When Considering a taxidermist

[5575]

The top fish is a recently mounted greenback by a local taxidermist..no joke.
The bottom greenback was masterfully done by Top notch taxidermy's Tyler Erickson. Remember, you have to look at it the rest of your life..spend the extra money!

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Very true, I have been lucky enough to have a very good small time guy for my deer, for fish MSA is currently working on my third and had my first pheasant done by J&K. I have had lots of guys ask me about deer and birds around here and the biggest problem sometimes is getting "your" animal back on birds at least, not counting J&K. Got a buddy that is going through a nightmare along with some other guys that are pretty high profile in some ways on animals from expensive hunts. He can do very nice work from what I have seen but we think he has got himself in a hole and pulling some really shady stuff. Have another buddy that has been burned on his Greenback and he isn't really sure that it is his, that was a SD guy, I told him to go to MSA but didn't listen.
My suggestion is do your homework and talk to as many people as you can that have experience with a particular taxidermist.

 

[SDMF]

Circa 2003 I was buying a pickup, walked into one of the salesman's offices and saw a long-ish but funny-looking walleye. I asked:

"Who mounted the walleye on the salmon form for you?"

The guy I asked wasn't the owner of the mount and I was asked politely not to ask that same question of the person who did own the mount. I guess he'd blown a gasket several times when others had asked previously.

Great taxidermy is worth every penny. Bad taxidermy makes a person feel worse than if you'd just threw C-Notes into a fire 1 at a time.

 

[KDM]

I've said this before, but it needs to be reiterated. If a taxidermist won't show you his workshop and the mounts they are doing for real clients as well as some finished products awaiting customer pick up.......take your business elsewhere.....and fast.

 

[Rowdie]

I took a 6.5 lb bass in to a local guy in Mobridge. I don't think he's around anymore, but I'll never take another fish in again, to anyone. To me, even if done perfectly, fish mounts don't last and not worth the money...too me.

 

[Pheasant 54]

I have mounts that are 45 years old , paid good reputable people to do the work and it was worth every penny

 

[Rut2much]

Didn't know zander mated with pirhaunas
(bottom one is a thing of beauty)

 

[NodakBob]

I’ve had a couple screw ups at a reputable place…it was their henchman doing the caping/fleshing that fucked up both times, not the talented artistic taxidermist that I thought was doing the work…he tried to make up for it with a discount on my next mount, but I still get pissed everytime I look at my 30 year old mount.

 

[Rowdie]

Oh I forgot to add that after I seen what he did with by bass, I just left it, I wasn't paying anything for that

 

[tikkalover]

Had this mounted in Pierre South Dakota

I’m happy with it
He was sending me pictures as he was doing it so I could decide how I wanted the ears positioned

 

[risingsun]

Had this mounted in Pierre South Dakota

I’m happy with it
He was sending me pictures as he was doing it so I could decide how I wanted the ears positioned

He woulda been a good one the next year for sure.

 

[Rowdie]

I love deer mounts almost as much as I dislike fish mounts....^^^Those are AWSOME!

 

[5575]

Didn't know zander mated with pirhaunas
(bottom one is a thing of beauty)

Oh there's more!

 

[AaronJ]

I will pay for top quality work.

 

[Rut2much]

Oh there's more!

Rainbow walleye, goooood lawd

 

[AaronJ]

 

[5575]

Funny
About 15-20 years ago I made a meme with that lion mount before there were memes! Ha ha

 

[Kurtr]

I took a 6.5 lb bass in to a local guy in Mobridge. I don't think he's around anymore, but I'll never take another fish in again, to anyone. To me, even if done perfectly, fish mounts don't last and not worth the money...too me.

Let me guess his first name was jerry? If it was I know he mounted the state record crappie at the time and after a few months of having it home maggots crawled out of it

 

[Rowdie]

Yup, but he did a good job on my deer.

 

[Retired Educator]

It's not uncommon for taxidermists to excel tag certain species Or be better at fur than scales, feathers vs hides, etc. Larger shops frequently have taxidermist that specialize in certain animals and that's all they do. Check out work before deciding to leave your work. Doovers aren't the answer in taxidermy.