Good news: I spoke with John this afternoon and he has promised to complete my cape buffalo mount, warthog skull, and zebra skin by 15 August. He has expressed regret for the way this has played out and has assured me not only of meeting this deadline, but also posting some photos of the completed mount and skull for AR readers to see.

Most of us, at one time or another, have fallen behind at work and had a struggle to get back to normalcy; I think this is where John is at and I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. If things work out, I trust we will all get a chance to see a spectacular shoulder mount of my smallest but most aesthetically perfect buff in just a few weeks (it's actually the one shown in my avatar). The proof will be on these pages. As I've said, John does nice work and I've already got a place on my wall ready in August!

Thanks to everyone for their words of support and encouragement.

Well I don't give a rip if john hand delivers them and hangs them on your walls, this guys is a jerk.

John, be glad you didn't try any of this shit with my stuff, my bull-dog attorney brother would have had a wonderful time making your life hell!

Kim-thanks for giving all of us here in Texas a heads-up...

Not to be critical Kim, but I'm always amazed at people trusting people they don't know or have little experience with them.

Kim please keep us posted on how it all turns out !!!

live and let live...

As long as he comes thru to your satisfaction.

Rich
DRSS
I still like the fact that my guy lives four miles away.

" And GOD bless mommy, daddy, grandma... and oh yes, the guys at The Wildlife Gallery who deliver daddy's animals on time and answer the phone when daddy calls...AMEN

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Fulson:
" And GOD bless mommy, daddy, grandma... and oh yes, the guys at The Wildlife Gallery who deliver daddy's animals on time and answer the phone when daddy calls...AMEN

How did we know that plug was coming?

KPete, classy way to react. I am still fuming about a fallow deer mount that can be found on the first page of this forum. That was a 2 hour drive from home and a discounted trophy fee. You have quite a different story. As a lawyer, I discourage filing suit (even though it may be more profitable for me). I hope everything works out for you in the end.

dinsdale,

and God bless dinsdale, who can find something rude, crude, obnoxious; and with no redeeming social value to add to the thread.
Reporting bad taxidermy work or business practices is as important as identifying good companies.

Maybe you'd care to show us some of the taxidermy work on the animals you've taken in Africa the last couple Safaris...
My Cape Buffalo will be done at month's end. I'll put a picture or two up, just for you man.


I met Char and Dan from The Wildlife Gallery this year at SCI Reno. The work they do is absolutely top drawer, and they offer a unique service with their weekly updated website. You can log on to their site and see exactly how your mount(s) are progressing and how they look.

Rich
DRSS

Hey guys:

I've had a number of you contact me to ask if I've received my trophies from John Baker yet. He talked to me a couple of weeks ago and asked for an extension on the due date and we agreed to their being completed not later than this Wednesday, 25 August - no excuses.

I'm pretty excited to finally be receiving my shoulder mount cape buffalo, my wife's zebra skin, and my bleached warthog skull and tusks. John has promised to post some photos - but I promise if he doesn't I will.

Thanks to all of you for your support via emails and PMs.

Kim,

You are a much more accommodating (and trusting) person than I could ever hope to be.

Did they arrive on schedule and to your satisfaction?

Rich

Bump.

The revised deadline was August 15th. On the 14th John asked for a 'no excuses' 10 day extension until the 25th. The new deadline has passed and no response yet to either my emails or phone call...

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." William Shakespeare

I'm beginning to think myself more the latter right about now ...

Any further update?

'Nuthin' lower than a man that never does what he says he's going to do.

why do I have this feeling that the final post is not going to read "and they all lived happily ever after..."?

No news is not good news.

Rich

Well, Rich, you and a number of others saw this coming. From the beginning, I didn't have very good cards to play if my goal was to get my trophies back. As it turned out, despite my numerous entreaties and extensions and delays in contacting the authorities, John Baker (who operates as 'Safari Taxidermy') screwed me over.

