SE Mass taxidermists?

[Bigfudge16]

I’m sure this has been covered but my search didn’t yield a lot of results. Anyone in the south shore or south coast area have a taxidermist that they love? The guys that I hunt with only seem to know one guy that they use but they always seem to be disappointed for various reasons with the final product. Who do you guys use?

 

[57West]

Fernando at Amazing Detail Taxidermy is an artist. Everyone i know who has ever seen his work uses him. You can see mqny examples of his work on display at Reedys Archery. He has done two shoulder mounts for me and I hope to go for a third this year. His prices are probably a little higher than you are used to but well worth it. I cant stress it enough, an artist.

Good luck.

 

[71montess]

I’m sure this has been covered but my search didn’t yield a lot of results. Anyone in the south shore or south coast area have a taxidermist that they love? The guys that I hunt with only seem to know one guy that they use but they always seem to be disappointed for various reasons with the final product. Who do you guys use?

Aside from that, let's see a picture of the victim .

 

[Bigfudge16]

Aside from that, let's see a picture of the victim .

My first good size buck with a bow

 

[71montess]

My first good size buck with a bow
View attachment 690820

Nice hanger, congrats !

 

[Bigfudge16]

Never did update this thread. I found a guy in Somerset that came highly recommended and brought the head and cape to him. His trophy room was very impressive, cant wait to see his work. 18 mo turnaround though

 

[Mark from MA]

Never did update this thread. I found a guy in Somerset that came highly recommended and brought the head and cape to him. His trophy room was very impressive, cant wait to see his work. 18 mo turnaround though

Awesome! Beautiful Buck!

My taxi is a good friend and only does mounts for his buddies. He's been at it a long time and used to work for himself doing it as a side job for over 30 years. I let him take as long as he wants, Ive waited up to 2 years before, as I always tell him not to rush I have 7 heads on the wall and could care less really. I give him full payment up front, and a tip at pickup time. But he doesn't charge me what some big shop would.

Anyway, he always told me he gets a kick out of the guys that are always bummed that it takes 12-18 months, yet when it comes time for them to pick it up they are scrambling for the measly 400 or 500 dollars and have to leave it there longer. Bunch of clowns.......thats why he quit doing it for the general public. They are all hot to trot when they drop it off, but have 12-18 months to save and can't come up with the money when its time to pick up. He's had to try and sell heads before and he's done doing that shit.

Im sure a head costs a lot more now, but I haven't done one since 2018 when I shot my 220# 9 point in CT, that one cost $400. Which is probably the last one I'll ever do.....they become dust collectors. But I was really into archery in my 20's-40's and shot some nice NE bucks.

 

[Bigfudge16]

Awesome! Beautiful Buck!

My taxi is a good friend and only does mounts for his buddies. He's been at it a long time and used to work for himself doing it as a side job for over 30 years. I let him take as long as he wants, Ive waited up to 2 years before, as I always tell him not to rush I have 7 heads on the wall and could care less really. I give him full payment up front, and a tip at pickup time. But he doesn't charge me what some big shop would.

Anyway, he always told me he gets a kick out of the guys that are always bummed that it takes 12-18 months, yet when it comes time for them to pick it up they are scrambling for the measly 400 or 500 dollars and have to leave it there longer. Bunch of clowns.......thats why he quit doing it for the general public. They are all hot to trot when they drop it off, but have 12-18 months to save and can't come up with the money when its time to pick up. He's had to try and sell heads before and he's done doing that shit.

Im sure a head costs a lot more now, but I haven't done one since 2018 when I shot my 220# 9 point in CT, that one cost $400. Which is probably the last one I'll ever do.....they become dust collectors. But I was really into archery in my 20's-40's and shot some nice NE bucks.

This guy told me similar stories about people in the past and asked for half the charge up front for that reason which seemed perfectly reasonable to me but apparently people take issue with that sometimes. He also mentioned that I could swing by at any time if I wanted to make partial payments which I don't feel the need to but appreciated.

The time frame is tough because I'm very excited to see it, feels like Christmas haha but I totally understand and definitely don't want to rush the artist.

He charged me $700 out the door which was much less than I was expecting

 

[Mark from MA]

This guy told me similar stories about people in the past and asked for half the charge up front for that reason which seemed perfectly reasonable to me but apparently people take issue with that sometimes. He also mentioned that I could swing by at any time if I wanted to make partial payments which I don't feel the need to but appreciated.

The time frame is tough because I'm very excited to see it, feels like Christmas haha but I totally understand and definitely don't want to rush the artist.

He charged me $700 out the door which was much less than I was expecting

Half charge up front is customary and expected. That at least covers the form, supplies and skin tanning, should the customer skip out....well then its just labor.

My first big 140 inch deer I shot in the Berkshires in the late 1980's as a kid, I felt the same way......wanted it right away. I will say my Taxi was younger and worked a lot faster back then.
I think I got it back within a years time. The mount still looks pretty good actually.

A lot of times, at least with my guy, the waiting was in the tanning process. He would have to wait to get a certain size batch of skins to send to the tannery to get a good price on it. Shipping one by one was not cost effective, nor good. He didn't do any home tanning or shit like that. He would say if its not done perfect, the hair will slip and the skin will dry out over time and pull away or look "too tight on the mount" After how my mounts look after 25 years.....still looking good, I believe him.

As I thought it...would be around 700-800 nowadays and probably will be a grand soon. My 2018 buck will be the last one I do.

 

[Bigfudge16]

Half charge up front is customary and expected. That at least covers the form, supplies and skin tanning, should the customer skip out....well then its just labor.

My first big 140 inch deer I shot in the Berkshires in the late 1980's as a kid, I felt the same way......wanted it right away. I will say my Taxi was younger and worked a lot faster back then.
I think I got it back within a years time. The mount still looks pretty good actually.

As I thought it...would be around 700-800 nowadays and probably will be a grand soon. My 2018 buck will be the last one I do.

from what I've been hearing the price Im paying is definitely on the very low end of the scale, I was expecting the bill to be over 1000.

If i shoot something larger or more interesting I'll definitely pay the price to have it mounted again, but I'm really hoping to get into some upland bird hunting and turkey hunting. I'd like to have a pheasant mount