Taxidermy Negotiations

soupcreek · Oct 27, 2018

A friend shot a nice buck and took it to a local taxi. Even though it is a really nice buck, he was on the fence about paying for a shoulder mount. He asked the taxi what he would give him for the cape if he just decided to do his own euro mount. The taxi said $35. After a couple days he went back and the taxi had pulled the skull out of the cape. My friend decided to do his own euro mount and asked how much he owed the taxi for his time to remove the skull from the cape and get it back. $75 was the answer.

I don't deal a lot with taxidermy, and neither does my friend, but both of those prices seem off to me. Its a super nice, really big cape in great condition. And I have seen a taxi pull a skull out of a cape in about 10 minutes.

At this point, my friend's brother wants to use the cape for another old set of horns from a grandfather. He doesn't want to use this taxidermist, but it will cost $75 to get the cape back.

Am I nuts to think that this guy is jerking him around? It seems like he is holding the cape hostage at this point. It seems like everything he has done has been to manipulate the emotions of the situation to make my friend feel obligated to pay for a shoulder mount. Do those prices seem reasonable?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. If I am up in the night and the taxi is just doing business, please tell it to me straight.

Soup

DW · Oct 27, 2018

Did the $35 change hands?

#livelikezac

Z · Oct 27, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Oct-28-18 AT 00:45AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Oct-28-18 AT 00:41?AM (MST)

If the cape has been tanned and prepped for mounting (highly doubt it), then the $75 is reasonable. Otherwise, it is the shooters property if it wasn't bought by the taxi. The taxi might have an abandoned parts clause in his contract or posted rules, but those are usually months past the dropoff or completion of the mount. You'd have to have been made aware of this rule somehow.

BTW, I'd cape an animal out for the price of a beer(rum and coke if you have a bottle open somewhere) and some story telling while I do it

. I wouldn't charge $75 if I could get away with it but I will walk you through it if you don't know how. I'm not in the business to make money off taxidermy, so take my opinion with a grain.

1911 · Oct 27, 2018

Bunch of high rollers around here.

YBO · Oct 27, 2018

Now that was funny.

Tristate · Oct 28, 2018

I own a taxidermy business. A pretty successful one.

There are many variables we don't know in this story. First we don't know the quality of the cape. Second we don't know how many extra capes just like his the taxidermist already has.

Hypothetical scenario at my business. Man comes by with a nice whitetail late season with an 18 inch neck. I've got 20 of those already in the freezer some of them going back three years. I really don't need the cape but I will actually offer him 35 dollars and preserve the relationship. Two options arise. First I can immediately flesh, salt, and get skin off to the Tanner. Second I can turn the skin over to a trainee and let him whack it to pieces so I'm not letting an employee learn on your shoulder mount. Then the skin gets scrapped. Either way I'm out a minimum of 90 bucks.

Most people will call a late season 18 inch cape a "nice big cape". In reality I great cape is 20 inches or bigger and early. Those are much harder to find. Everybody wants one and I e probably only got 3 in the freezer.

More details. I can take a head out of a mule deer in about 20 to 25 minutes. I'm fast. I don't make mistakes. I still have all ten fingers. Also if you bring me the best cape I have ever seen and you cut it all the way up the back it just lost $100 in value.

Next I may be nice enough to loose a little money on a cape to preserve a client relationship BUT I AIN'T GOING TO PAY OR LOSE MONEY SO YOU CAN GO FEED MY COMPETITION. Honestly the minute you informed me you were taking the cape to another taxidermist I would have charged you $125. Nothing personal. Just business. I've got five families I'm feeding. I'm not going to take money from them, weaken my company, and loose market share to a competitor if I can help it.

Personally I think this taxidermist treated you very well. I hope you build a good long lasting business relationship with him. Hope you get a good buck also.

Cheers

257Tony · Oct 28, 2018

I agree with tristate on this one. All this should have been negotiated before you left the head with him.

mevertsen · Oct 28, 2018

I imagine that the taxidermist has to keep things moving along to stay in business. I imagine he also doesn't want a head sitting for two days taking up space and stinking.

IMO if you drop something off at the taxidermist, you had better have an idea of what you want to do with it. It can't just sit there.

