I hunted South Africa in 10/05 and my animals made it to the U.S.A. 2 or 3 months later. Thus far, I have some warthog tusks and a blesbok European mount returned with various shoulder mounts and a zebra hide pending. I have not nagged the taxidermist but he has a bunch of my money and I would like my mounts soon. How patient should I be? How long should 6 shoulder mounts take?

That is a question that is hard to answer. How many animals did the taxidermist have to do before you got there? How is his back log and what time frame did he give you. Remember he has to send the hides to a tannery and that could take 6 months alone. African mounts are a lot more time consuming than North American animals are to do.

This is a question you need to pose to your taxidermist.

Consider yourself lucky that you received your shipment from Africa in 2-3 months! It is not unusual for that to take one year or more.

A very fast turn around from your taxidermist would be 6 months. Did your taxidermist give you a time estimate? 8 months to a year is not unusual.

The taxidermist did not give me an estimate however he did give an estimate of 6 months from the time of receiving the capes to a friend of mine who recently got back from South Africa. It's now getting close to a year since my capes have been in the U.S.A. and I wanted to get an idea of how patient or impatient I should be. I'll probably give him another 3 or 4 months before I start making too much noise.

A taxidermist we work with in this area is about 2 years out. But I'm still waiting for my first head back from my 2002 trip to Zim. (In his defence I really don't have anywhere to hang them so I've told him I'm not in a hurry).

A year doesn't seem that unreasonable, the capes could have been at the tannery for 6 months.

That is impressive how quickly you received your shipment, my average time was closer to a year but it depends a lot on where you're hunting.

Kyler

i always found that the better the taxidermist is the further out he is. the simple solution is to book more hunts that way you sort of get into a groove with stuff coming back all the time by the way did i mention that my taxidermist really likes me

Im going to stick my neck out and mention "averages". But the average turn around time in a shop is from 6 months to 1 year. That would be for a mount that was sent to a commercial tannery. Someone tanning their own skins may be able to pump it out a little quicker.

There are extremes, some can get work out in 90 days and some are 2 years behind.

For me personally, I get really unpleasant and anxious if I have stuff in my shop approaching 1 year. I like to have a clean slate come deer season every year

Hugh

Don't get me started on this topic, my taxidermist in Alberta told me a max of 12 months, well I'm on month 15 right now & no deer... I'm ok with what ever just stick to what I was told & we are ok, I've had reasons from snowed in to getting married & the date just keeps backing up...

If your taxidermist is any good he or she will be backlogged. 2 years is not totally out of line. Remember, they didn't get busy turning out junk! If you push your taxidermist they are going to want to get you off their back (ie get the stuff out the door...). A little patience will result in a better quality mount. Quality takes time, talent and effort. Taxidermy is a labor intensive talent that does not fit into todays computerized world.

One year should be max. It is labor intensive but if there is too much labor for the one taxidermist he should get help to do the "leg" work and do the finish work himself.

Next advice is to have your African taxidermy work done in Africa. There are excellent chaps in South Africa, for example, and you will have one shipment ot deal with, good work in the end, and timely.

billinthewild, let me guess, you have ties to Africa taxidermist. African taxidermy is substandard in every way to American quality work. I've seen the shops that have one native assigned to zebras, one to kudus, one to lions, etc. You get rubber stamped work. To top it all, they routinely hose paying customers who send their skins back to America. Been there, done that. (One customer took all his hides to one in SA and the kudu had been killed with a single shot behind the ribs forward. The hide I got in had two holes in the shoulder and neck, the ear blown and the entire eye orbit missing. It is a COMMON practice for them to swap hides and keep the better ones.) As far as shipping and crating, that's going to soak you pretty good as well. Just inquire what a box of hides 4x4x2 will cost versus a box 8x8x8 FOB. They also use the gimmick, "Don't take your animals back to America. We know what those animals look like and American taxidermists don't." RIGHT, so why do they have red stags, elk, moose, wild sheep and whitetails from Afrikaners in their shops?

I have yet to see any taxidermy work out of Africa that is better than mediocre quality. They are getting better but not up to par with what we have here. If you are not happy what are you going to do send it back? You are stuck. Also the shipping costs far outweigh any savings. Almost everyone I have known that leaves their work over there is embarrassed and won't discuss it with you on who did the work or what the "actual" coasts were with shipping. Get it done right by a quality studio here and don't worry about the time too much, after all you will have it the rest of your life if its done right. Merry Christmas!

I am not downgrading any American taxidermists. I have had work done by some of the best, here in Arizona and in New Mexico.
That said, the work I have had done in South Africa by Life Form Taxidermy in White River, Zac Zuccaro, as I recall, is just fine.

