few years later, based on reputation the taxi is taking in more business, but still achievable to meet the same timelines

3.  5 or so years into the program, the taxi is taking in more business than they can handle and still trying to get the prior years business out.  They have to find ways to save on lead time, such as: working more hours, subbing work out that takes them longer, hiring on apprentice, book keeper, etc.

4.  If the adaptation of business doesn't take place, then the lead times grow, so they either have to start turning business away or lead time grows.

5.  If they continue to work long hours to meet demand, then quality may begin to suffer and lead time is helped very little. 

6.  So somewhere in 4-5 the business needs to evolve to keep up with demand and lead time, but for many taxidermists it does not.

My point is that a good taxidermist in the artwork is very unlikely to be a good business operator, and it is very difficult for them to reliquish control.  It is also not cost effective for them to take on apprentices, or sub out too many services including book keeping,etc. 

Plus don't forget all the bull crap you have to sling with all the clients that drop in, call, etc.  Hunting and fishing community as a whole likes to bs about the industry, and that will hang any good taxidermist up on timing.

Here is the math I did to give everyone an idea of where the road diverges.  These numbers were taken from a taxidermist that I used to use, and figured out how to manage with two people rather than just one.  The numbers are old, and they may be turning away work as I haven't used them in awhile.

100 bears per year, 250 elk shoulder mounts, 450 deer shoulder mounts, i did not include antelope, caribou, moose, cats, etc..  So, I used a total of 3 per day completion x 261 working days based on 5 day work week = 783 animals out the door on a given years based on this schedule.  So you can see that they either need to work a 6th day or figure out how to get 4 per day out the door to fill in the blanks on animals such as: antelope, caribou, moose, cats, and euros. 

math works out to 783 x $600 average, which is pretty light, but this taxidermist is on the cheaper side = 491,000 rounded off.  at 20% net, which is what many businesses strive for depending on industry - $98,300.  Taxidermy is likely higher based on self performing so much of the work and not hiring any labor, so use 30% and you get to $147,300 for 2 people working 50-60 hours per week.

I know this particular team went from hunting 20 days per year down to maybe 5-7days on a good year.

My point in going through all this to point out that very few taxidermists ever figure out how to take business to the next level.  Many are artists and never evolve into business people.   It doesn't excuse the behavior of poor communication or long lead times, but a reality none the less.