Taxidermist legal options

I shot an aoudad ram on public land in Texas. Took over two years to get back. Some language issues seemed to be most of the delay. Was worth the wait but the last 6 months I was starting to think I would have to fly to Texas. Took 3 years to get back two alligator hides and had to get a buddy involved that was local. The two common facets to the aoudad and gators? I was several states away from the vendor.

I had a taxidermist go bankrupt and my bighorn ewe hide went bad during the episode. Got the skull cap back and the ruined hide after almost two years. Luckily found a ewe skull on eBay and put my horns on that skull so have a euro instead. When I get a bighorn ram, will track down a ewe hide and do a dual pedestal mount.

I have another 20 episodes that went good to great but those three episodes left me pissed off for a bit then I would recall the actual hunts and simmer down. You can take my trophies and call me names but you will never steal my memories of being up at treeline or hiking through the sage.
 
I don't remember seeing all those antlers hanging there either when I dropped it off. Wonder how long those guys have been waiting?
 
Good to hear of some progress JDH! By the looks of his shop I would bet there are a few more dozen pissed off customers. Best wishes!!
 
My buck is finally home. Picked him up last night. Quality is ok. Not perfect but at least it's under my roof.
 
Good for you! If it's not up to your standards maybe you can take it to a more reputable taxi and give him $100 to touch it up. Thanks for sharing the good news!
 
Post a pic of the finished product for us to see. Glad you finally got it back.
 
In my experience, slow turn around for taxidermy work is typical. I've dealt with three, in different regions of the country and none of them finished work faster than their estimate. The one I traded with the most (retired now) was notoriously slow...but he did really nice work and at a very reasonable price, so I learned to deal with it and be patient. (He had one of my full body mounts, a bobcat, for almost two years.)

One thing I did that improved my turn around time with this gentleman was to stop in and visit him regularly. The real up side in that for me was that I ended up getting to know and be friends with a really good guy. He was just old and slow, and as I got to know him I realized that he was never trying to drag anything out...he just had his share of health and family problems.

Glad to read that you got your mount back.
 
You asked earlier, "how long from start to finish". I am not a taxi but it's a hell of a lot less time than you think for a shoulder mount. I had a bighorn sheep done back in 2014 into 2015. Paid in full up front for a 6 month guarantee. If I was to guess the actual time of working on my actual mount was a week to a week and a half(if worked on consecutively)or less once the hide was back from the tannery, form was ordered and in hand, and the pedestal was received from the local craftsman. Basically the time to modify the form for the pose/pedestal, set the horns on the form, mold them in, set the eyes, prep the nostrils, set the cape on the form and do all the details from there and build all the habitat and the base for the mount to set on the pedestal would have been a week to week and a half or less if worked on consecutively.

I had no issues paying up front, but you can only make that judgement based on your relationship with the taxi. The taxi I used, I actually met out hunting, he runs a well known shop, judges taxi competitions and is a stand up legit dude that does amazing work and is trustworthy and knows quality and reputation is everything.

In my opinion the people who wait forever for a taxi are working with people who don't know how to run a business and probably take on way to much work and don't keep all of their projects managed on a timeline in conjunction with the expectations/agreements set with customers. There are way to many good trustworthy taxidermists out there that do quality work, are trust worthy, timely and keep their word to be wasting your time with the bad ones.
 
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JDH- The taxidermist I used here in Indy came in under time and under budget! FYI for the next time you need one...

Pardon the crappy pictures, but I'm happy with the work.
 
1 pointer, I'm not sure if it was you or LCH that recommended a taxi in Bedford but I should've listened.
WildRHK, I tried to stop and see him many times but no matter if it was 10AM or 6 PM he was never there.
Also this morning I noticed a little odor from the cheek patches. I've got it my garage until I determine if it's safe for the house. If my wife smells something once it will stink forever in her mind.
 
Sorry to hear that you're having a bad experience with the final product on top of the service leading up to finally getting it back.

If the smell persists, I'd have a reputable Taxidermist take look at it sooner rather than later. In reality, if he did screw any thing up by not cleaning and preserving it well...it’s probably too late. But I'd have someone else take a gander at it ASAP; you never know they may be able to stop any additional deterioration. Hope it all works out for you.
 
After waiting forever for euro mounts I started doing my own. I'm 5 deep and none of my friends/father in law can tell which are mine and which were done by a taxidermist. It's pretty easy to do and takes me 4-5 hours to complete one from removing the hide to finished product. Definitely something to consider.
 
Hope you have all documents and receipts... Call the law, get an escort and go retrieve your stuff, its yours and he can not hold it against your wishes.

I've dealt with a few deadbeat taxidermist, its not fun, but unfortunately they are not uncommon either. I lost probably the biggest "trophy" animal I've ever taken due to a taxi flaking out after a divorce, he left the state, then moved around a few times. There are more people than me that would like to knock his front teeth out. Worthless human being. I was patient and waited, and waited, and waited, then... the statute of limitations was up, information was lost and so was my stuff.

Ron Newman is his name, last place he was seen was Colorado Springs.

Don't wait, go get it back! Then take his ass to court and get your money back! You have very, very little protection under the law, and the cops won't do shit, its a civil matter.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.
Unfortunately this DB is still around. I've got a family member going on 2 years waiting on a trophy bull mount. If you can get ahold of him it's always just another 2 weeks.....
 
I've got a few local taxidermists that i think i will share this article with:)


Hope you can get your stuff back.
I threatened him with small claims court so he finished mine. I thought about going to the DNR but didn't want my animal seized as evidence.
 

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