Baker, now just a minute before you blow a gasket. Wildlife Artistry is NOT a normal operation in any sense of the imagination. Animal Artistry is owned by Mike Boyce. Boyce was a fundamentalist preacher for a $7 mil congregation, so money wasn't an object to his setting up a multimillion dollar taxidermy facility. He has dozens of employees, he buys supplies much like Wal-Mart does, and the QUALITY of his work isn't the best in the world. He burns out artists by the dozens and anyone who is anyone, will have "Animal Artistry" listed on their resume'. (I'm not and I don't, BTW). His prices are almost double what everyone else charges and he specializes in top end customers. Most of the people who use taxidermy services don't fit in that category and an "average" time again is from 6 to 12 months. It is not unusual to find someone a bit longer than that if their work is good and/or they've had a bit of bad luck such as hospitalization or family emergency.

If you want a FAIR assessment of the taxidermy trade and industry, contact the National Shooting Sports Foundation and inquire about their 2006 survey of taxidermists. You might be amazed at the facts their booklet contains and you'll have a very different concept of what taxidermists do just to survive in the real business world.

quote:

Originally posted by george roof:
Baker, now just a minute before you blow a gasket. Wildlife Artistry is NOT a normal operation in any sense of the imagination. Animal Artistry is owned by Mike Boyce. Boyce was a fundamentalist preacher for a $7 mil congregation, so money wasn't an object to his setting up a multimillion dollar taxidermy facility. He has dozens of employees, he buys supplies much like Wal-Mart does, and the QUALITY of his work isn't the best in the world. He burns out artists by the dozens and anyone who is anyone, will have "Animal Artistry" listed on their resume'. (I'm not and I don't, BTW). His prices are almost double what everyone else charges and he specializes in top end customers. Most of the people who use taxidermy services don't fit in that category and an "average" time again is from 6 to 12 months. It is not unusual to find someone a bit longer than that if their work is good and/or they've had a bit of bad luck such as hospitalization or family emergency.

Yes George,they are a multimillion dollar taxidermy facility but, he did not get it there over night. Mike built the shop to what it is today because he looked at it from a business stand point and runs it that way(MOST taxidermist do not). Mike looked around the industry and found that to MANY taxidermist were taking way to long and not giving the customers what they wanted, museum quality taxidermy.
While you will find shops with a turnaround time from 6 to 12 months it is far from an "average", as an industry the average is over one year. It is very common to find shops with 2 to 3 year backlogs and I will still say it is a JOKE!



------------------------------------------------

JP, now you're arguing with the only survey conducted to record such things. Have you LOOKED at the NSSF Survey?

MTW, it was easy for Mike to build his business lke that. He ISN'T a taxidermist. He dabbles with sculpting, but as with the firing of his right hand man last summer, everything that shines isn't necessarily gold. Few people can afford those premium prices. So I guess it's as Bucky Flower's sign in West Palm Beach reads. "This shop provides 3 services: fast, good and cheap. Pick two."

This post is not intended to join in any fray, rather to inform IMHO. An average time required to get African skins/horns back into the USA is 6-8 months, (notice I mentioned average time) but due to a number of unforseen factors, it can take a year or more. Watch who you deal with! Taxidermists will VARY from shop to shop on return time. And, part-time Vs professionals. Many Pro's have gone to "wet tans" versus the dry tanned skins and personally I would only want wet tanned skins for my personal trophies. IMHO I find most comments on this subject very valid, but I lay responsibility upon the hunter: Don't complain if you didn't do your homework. Having been in the Taxidermy profession for many years (and a hunting consultant), I am amazed at how much money some hunters are willing to spend on a safari only to return home and look for the cheapest Taxidermy they can find. Many have learned the hard way; you get what you pay for MOST of the time. My opinion is neutral as I am retired from the Taxidermy trade (still a hunting consultant however), and I want some supervision of my personal trophies as I work too hard for my money. My Taxidermist is a lifelong professional; is very experienced in foreign game; is open to my personal suggestions and expectations, and delivers my work in an average time of six months. Is he cheap? No, but reasonable and competitive. Does he excel in "competition mounts?" No, he hasn't the time to compete in Taxidermy contests, nor does he need to. His work is steady and continuous. I recommend that anyone considering having trophies mounted investigate thoroughly their options. Learn the difference in quality Taxidermy and poor Taxidermy. Impala's do not look like Wildebeasts. Wolves do not look like Bears. If your going to spend more of your hard earned money, it is your responsibility to know the difference or learn hard lessons. Research any overseas hunt and find out what it costs to ship home finished mounts versus capes and horns. You can lose your Taxidermy savings in a heart beat when paying for over sized crates. Just do your homework and you'll have less hassle to deal with. Bottom line: each to his/her own, but educate yourself and make wise decisions. Good hunting, David