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I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about how you guys feel things should be done as far as business goes. I’m finally gonna ask what you guys think about my current situation. I went on a hunting trip down in Texas back in November where I took my first beaver, bobcat, and 300lbs Russian boar hog. I was very excited about all of them, but especially about the hog because I’d been chasing em for over a year with no luck. This is where the real story starts. I found a local taxidermist (2 towns over maybe a 20 minute drive). He was easy to contact and actually opened up shop late at night to meet us and take everything in (hog head/shoulder mount, bobcat life-size, beaver pelt, euro’s skulls on all 3, small ferrel hog pelt and a skunk pelt). He does good work, actually does mounts for Bass Pro in Springfield, MO and does mounts for the Corp of Engineers here in Arkansas. He told me it’d be 6 weeks for the pelts and skulls, 2-3 months for the bob, and 3-4 months for the hog and he only charged 1 grand total for everything. I agreed and went on my way… About 8 weeks later I stopped by the shop to check and see if the pelts and skulls were done. He said he’d been really busy with deer season and hadn’t got done with any of it. I wasn’t upset, just said to give me a shout when he got done. I stopped by again about 3 weeks later (only because I was across the street anyway). He said the bob was mounted and only needed painting and it’d be ready to pick up that Friday. Well… that was back in late December. I hadn’t heard anything until about 2 weeks ago. I finally called and left a message and he called me back no more than 5 minutes later. He had been in an accident on his farm. A big hog had ran under him and he fell and broke his neck. I was very concerned that he was ok… NOT ABOUT MY TROPHIES. He said he was feeling much better and was just getting back to working full time. Said that my hog and bob would be ready the next Friday. (April 20th). I was off work that day and decided to just call and let him know that I could come pick it up any time because I had no plans. No answer or call back… now I’m afraid to call again because I might be bothering him, I know he’s been through a lot lately, but I keep getting told that my stuff is almost done… What do you guys think I should do… and be honest, if it sounds like I’m being a nuisance then I need to know.
Dobber
Though it may be hard, WAIT for the call. He’ll call as soon as he needs the money. Many taxidermists get themselves in a jam by promising due dates. It’s hard to keep those dates because we have lives too. We need days off just like anybody else. But we also have the same problems as everybody else, accidents, divorce, unexpected repairs to your roof, and so on. The more you call, the longer it can be. Many guys will delay your project on purpose everytime you call them. But the one thing you should have done already as a hunter, is to find your own personal taxidermist. Someone you’ve checked out by going to their shop and seen there work. Ask them questions about what you’ll be getting for your money, the different kinds of techniques they use and so on. Most taxidermist that do this full time will be a year behind usually. That’s because of the 1st come 1st serve rule we use. Once you find a taxidermist you feel comfortable and confident with, you send them everything you harvest. Then you’ll always be satisfied with your end product and turnaround time. DON”T listen to your friends only. They will normally get you in a jam. Find one yourself.
July 22, 2011
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Dobber, Page pretty much nailed it. Although I do everything in my power to meet my turn around times, they are only estimates because at the time you quote that time you are not sure how much work you will get in that season.
As Page said, I do the first come first serve system. But during deer season for instance I skin all my deer as they come in, flesh and salt dry. Then start sending them through the tannery. So from Sept. to Jan 1 I don’t do hardly any mounting at all. But now all my skinning is out of the way and the skins are tanned waiting their turn in the freezer. It’s just a waiting game, but I always answer my phone and try to update the completion time the best I can. If I don’t answer the phone I will have folks start showing up to check on their stuff, and that will really slow me down. At times I have skipped over customers who are over bearing and constantly “checking on how everthing is going”. Then there have been other times I have jumped someones piece ahead just so to get rid of them, thats also the last piece I do for that person, they think they stayed on my a$$ and got it back quicker and they can do that next time, but there will be no next time because I will be all booked up when they call and I will not take their work in.;)
Now back to your story. Sounds like there could be a little b/s going on. First, unless their system has changed Johnny Morris used to buy old collections and store them in warehouses and stock BPS with these mounts as they added stores. I actually helped mount a personal White Mountain Elk of Johnny’s a couple of years back at a taxidermist shop in Arizona. This was a $1500 shoulder mount, so I don’t think your guy has done his personal stuff either.
When he said the first time your Bobcat was mounted did you physically see it?
How much deposit did you give him?
Have you got any of the stuff back yet?
$1000 is pretty cheap. All that added up is over $2000 if you brought it to me.
Dobber I want to take your post and flip it to tell you how I conduct business with my customers to benefit me. I go to other taxidermist in our area and find they have usually got a number of mounts hanging around their shop and I will ask, what are all of these? Their reply is, that is stuff I can’t get picked up. My question then is did you call them before you mounted it and they almost always say no.I am going to tell you the way I conduct my business and it has worked very well for me for almost 20 years. I never mount anything that I do not call the customer just prior to mounting their animal. Makes no difference if its my best customer or one I am not sure about. I will preface my call with asking them if they still want the same turn, pose, form etc. Many times they have changed their mind and will want something different. I then ask them “are you ready for me to go ahead with your mount?” Sometimes they will say, “yeah man I have been waiting to hear from you and am excited to get it back. Then many times they may say “I really don’t have the money, I lost my job or any assortment of other problems and my response is, ” no problem just call me when you are ready to mount your whatever. I have told this to a lot of other taxidermist that will say “I don’t call and don’t have time. Well it usually takes me less than 5 minutes to call and it has saved me from having a lot of mounts sitting around the shop I can’t get my money from. I may occasionally misread one and they be slow picking it up but to be honest very seldom. For example, last year I had 2 customers I called that said they did not have the money right now. I told them no problem call me when your ready. During last deer season both of those customers came by and paid the total balance on their mounts and I just finished one of them last week and am mounting the other one next week.. Like my little method or not it has worked very well for me. In almost 20 years I can count on my 2 hands the mounts i have got “stuck with”. I also seldom take deposits on my return customers that have been good business in the past. The ones I never hear back from just adds to my collection of antlers in the building behind my shop
Thank you for your answers. Its been frustrating, but I’ll be patient and wait for his call.
D : I’m not sure if he does Johnny’s personal mounts. He just told me that he’s done a bunch of mounts for the stores. Who knows if its true or not. I do know that he has done some for the Corp. of Engineers because I’ve seen eagles and owls in the shop. I left him with $200 the day I dropped everything off, and gave him another $200 about 8 weeks later. I haven’t received anything at all back yet. I have NOT seen any of my trophies since dropping them off.
lthfp: I like that system of yours. I’ve thought about changing my mind on the hog pose.. from a wall hanger to a pedestal mount, but I didn’t wanna make things more difficult and slow him down. It would be nice for him to just say I’ll get back with you when I’m done. I’ve seen a lot of his work and he does beautiful stuff, but I dont think its right to keep telling me it’ll be done in a week and then that week turns into another month.
lthfp
Very good idea. I have a 1/2 lifesize black bear that has been in my shop ready for pick up for 3 1/2 years. the guy got married AFTER he brought me the bear and his new wife is pregnant and he works for a logger so his work is not steady. Wish I had done what you did. I plan on using it this year in some local events as an advertising piece. He is going to want it one day ..until then, it’s mine.
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Clearly, money can’t buy happiness, and in general, we’re not very good at guessing what will. If you’ve ever wondered why, spin the wheel the BBC examines how we adjust our expectations based on numbers.
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