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Originally Posted by tnbowhunter
As long as it's frozen "hair slippage" is not to bad of a problem, but yes your right, it can happen. A lot depends on the condition of the head before it was frozen. Hair slipage is most often caused by bacteria. You wouldn't believe the condition I get some of my heads in. I'm a taxidermist not a miracle worker, but some people think that taxidermists can fix anything. The deer i'm working on now was shot through the neck with a 12 gauge slug, you can imagine the amount of damage that occured. Bullet holes can be repaired but to fix them properly I have to cut a larger hole to take out any damaged hide and any cut hair. This makes the neck smaller and a lot harder to slip over the form. I could use a smaller form but i'm sure the customer wouldn't be very happy about that.
I had one guy bring in a head and wanted a full shoulder mount on it. After it thawed out I discovered it was just barely long enough to make a neck mount. The newer forms take a lot of hide, I just wish I could skin the whole deer out myself, it would sure make my job a lot easier.
If you paid $250.00 for your mount you got a bargain. Looks like he did a very, very good job on it. That's what I charge, and if I were to break it down on how much per hour I would just be making around minimum wage, lol. Thankfully I don't depend on my taxidermy money to put food on the table, but it does pay for my hunting lease every year, plus a little "she money" if you know what I mean.  |
I know a couple guys that do taxidermy and have listened to a few HORROR stories. I think the best one was when a guy brought in a head and wanted a full shoulder mount and when my buddy asked to see "what he had" he couldn't believe his eyes. Turns out after the guy got to his deer and it was still alive so he decided to finish him off BY CUTTING HIS THROAT!!!! Damn near cut the entire head off. I have seen quite a few with the "BRISKET" cut all the way through and half way up the neck. I can imagine some of the things you have seen.