You'll recall that, under threat of having him arrested and sued into oblivion, Mr. Baker contacted me on July 1, the eve of my flying to Corpus Christi, and apologized for everything. He admitted that despite his having my trophies since April of 2009, he hadn't finished my buffalo or my wife's zebra skin. He claimed that the buffalo was a couple of weeks from being completed and he was awaiting the zebra skin "any day". When I told him that I wanted to verify with the tannery that they actually had the zebra skin, he broke down and confessed that it had never been sent out but that he was going to ship it out that day, with a guarantee from the tannery that it would be finished by the end of July. He asked that I give him until August 15th and that there would be no more excuses - everything would be ready to ship that day.

A couple of days before this newest of deadlines expired, Mr. Baker called and pleaded for ten more days, due to an unforeseen "delay at the tannery". They had assured him that the completed skin would arrive within a couple of days. Not seeing it in my best interest to refuse, I gave him until August 25th.

On the 23rd, and each day thereafter, I began calling and emailing Mr. Baker for an update. No reply. When the 25th had come and gone, I started posting on AR and taxidermy.net (a site Mr. Baker has frequented in the past), asking for him to call me. Still no reply. When I was able to determine that someone on his personal computer was accessing and reading my posts on taxidermy.net, I knew he wasn't out of town or in the hospital - I was being blown off yet again.

Through several contacts that occasionally spoke with Mr. Baker, along with emails and phone messages, I let him know that I was heading to Texas the first week in September to press criminal and civil charges against him. Mr. Baker promptly emerged from his hole and called one of the taxidermists that had served as an intermediary and offered to deliver all of my trophies on Monday, August 27. I accepted the offer gladly, with the proviso that if that deadline was missed, I would arrive on Tuesday regardless.

Sure enough, Mr. Baker delivered the trophies to a very helpful fellow who asked nothing in return. Being a taxidermist himself, he said he was embarrassed by Mr. Baker's behavior and just wanted to see "things turn out alright". Not surprisingly, the buffalo mount hadn't been worked on since 2009, when he sent me a picture of his work in progress. The warthog skull didn't have all of the duplicate tusks completed. Most telling of all, the zebra skin was still folded and in the salt - apparently it had never been sent to a tannery in the year and a half he had it.

(You may recall that on June 1st Mr. Baker posted on this thread, "The Zebra was sent out for binding so I do not have control over their completion dates but I have asked if they can move it up". Indeed, he has told me numerous times that the skin had been sent to the tannery in early 2009 and that only the binding was left undone. The skin probably sat 'in the salt' in a corner of his garage from the time it arrived from Africa, even as he was telling me it was going to be finished in a couple of weeks.)

The balance of the monies owed to Mr. Baker (half the total amount was paid as deposit in April 2009) apparently are sufficient for the new taxidermist to complete the work. My wife is delighted that her first African trophy is safe. And as for Mr. Baker? I'm still contemplating legal action, but the fact is that his reputation has gotten so bad, only someone who was deaf, dumb, and blind would engage him for any taxidermy work. There are several people I know of who are in the same boat as I was, so his problems aren't over.

Three lessons were learned through all of this: 1) Conduct a vigorous due diligence on any prospective taxidermist. Apparently there are more than a few low-lifes that live off of the deposits and rely on future revenue to finish your trophies - that's why so many of them require up to a year to finish them. 2) There are a few taxidermists out there that are true professionals and are unfairly impacted by the unethical behavior of miscreants like Mr. Baker. These few are both talented and deserving of trust - the trick is finding them among the riff-raff. And, 3) John Baker is one of the most deceitful and despicable individuals I have ever done business with - and I can only hope none of you ever have that misfortune.

Oh, and Dave Fulson? My recent Namibian trophies are in the air and heading to The Wildlife Gallery - your and Craig's endorsement, along with all I have read and heard, tells me I don't have much to worry about and they have a 90-day turn-around!

Thanks for all of the encouragement and sound advise from those of you who wrote me or posted on this thread.

