Goodnight guys.
Just another lazy taxidermist leaving the shop early here at little past 2:00 AM.
Wish I had a real job so I could make enough money and have enough spare time to go hunting and fishing again.
Doubt the people I just completed their project for appreciate the work I put into it ,any more than some of the people who have posted here.

I am thankful for this thread. George is honest and helped me realize that my profession (auto/diesel repair) isn't the only headache nightmare out there.

My taxidermist runs a crew of 5-8 people and has hides tanned in San Antonio (5 hours away). Turn around time is 12-18mo. Sometimes you get it back in 9 months. But they tell you not to expect it back before 12 so they probably don't have to contend with the daily phone calls as much.

I guess the problem with taxidermy is similar to that of contractors. They hate to turn away business, so they keep accepting more jobs than they can handle in a reasonable amount of time.

I accept the fact that a truly good mount is a work of art and can't be rushed, still it would be nice if they laid out a realistic time frame before you give them the deposit.

I wonder how many hunters have died before their trophies were finished?

BH63

I'm sorry, but that 6-8 months for a $500 deer head is from a world I've never seen in 60 years. With supplies running almost $200 using quality materials and production times running from 18-24 hours on individual animals, there's not enough time in the year to turn out quality work like that. Now I know lots of people who are delighted with velvet Elvis paintings and if that's your style, go for it. Personally I liked Leon Pray and I know it would take one helluva lot of Elvis paintings to make up for one Leon Pray. If you came to my one-man operation with that in mind, you'd be $50 and 4 months out of whack and that's for a production shoulder mount. Want something to show your friends, then get out the adding machine. I never turned out a piece I wouldn't hang in my own game room. And we're just talking deer heads. If you take in bears for rugs or lifesize, birds, small game, and fish, there's NO WAY you can consistently stay under one year unless you LIMIT your intake or do shoddy work. Just those two - no alternatives.


I figured I made about $7 an hour after costs, overhead and taxes with no vacation and no savings plan. I could have lived just as well flipping burgers, gotten paid every week, and not have had to listen to the crap I heard routinely in my shop. There have been many cases of taxidermists suicides for having let the business eat them. I was never going to be the guy who swallowed a gun barrel but sadly I know many who did. If I reopened my shop, I'd charge $650 for a basic mount and a $300 deposit and a one year turn around.

Kinda like a Custom gunsmith!!