Who has been shafted by a taxidermist

[bossbowman]

Seems to be all too common, not I.

[bphillips]

Pics?

Like to see those as well

[texas shag]

I have had an axis and a fallow cape with mark couture at gods creation taxidermy for two years and still don’t have them back from the tannery. They were supposed to be flat skins. I paid him up front too, which is standard for tanning.

[mhunter6]

Years ago a few days before Christmas as i am waiting to board a plane I got a call from TPWD saying I had X amount of days to produce some documents pertaining to a recent alligator hunt otherwise I would be taken to court and possibly lose my hunting rights etc. etc. At the time as part of a group of 7 or 8 guys we had a "lease" that was a part of an HOA where TPWD would award the HOA a number of alligator tags for a multi thousand acre swamp that backed up to the neighborhood and instead of selling each tag to an individual they sold them all to an outfitter friend. We would guide clients to pay off the tags and use the usually 4-6 remaining tags for ourselves. Anyway the way the tags worked is that there was multiple pcs of paper, one for the hunter, one for the taxidermist/processor, and a tag that stayed on the hide. I dont know how it is now (this was 10 or so years ago) but both the hunter and the taxidermist (if not processed by the hunter) sent in a carbon copy of their record. Our taxidermist failed to do so, even after having the discussion of how to fill out the paperwork and Him admitting he does it for clients every year and was familiar with the process. After the call from TPWD I immediately called the Taxi and it took him 15 minutes to "remember" who i was and then told me that he never had such a conversation about the paperwork or agreed to send in his portion. Nevertheless with many phone calls and frustration we got it sorted out with TPWD and were forgiven for the failure of completing all required paperwork.

Flash forward about 8 months and I call the same taxi for an update on my alligator along with a few others. My gator was just shy of 12', one of the biggest ever from our spot, and was being shoulder mounted to sit on the floor with the remaining hide being tanned. Somehow the hide only got salted and my head "spoiled". He asked if i would like a euro mount done and i said yes. Mind you, it had apparently "spoiled" months ago but he never had tole me, so why he had a half rotten alligator skull lying around beats me. When it came time to pick up my euro he tried charging me full price for the shoulder since he had "done the work" and it wasnt his fault it spoiled. I took the skull and left, never paid him a dime other than my initial deposit.

[txhunter007]

Seems like the ratio for taxis are as such: for every one taxi that is good, there are 4 that are lying, no talent, thieving scum.

[RascalArms]

Never been shafted personally but back in the 80s during high school I worked about 3 weeks one summer for a taxidermist in my home town that was taking over the family business from his father. The dad had grown a very successful business over the years but health issues had forced a quick exit.
The son was a real POS! Between juggling too many women and dabbling in alcohol (and whatever else) he single handily ran the business into the ground. During just the 3 or so weeks I worked for him I remember him receiving several calls from the place he used to rent freezer space from telling him their freezer had gone out and that he needed to make arrangements to move all the hides and capes they had in storage.
We made a few trips to the freezer storage and moved about half of the capes to various places but he never made arraignments for the remaining hides. He never even tried and just plain didn't care. After about 4-5 days I knew this guy was going to be in deep sh** because several of the hides I was hired to flesh had already started to "slip", which means the hide is rotten to the point the hair was dislodging from the skin. End result...the hide is ruined!

I cut my losses that day and walked out of there...never even receiving a DIME for the 3 weeks of work either. My ole man was HOT!
But I know there were some guys that spent a fortune on trophy hunts for deer, bear, caribou and who knows what else...that were A LOT MORE P***** OFF THAN I WAS!

[Mudslinger]

safari studios worst experience I have ever had . It was a bobcat mount that looked like a dog . Good thing I only put half down and they had to eat the rest

As far as I am concerned, I would let Safari Studios do anything I killed, especially if they lived close! I have my 2nd Safari from RSA done by them and I am EXTREMELY happy. I have 2 friends that have had a ton of animals mounted by them with ZERO complaints!

[HotRod Hunter]

It boggles my mind why folks leave antlers they care about with Taxidermists period.

*Spoiler* they don’t need them until right before they put the animal on the form after the tanning process etc.

Tell your taxi you want to kee your antlers. They should cape out the head for you right there and hand them to you defleshed no problem!

Tell them to call you when they need them back!

That’s exactly what I do. If they don’t like it I’d find me a new Taxidermist

[Drycreek3189]

I left two black squirrels with a guy once and he died. The people who took over for him weren't very good, and when they finally got them finished, they looked like rats. As far as I know they still have those rats.

[CEO]

If I ever manage to kill an animal I'll revisit this thread to be safe.

[gonehuntin68]

Twisted X Taxidermy
Ronney C. Perry
Floresville Tx.

Do not use this scum bag. Great post hopefully this can help keep someone else from loosing there hard earned money and trophy's to these dirt bags.

Yep, He screwed me. I don't think he is in business any more but I could be wrong.

[oneforthewall]

WOW...this really makes me sad! I'm glad I didn't see my name in there anywhere. In all fairness there are some really great Taxidermists that are on this site and many more that are not. If you got them together telling customer horror stories, it would go for days. Build a relationship with someone you trust and don't be afraid to PM any of us if you need advice on finding someone in your area or proper field care. Good luck this fall!!

[gatt40]

Yep is all I got to say

[AntlerCollector]

Yep ......




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[NWhunter]

Corey Jacobson with DRT taxidermy out of Sherman Texas....enough said if you had dealings with him around 2014 from what I hear.