Well I hope for your sake that your zebra rug does indeed turn out, I always have them tanned in Africa, bc sitting folded for long periods can sometimes cause hair slipping issues, especially on the creases! Good luck

I would suggest you send trophies to someone like Joe Meder in Iowa or Scott Brewer in Washington. Most taxidermists I've encountered are on the up and up but it is obvious there are some really undesirable crooks and liars in the profession.

I had a bad experience with a fellow in Indiana who came highly recommended by a friend who took his black bear there. Similar story. I got my coyote back after about 3 years. Had to pay the deposit only and no balance. As for my friend, he nor his other hunting partner never did receive THEIR bears but got 2 others....they demanded their money back and got it.

As to the continued excuse of the tanneries, I'd suggest you get the # directly for the tannery and verify if you can. Some will state that their client is the taxidermist and you have to go through him/her. I told the one tannery that I was the client and without us the tannery wouldn't have business from the taxidermists. I demanded an answer in my one situation and finally got it...my coyote was never there.

KPete,

It is disheartening to have followed this post. I have one of my African mounts being done locally. It should have been finished and delivered in early July.

I have known this guy for ten years, and he is an honest craftsman. His tannery of the last twenty-one years had some issues with the IRS and just closed his doors about then. It took my guy about six weeks in court to get my stuff, and many others back. To get things on schedule he ended up buying the assets and setting up with a friend to do his own tanning, etc. I saw the form this afternoon, and things are progressing. He says I can come over and watch the package come together next week one day.

We all just hope the Zebra (especially the Zebra) comes out and Mamma is happy. I believe Dan and Char at WG will make you happy with their work, pricing, and timely delivery.

There's always next year on Safari.

regards,

Rich

Having someone to go and visit nearby is a great boost to the confidence where trophies are concerned. I am glad to hear of the positive outcome and hope you will post and publicly applaud the gentleman helping you out and working for nothing for the betterment of the industry.
I just delivered a couple of skulls to a local fellow to see how he is able to Euro mount and to give me the excuse to visit and watch his other trophies. One of the elk I saw in his shop was a monster approaching "Moose" palmation.
Not all taxidermists are at fault as I found earlier this year. I sent a bear directly to a tannery after asking if they could handle the completion of skinning before tanning as my taxidermist was not going to be available and neither was I. They obliged but LOST THE SKULL. My taxidermist is now going to try and fix it up and tried to accept the blame because he was not available. Not everyone in the business is a scoundrel as you have found in your experiences.
Hopefully the mounts will be spectacular.
Frank

I notice the liar, John Baker, hasn't bothered to give us an update. I wonder why?

Since we're doing plugs (and I think anyone who provides good service in any capacity to hunters deserve all the free plugs they can get), I can honestly recommend Jerry Huffaker who posts quite often on AR. He isn't the cheapest, nor the most expensive, but he does an excellent job, is readily available by phone or email, does what he says he'll do and then some, and does it on time. Seems like a good business plan to me.

Bakers website now shows that he is closed and not accepting work. Those who have been refused their trophies should be aware there is a criminal investigation pending with the Corpus Christi Police Department.

Shame

Indeed! I lost the only Cape Buffalo I may ever get a chance to hunt to a disappearing taxidermist. Ann had similar troubles with the same guy.

My stomach churns every time I think about it.

Mike,

I have some current info if you want it.

Good news for me, police intervention got my trophies returned. Marty Prater now has them. Nothing short of arrest seems to prompt action from Baker. Corpus Christ PD will pursue criminal action if you present your documents and swear out a statement. Baker was responsive when it seemed there was no other choice.

KPete,

What a mess.....

Glad to see that you are being taken care of properly now. I have also had problems with several taxidermists in the past.....but am happy to say I have a great one now. It is unfortunate for all the honest taxidermists out there, but there are lots of crooks in that line of work for one reason or another.

Please post pics when you get your mounts back!!

Kim,

Thanks for posting. Sorry you got screwed! Just remember, what goes around comes around! Baker will get his. What a scumbag!