Got my deer mount back from the taxidermist today!!!!

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Beautiful. I think they look better not brushed down. More realistic. I've got a few old ones that need remounting but I can't make myself spend the money. Last one I had done was a full shoulder mount with a beautiful wood backboard and it cost me a whopping $128 dollars. Not even sure what cost is today. Last quote I had to remount one was in the $450 range. I might just take the horns and put them on a plaque and imagine there is a head under them!
 
Last one I had done was a full shoulder mount with a beautiful wood backboard and it cost me a whopping $128 dollars. Not even sure what cost is today.

I paid 5 bills for this one, and my guy said he was going up to 600 next year. He's had the same price for 6-8 years now.
 
Nice deer , I would have spent the $500 on him also . That is the going price around here , with a year turnaround .
 
Could be that once in lifetime trophy, who knows, so money well spent. Great grand son to grand son, tell me the story how great grand pa stalked that big fellow.
 
I understand that there are taxidermists that can deliver a life-like mount, and there are "taxidermists" that wrap hide around a form, and you may or may not be able to tell what creature it represents. I have seen numerous examples of both, and you, sir, have DEFINITELY found one of the former. That is a truly beautiful mount, and you should be proud to have harvested such a fine animal.
 
I understand that there are taxidermists that can deliver a life-like mount, and there are "taxidermists" that wrap hide around a form, and you may or may not be able to tell what creature it represents. I have seen numerous examples of both, and you, sir, have DEFINITELY found one of the former. That is a truly beautiful mount, and you should be proud to have harvested such a fine animal.

This guy really knows what he's doing. A lot of folks I know use friends who do it on the side because it saves them a few dollars, but I think there are some things you don't skimp on. Like whughett said, it may be a once in a lifetime deer. You don't see them this big very often where I hunt. So I want it to be done right, and I want it to last.

I am beyond happy with it.
 
Nice mount, but you just watch. Next year you'll kill one that you can put the rack in. I had it happen with a Smallmouth Bass. Caught a 4 pounder and had it mounted. The week after I got it home I caught a 4 1/4.
 
There was an award winning taxidermist around the Raeford NC area about 20 years ago. Not sure if he is still around. I got to visit his shop and his specialty was full body deer mounts. He had one with a doe standing by a buck and the buck was raised up on his back legs eating leaves out of a tree that of course was part of the mount. It was breathtaking. I did take some pictures but they are long gone. Back then he quoted me around 600 to remount one but he really didn't want to do a regular mount. Sort of acted like it was beneath him. He did have a right to be a little cocky, but he lost me when he basically insulted me when I ask about doing a remount.
 
Nice mount, but you just watch. Next year you'll kill one that you can put the rack in. I had it happen with a Smallmouth Bass. Caught a 4 pounder and had it mounted. The week after I got it home I caught a 4 1/4.
That happened to me but in a reverse way or actually to my son when he was about 10 years old. He caught a Bluegill that weighed 18 oz and around here that is a real nice fish. I offered to have it mounted and he refused and threw it back! Said he wanted a "real trophy". I laughed since I have fished for bluegill all my life and only caught one that weighed slightly over a pound. Well the little smart ass caught one about a week later that weighed 21 oz. Same pond and out of the same hole. Of course he had to tell me I told you so and I started to put it in the cooler to have mounted and he decided to throw it back too. Believe it or not, he said he would rather try and catch it again after it grew some more! He never caught another one nearly that big and I spend countless hours trying to catch either one for the 2nd time. We both struck out. He got interested in girls and golf and quit fishing and I got divorced and lost the right to fish in the in-laws pond.
 
Very cool.
Congrats on a great mount.
600+ here and a year turn around for my small racked but 14 point nontypical.
Wouldnt have done it but this one had 3 main beams.
 
IMG_4230.JPG That's a good looking deer and I especially like the long hair. I do taxidermy work and it's natural for the hair to want to lay down. Taxidermists when they want to make the deer look especially good do a technique that is called back combing. Be careful here because back combing can really ruin the looks of a mount if it is not done correctly. The idea isn't to comb the hair backwards but it is to carefully lift the hair away from the body to make it stand out. I concentrate on a very small area being careful not to distort or break the hair. I like to do the back combing in the lower neck and the lower shoulders. Do not back comb in the brisket area. Getting the tips of the hair away from the body makes the body of the deer look bigger. Remember that the natural flow of the hair on a deer is down and to the rear. There is only so much that you can do to make a mount look better and less is often better than more. I've won several ribbons at taxidermy conventions so I have had experience in doing this.

I use a wire dog brush and a small soft brush to do the back combing.
 
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