My taxi called and my deer head was sent to the transfer station near my home so i got there today and was in shock the cape is ruined,the hole right shoulder is gray almost white with what looks like had been shot with buckshot, next the mold was too small and they bunched the skin up and sewed it so it has a 1 inch main except for the spot near the head where the hair is missing in a spot where the sewing stops. the cape is twisted in the front and makes the hair swirl, all bad. so if the cape was bad would you have put it on?? I would not have had a problem if i would have gotten a call about a bad cape I refused the deer head and told the transfer station to send it back to the taxi, and come up with a solution. i dont even no where to start. What should i do.... it is going to need a new cape,and maybe a new taxi. at what point should they have stopped and made a call to me. the right shoulder looks like it was in bleach. and why would they just sew the cape together and leave a main like a horse. I am going to let them relook at there work, but what can or will they do? any help or ideas????
If he's a reputable taxi worth anything, he'll give you your money back. But then again, if the above was true I wouldn't have expected you to be writing this post in the first place. Tell him you want it remounted with a new cape; you'll have to pay for the extra cape, but then again you would have had to any way if the cape was bad on your deer (My taxi goes over the capes with his customers when the animals are brought in to help avoid this.). If the taxi ruined your cape during the fleshing or tanning process, he should pay for it. Capes are going for around $100 - $125 these days, just FYI.
no i didn't think about taking the cam to the station. I was hot and my frame of mind was somewhere between getting ripped off and getting kicked in the nads.. i think i am screwed, no one in there right mind would send out work like this. I want the deer back.. but right,
If you have pictures of the deer, I would take the deer mount and pictures to a new taxi. They can get you a new cape and the right size form from the pictures. A good taxi can work magic with pictures. Thats just what I would do, even if I have to pay for it again.
The shop i norm use went under and i had to send the deer thru a local transfer to a taxi shop about a 100 miles away. legit shop $125.00 upfront and balance due when it is returned to me, I also have seen capes not turn out well and what point as a taxi can you tell it's a bad one cape. it's not about the money if the cape is bad...it's bad why would they finish a job and send it out,, a simple and call and i would have bought a cape, or the right size form for that matter.
I sent the deer with a pic in November to the current taxi, (new shop ) that i have never used before, most all shops have closed in my area. I will wait to here from them about what they can do about this mount. I just feel that if they would send out work such as this and think the customer would be happy or accept the work they did they probably dont care. the transfer station said it will be about a week, So should i just go pick it up and send it to someone else and eat the 400.00 dollars?
The way your describing the hair Im betting it has slipped from a bad tan. It will show the grey hairs that lay underneith. I would have refused it to. good luck with it!
Thats what Im thinking. When the tannery gets the hide they take a shaver to it and sometimes they shave too close and cut the hair folicles and the hair slips. As for the Main like a horse... When they sewed it up they probably cross stitched it when its supposed to be a spiral stitch and they probably didnt make sure that the hair was out from between the thread. Hope it works out for you.
I dont know what a transfer station is, but you should have checked out the taxidermist before he got your business. A full refund should be given back, along with a cape or a $150. But to tell you the truth you will be hard pressed to get any of it. If this guys work is this bad, he probably has this happen alot. Try to get your money back, then go to a butcher shop next season and find another cape, take the time this summer to find a good taxidermist. After that expeirenence you should really look at his work, and call his references.
Sorry about your bad experience, hope it works out for you. I refused a fish once. Went to this guy off of great recommendations with 2 fish. You could not tell the species of the fish from his mount. (brook trout) The other fish was ok, but I told him to re-paint the brook. The 2nd time around it looks superb, I don't know what he was thinking though.
Like someone else said did you check his work out 1st before giving him your deer? That sure sucks and I most definitely wouldn't of accepted the deer either. Don't back off either, make him follow through with this or at least give your money back so you can go elsewhere.
that really sucks. when i took my head to the taxi there was something(can't remember exactly what it said) about him not being responsible for the tanning process because he sends it out. i do believe that it said something like a new cape would have to be used if that happened, but not i'm going to use your ruined cape. i would for sure try and get a full refund or let them know that you will inform everyone and the better business bureau that his place sucks. i'm sure he doesn't want to lose his business over this and will give your money back. then like others stated above take it to someone good, show pics and have them locate another cape, which will cost you. my first buck was a 14 pointer i shot him as he was running at me and blew off his whole bottom jaw and cut his spine. needless to say i had it mounted with another cape by my dads friend and he used a cape from a smaller and younger deer. it looks good but i was a little disappointed. hopr you get your money back and get it fixed, sorry you got screwed
I'd be trying to get the antlers back. You're probably going to eat the deposit but I certainly wouldn't pay the full $400. If the cape was bad even a novice taxidermist should have recognized that and it should have never gone on the form. Sounds like this guy doesn't know his art and is just trying to make a buck. Best of luck.
taxi called me today and told me no deer left there shop with mis/colored cape and she will drive the 100 mile one way trip but not for a few weeks, so it will sit at the local transfer station the shop uses for drop off's . SHE was very unpleasant and insisted that she did the work and no one else does the work and it was fine when it left her shop. and that the deer had a cow lick... wich it didn't. I had to tell her twice to not raise her voice to me on the phone and told her many times if it needed a new cape all she had to do was call me, but she says the deer was fine. also the transfer shop had many deer that the place had done on there wall and the shop has been in business for 20 years that i know of just out of my area. So i am go over and snap some pics if the guy is there.
Transfer shop? Cowlick? That just sounds hokey to me. The whole deal sounds pretty shady. I'd want to arrange to meet the taxidermist there when she shows up.
Something similar happen to my relative. He shot a 600lb+ PA bear and decided to get it mounted. Taxi returned it on a 400lb mold with the fur tucked up under in several placed. He sued the taxi for a refund and i believe the cost of having someone else mount it correctly.
I have been doing taxidermy with a friend for a few years, and am now taking in animals on my own, and I have to ask what is a transfer station, a middle man? I dont think I would do work on a deer that I didn't meet the hunter, listen to the story of the kill, let him feel comfortable with me and know what he wants and let him know what I do, and dont do. We all live and learn man, find a good taxidermist and take care of him. Thats what I did for years now in return he tought me his art.
