# Am I getting my money's worth?



## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

My taxidermist charge's $350...do ya'll thinking i'm getting my money's worth?



Number one...


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## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

Number two...


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## sneak1413 (Aug 15, 2007)

i wish your taxidermist was closer to MT... Shoulder mounts out here are $500+


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## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

I think they look pretty good myself, but i'm not a taxidermist or anything. Some place's here they are that high, but I just had to shop around a little. I have to drive about an hour and a half now but i'm happy with the work he does.


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## sneak1413 (Aug 15, 2007)

I would be very happy with that work for $350 myself. They look good to me no matter what you paid.


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## Gig49 (Apr 25, 2010)

Damm, I wish the prices down here in Australia were that reasonable, its crazy down here. I'm no expert but that deer looks very good to me


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## Waterfowlartist (Jun 20, 2011)

I just dont know how some guys can make money at taxidermy (in most cases, with tanning and materials on a whitetail shoulder mount you have about 150.00 in materials). Then in in skinning, fleshing, tanning, and mounting, you have 10 to 14 hrs. wrapped up plus overhead (unless you are pretty fast, which I am not). It takes me a full day just to mount a bird, and I charge 270.00, and Im sure not getting rich in this business. A shoulder mount will cost you 550.00 here in Southeast Pa. As for your question, yes, you got a great deal on the cost of your mount, its clean, and above all it looks to be good quality work !


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## Mid-MI Rick (Dec 6, 2010)

Ears look very good on both, nice clean edges, very nice. One deer has the white scleral eye band showing the other doesn't. Both deer nostirls are painted black with out much depth to them, should be some flesh/pink coloration to them. The second deer tear ducts needs a little work to get it to look like the first deer.(pulled out when it dried) Over all nice work. 

Any mounts starts with good tanning...this is the #1 question that people need to be asking their taxidermists...if this part is not done right from the start, mounts will not last.


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## TimberlandTaxi (Aug 29, 2009)

I suppose the question is, do you feel you got your money's worth? If the answer is yes, then that is all that matters.


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## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

I deffiantly am happy with the work im getting.


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## eblackmer (Mar 13, 2011)

They look good to me


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## lightning6051 (Jul 21, 2011)

For that Price I would say you have some real nice mounts ! I have seen $500 + mounts from some Taxidermist that dont quite look as good 
so I would say stick with him ! Nice deer


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## lewie62 (Jan 9, 2009)

I'm no taxidermist, but he looks pretty good I think! Pretty mount!


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## Matt D (May 12, 2011)

All that really matters is that you are happy with the work. Overall, the mounts do look good. There are a few things that need some work, but for 350.00, you got a nice mount. One thing that bothers me is the fact that some guys wonder why some taxidermists' charge so much. There is a differences that cost more, and in my oppinion, make a high quality mount. Just to give you an example, some guys have all of their capes/lifesize skins professionally tanned. Some guys will DP or dry preserve their capes, which is ALOT cheaper to do. In the long run a good tan is better than a preservative. There is differences in the detail work with the eyes, nose, lipline, etc. Again, I think you did get your money's worth and I am not knocking the work, but there will always be differences in the quality of work, and that is where the cost becomes a factor.


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## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

Matt D said:


> All that really matters is that you are happy with the work. Overall, the mounts do look good. There are a few things that need some work, but for 350.00, you got a nice mount. One thing that bothers me is the fact that some guys wonder why some taxidermists' charge so much. There is a differences that cost more, and in my oppinion, make a high quality mount. Just to give you an example, some guys have all of their capes/lifesize skins professionally tanned. Some guys will DP or dry preserve their capes, which is ALOT cheaper to do. In the long run a good tan is better than a preservative. There is differences in the detail work with the eyes, nose, lipline, etc. Again, I think you did get your money's worth and I am not knocking the work, but there will always be differences in the quality of work, and that is where the cost becomes a factor.



He told me he sends them to a tannery and has them tanned instead of the dry preserving. Weather that's true or not I can't say...


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## breiner11 (Apr 29, 2005)

Matt is dead on. Those are very clean and smooth mounts. $350 is a very good price for that quality. The devil is on the detail and that's what separates a $600 from a $350. Check out Matt's website of his finish work and you'll see.


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## lungbuster123 (Jan 30, 2009)

WOW I just had a look at your website Matt incredible work! $450 is a heck of a deal on a mount like that. The one you have of the buck with two doe's is an awesome piece!


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## C Broad Arrow (Jun 27, 2008)

I had my taxidermist do my mount. Here is my deer.


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## Matt D (May 12, 2011)

Hey thanks for the kind words guys, I appreciate it. I have to say I am my worst critic, and I am always striving to produce a better mount. I appreciate you guys checking out my site, if you have any questions, or would like to see my work first hand in my studio, just shoot me an e-mail and I will get back to you as soon as I can.


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## deerhunter3241 (Jun 7, 2004)

You have a taxidermist doing excellent commercial work for a fair price. Everything is anatomically correct, no major flaws, and he/she is taking time to consider details around the eyes and nose. 

I see people post on here all the time about you get what you pay for and their is a difference in high quality mounts. What a lot of people do not understand is their are two types of taxidermy, commercial and competition. In order to make a living in the commercial business at $350 per head you can't spend more than about 10 total hours on a mount. The guys/gals that are reliable are doing good work at this price and are the heart and soul of the industry. If you are paying 600-750 for a head then you better be receiving a competition quality piece that has approximately 20-25 hours of hard work poured into it or you are just flat being ripped off.

These are just my thoughts, as I have been in the business and currently do both aspects.


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## Sask Riverrunt (Aug 18, 2006)

Worth every penny you paid. They look great. Up here in saskatchewan a job like that is average $700-$800.


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## proskinnertts (Mar 8, 2005)

looks like a nice commericial mount, well worth $350...IMO he his undercharging...but that is your gain and his loss


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## lthfp (Sep 30, 2011)

as has already been stated if your happy you got a good deal. There are a lot of things that could be discussed about anybody's work out there but it comes down to what you are comfortable with. For the gentleman who said a competition mount should take 20-25 hours is much faster than I am. My last competition piece probably has more like 80 total hours in it. We get 450.00 for a standard shoulder whitetail mount and we try to give our customers a high quality commercial mount which takes 12 to 14 hours total time. Our cost just for materials is 160.00. That of course does not include our other expenses such as power, shop expense,tools and maintenance cost. You are welcome to go to our website and look at some of our parkerstaxidermy


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## HEAVYWEIGHT (Sep 18, 2011)

The mount looks very good


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