I killed a pretty nice 145" NW Oklahoma whitetail and am going to do a European mount myself, but I am having him professionally caped to save in case I need it later. My dilema is that my taxidermist is hinting that he would like to buy it, and I have a couple of other people that are interested too.

Since I don't really need it, what would be a fair value to put on the raw cape?

Howdy Jeff,

Depending on where the taxidermist is has a lot to do with how much the cape is worth. For instance I rarely need Kansas Deer capes but when I do I have to pay a premium for me because not a whole lot of Kansas deer come into Houston. However I get a couple hundred big south Texas capes every year and they are a dime a dozen. The same thing works for up there. When a guy in Oklahoma city needs a south Texas deer cape he will be paying more for it than he would his local genetics. At the same time tanned capes sell for more than raw capes. Also size of the cape can also determine price. In rare instances hair quality on a whitetailed deer will also be a factor in a deer cape. Capes over 20 inches in the neck, really defined colors, extremely short hair, no large scars. All these are factors. To give you an idea I pay a standard fifty dollars for a south texas, raw, +20 inch neck deer, and a similar deer out of Kansas I would give somewhere between 75 and 100. If a customer has ruined a cape he would be paying between 100 and 150 for a south texas cape and +175 for a Kansas one. I have bought Kansas capes tanned from dealeers for as high as 225 tanned. The most expensive deer cape I ever purchased was a raw 23 inch "fox red" cape out of Indiana and I payed $285 for it.

Thanks for the information. The taxidermist is saying that the cape is only "worth" about $75, but he would make me a deal and give me $100 off the mount he is doing for my son.

I believe I will take his "deal".

Most likely sounds like he is offering a pretty fair deal. Hope it all works out for you and congrats on the deer.

$75 to 100 is a lot. Take it. I buy plenty of Midwest capes for $50.