Here is my dilemma....need taxi help on a botched mount. what are my options?

[BOWHUNTER45]

  I would have paid him nothing ..I would have told him to cut the dang horns off the form and told him to keep his parts 

[Gringo31]

Wow....sorry to see and hear that.


Only money will fix it and it sounds like you're tight on it and he may not help.  You need to talk to him and give him the chance to make it right.....if it's even possible outside of a refund.

It's not just the nose....   

[T-Dozzer]

Just spoke with him, he admitted fualt. Offered to fix or refund. He is mailing me a check for $350. I think he saw his handy work posted on this forum  and was very apologetic.

[Elkstuffer]

Hard to tell but it looks like that cape was pickled and not shaved and tanned. I see it a lot with part timers that charge less and are trying to save some money. Problem is is that it is at the customers expense. I have a couple in my shop now that look the same. They were brought in by people that were trying to save a buck. The best solution is to start over with a new cape. Sorry this isn't what you want to hear but that buck is actually rotting on the wall and will continue to get worse no matter how much money you throw at it. That is a fantastic whitetail by the way.

[jackelope]

With a new kid, new house etc...it's just not in the cards to start over. You don't think a taxi could just fix the nose & mouth?
My back up plan is to get a big skull from BUGS & BONES and maybe see if he could do a nice euro for me...?
Shame cause I shot this guy in the rut & his next was huge.
Another mistake he made was not measuring spread before starting. It was wider that it is now mounted!

Elkstuffer is a taxi.

This is unfortunate evidence of what happens when you pay half price and get the mount back in half the time unfortunately.

[jjhunter]

I can give you my cape this year if you want to remount down the road?

[sirmissalot]

It's not just the nose. The whole thing is messed up. His throat patch as well as his brisket are off center for one, the ears are messed up, his entire face looks unnatural.

You need a new cape and start over. That's a great buck and right now it looks like a joke... You can do a euro or just a plain old leather wrapped horn mount and it will look good, classy and preserve your trophy. I'm sorry about your luck but taxidermy is certainly one of the things that the saying "you get what you pay for" rings true.

[T-Dozzer]

Aggreed, but the throat patch was always a Lil off to the left when I shot it.
So in your opinion, if I can only throw another $350 into it, the best course of action is scrap the entire mount & see if I can get some one like bug-n-bones to mount them on a real WT skull?

What would I do with the form and cape?  Seems a waste to toss....

[jackelope]

Keep it like it is for now. Save up enough money to re-do it right and re-do it right.

If the form is not what you wanted, then you might be able to sell it? If it'll work maybe you could reuse it when you have the coin to have another mount done.

The cape is shot.

Or have Mike set you up with the euro like you mentioned, although I'm not sure how he'd put your antlers on a real whitetail skull. Maybe he can I guess. You could get a reproduction skull too.

[jburkett]

Hard to tell but it looks like that cape was pickled and not shaved and tanned. I see it a lot with part timers that charge less and are trying to save some money. Problem is is that it is at the customers expense. I have a couple in my shop now that look the same. They were brought in by people that were trying to save a buck. The best solution is to start over with a new cape. Sorry this isn't what you want to hear but that buck is actually rotting on the wall and will continue to get worse no matter how much money you throw at it. That is a fantastic whitetail by the way.

looks very familiar doesn't it Ric. I'm sure glad I got a  good taxi, I could imagine having a buck that looks deader on the wall then he did on the buck pole

[jrebel]

Keep it like it is....hang it on your wall and be proud of the rack.  Next time you shoot a toad animal look at that deer before choosing just any taxidermist.  Take the 350 dollars and put it in your taxi / gun fund (locked up in your safe) add 5 dollars a week minimum and it will grow fast.  Every hunter on a budget should have a gun / taxi fund that accumulates at $20 per month minimum.  Less than the cost of a coffee per week.   If you have a fund this will never happen again.   

[T-Dozzer]

He told me he sent the hide to a tannery
Forgive my ignorance,  can't I just have some quality taxi fix the nose and a few other things?

[elkhunter1977]

With the amount of time it's going to take to fix that with the existing cape (even if it's possible depending on how it was tanned)it's not going to be cheap. IMHO you'd be better off taking the $350 your getting back and saving for a remount or just having a nice antler plaque made up. Can a good taxi fix it? Maybe, lots of factors. Is it worth it? Not with the way the rest of the mount looks. Sad because it sure is a nice buck. Good luck.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Aggreed, but the throat patch was always a Lil off to the left when I shot it.
So in your opinion, if I can only throw another $350 into it, the best course of action is scrap the entire mount & see if I can get some one like bug-n-bones to mount them on a real WT skull?

What would I do with the form and cape?  Seems a waste to toss....

Man ..that's a nice deer..as far as forms go they are cheap ...Just get a cape and have someone re-mount it 

[T-Dozzer]

Ceder river is offering a deal hard to turn down! Hope it works out. Thanks CederRiver, very generous!