When is too long to wait for a mount?

[Ihookum]

  My buddy shot a dandy blacktail lare buck of 06. He took the bucktoo get mounted the next day.

Still no buck back. I think he should go get it back and take it somewhere else. I sthis to long of time to get a quality headmount back??

[Michelle_Nelson]

It really depends on who you take it to.  A few shops are backlogged 1-2 years.  Others  less than a year.  The average being 1 year.  If your buddy is concerned he should call the taxidermist and talk to him and see where he is at on it.  Ask for a completion date on the deer.

  I would say 2 years is a long time to wait for a shoulder mount deer.  Most shops require a deposit before they begin working on an animal.  Did this taxidermist require one and if so was it paid?

I try to keep my turn around between 6 months to a 1 year for shoulder mounts.  I very really ever exceed a year unless it is Life Size or a specialty piece.

[billythekidrock]

My buddy shot a dandy blacktail lare buck of 06. He took the bucktoo get mounted the next day.

Still no buck back. I think he should go get it back and take it somewhere else. I sthis to long of time to get a quality headmount back??

Is it Alden?

[actionshooter]

My buddy shot a dandy blacktail lare buck of 06. He took the bucktoo get mounted the next day.

Still no buck back. I think he should go get it back and take it somewhere else. I sthis to long of time to get a quality headmount back??

Thats what I was wondering   

Is it Alden?

[bobcat]

My buck that I killed November 8th in the Entiat in '04 I had back before Christmas of that year. That was at the Bear's Den which is right next to Aldens. I sure wouldn't want to wait 2 years. That's ridiculous.

[PolarBear]

Most folks dont realize that a good taxidermist can have a hundred or more mounts to do at a time.  It is damn near impossible to crank them out in a timely fashion.  I know one guy who does it on the side who got 48 heads to do last fall alone and he has a full time job on top of it all.  I wouldnt want to get my hard earned trophy back within a couple of months, chances are that there were some shortcuts done for the sake of speed.  My cousin shot a nice 7x9 mulie buck, took it to a taxidermist in Shelton and got it back within 2 months.  It looked like a wet dog that had been hit by a car.  The guy was in such a hurry to get it out of his shop that he did absolutely no detail work and ruined a buck of a lifetime.  He also only paid $150.00 for a shoulder mount so I guess you get what you pay for.

[Ihookum]

It is Alden. My friend paid in full and it has'nt even been started yet. I would'nt put up with it but he thinks it will be worth it.

[Hunting Cowboy]

I agree with Michelle. It really does depend on who you take it too. There is a popular taxidermist up our way who is backed 2 years. He's very popular and expensive but does top notch work. He also is up front about his time line.
 
When there is a huge volume coming into a small shop it's ridiculous to expect your buck back a month later. Before you leave your trophy, you should have an idea on a time line. When I was doing taxidermy, my time line was 9 months to a year.

[bucklucky]

I have to chime in here. I can tell you that most of the truely good to great taxidermists are going to have a back log of probably around 2 years or a little more. Most of the taxidermists that are under a year are probably doing production line kind of work , which means they do not take the time to get the proper  detail added into the forms that need to be there to make them look alive. Probably arent having there capes tanned by a profesional that truely knows there art of tanning, yes tanning is a whole nother profesion. Probably uses lesser suplies to keep the costs down etc, etc, etc...

  With that said, I am talking about FULL TIME taxidermists. Then you get into the part timers , They shouldnt have a turn around time of over a year at all. If they do they should be going full time, but thats my opinion.
 
   Now , if a Taxidermist says it will be done in a year or less, it should take about that to complete. Now if he dropped it off and didnt get an estimate on the completion time then I would say that its gona get done when it gets done. Not much you can say there. Now If a person is willing to wait that 2 to 3 years  to get the mount done , it should be something special, really lifelike and realistic, great quality. A mount you cant tell from the real living animal. Most of you probably have never seen mounts like this. I dont know of many Taxidermists in Washington that do this kind of work.

    I am a year or less on my mounts, and I have a good turn around because I have been full time for 11 months. I am doing the best I can to try and keep all of my mounts to under a year on turn around and my prices will rise as demand rises to try and keep it like undeer a year.

   Just remember, Sometimes patients is the Key to Quality.

  So My response to the origional question is: For great quality work, I think a 2 year turn around is O.K if  the stated turn around time from the taxidermist is just that, 2 years. If the guy is willing to wait for 2 years, there is nothing wrong with it. Alden does some of the nicest work around, better than most or all   of the Taxidermists around this area. I know of taxidermists that talk down of Alden , but to me its just gelousy. Personaly I dont know the guy. Heard he can be a jerk though.

[actionshooter]

If a taxidermist is backed up that long they need to let the customer know. Also what about the taxidermist who doesn't work in order the animal was received but takes care of the larger customers first?

[billythekidrock]

It is Alden. My friend paid in full and it has'nt even been started yet. I would'nt put up with it but he thinks it will be worth it.

Going on two years for my brothers bear rug from Alden. At $1200 it should have been done a year ago.

[bucklucky]

If a taxidermist is backed up that long they need to let the customer know. Also what about the taxidermist who doesn't work in order the animal was received but takes care of the larger customers first?

I let them know, but isnt that something the customer needs to ask before they drop something off?

  ANd the second question, I try and go down the list in order , but the capes dont always get done and back in order. So I do have to jump around a little bit. As for other taxidermists Big customers mean big money right, what would you do?

[bucklucky]

Going on two years for my brothers bear rug from Alden. At $1200 it should have been done a year ago.
[/quote]

  From what I hear from customers, that bear probably wont even be thought about for another 2 years

[billythekidrock]

Going on two years for my brothers bear rug from Alden. At $1200 it should have been done a year ago.

  From what I hear from customers, that bear probably wont even be thought about for another 2 years
[/quote]

If he is even the one doing the work. I heard he ships most of them out anymore.

[bucklucky]

There are alot of taxidermists shipping out rugs nowadays, there is alot of time involved hence the price!