I caped out my deer and put the cape in the freezer until I was certain that I wanted to get it mounted. Then I called the taxidermist and dropped it off.

Also, supply and demand. How many capes does he already have in the freezer and is it really worth $35 to him? Most things are only worth what the buyer is willing to pay. Take it or leave it.

I say pay the taxidermist to do the euro Mount and be happy.

Hecks, the same guy that is doing my buck is also doing a euro Mount for my daughter's little buck. Is it "worth" it? I can think of a lot worse things to spend money on.

elkassassin · Oct 28, 2018

First Mistake your Buddy made was not getting the Buck Shoulder Mounted!

Don't know if anybody's noticed?

But it's all about money anymore!

Time = Money!

Most of them Guys didn't learn how to Cape a Head out in 10 minutes without lots/years of Practice!

A Big Muley Cape is perty Valuable in today's World!

Anybody that Buys Capes Will & Do try to make a little Profit on them!

Most Taxidermists wouldn't destroy Their/There/They're Reputation over a 75.00 Deal of any kind!

But there are Exceptions to the Rule!

I know so many people in so many places
They make allot of money but they got sad faces

It Ain't Easy being Me!

2_Point · Oct 28, 2018

ten minutes to cape is a hack job. tristates post above is close to a hundred percent right. the taxidermist dealt with your buddy for at least 15 minutes when he dropped it off and then had to spend 20 minutes or more to cape it and will spend more time when he comes and picks it all up to take to another taxidermist. probably has an hour into it and had to do the dirty work when he is buried doing real clients work. with clients like you and your buddy, who needs robbers. pay the man and move on.

Zeke · Oct 28, 2018

There?s your answer! (See all above)

If we were talking $750 then there would be a BIG issue but good Lord, $75/35 is just diet Dew money for most guys who hunt.

I wouldn't personally do it for 2x that much, if I were a taxidermist ....but I only play one on TV. Lol

Pay the man who is WORKING. It doesn't seem out of line at all to pay a guy for his expertise, time and effort.

Zeke

#livelikezac

bowhunt · Oct 28, 2018

$75 seems like a fair price to cape out an animal.
I cannot imagine anyone doing it for less.

littlebighorn · Oct 28, 2018

Many years ago I dabbled in doing my own taxidermy work. It was kinda fun and after I got semi-decent at it, I was even talked into doing some work for a few friends. But when I finally got to a point of charging people for their mounts, I realized that I could never make money at it because of the time it took to do it right. A good taxidermist is an artist and if that's his income he has to be reimbursed appropriately for his time.

+1 to the above comments.

elkdozer · Oct 28, 2018

Pay the Taxi...

What do you do for a living?? Don't you like your paycheck?

If you owned a business wouldn't you need to make a reasonable profit to: pay the Light Bill, Water, Equipment, Rent, Oh yeah take home a few dollars to feed your family???

Sorry to Rag on ya but as a business owner I can't stand not to say something anymore to the Brain Dead Folks that really have no F-n idea where their paychecks come from!!

OK I'm done

one_dryboot · Oct 28, 2018

It has to be worth his time to do it. Doesn't matter if it only took 5 minutes. Taxi went out of his way to provide a service. Pay it.

soupcreek · Oct 28, 2018

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I asked you to tell it to me straight and you did. I appreciate the honesty. Like I said, my experience in this area is very limited and you have widened my perspective. Thank you.

Soup

heywouldya · Oct 28, 2018

The cape is yours, but you need to pay the taxi for his time caping it for you. You aren't talking about a lot of money here, so I'd say pay up and build a relationship with the guy. If you feel he was dishonest, don't work with him again. I just left Wyoming and gave a taxi 2 mule deer capes and 1 antelope cape. With that being said, I think it would have cost me $75 to have the animal caped for me. Hope this helps.

hwy

BrowningRage · Oct 29, 2018

$75 sounds steep for caping out, but I don't know this taxidermist. If he is well established and charges dudes $800+ for a deer head, maybe he charges $75 for caping out. This should have been discussed prior to leaving the head with him.

I once sold a nice cape to a taxidermist. He paid me $50 and he took it off the head himself. My friend later took a cape to the same guy, and he was only paying $35 that year. So that can vary a little I'm sure.

If the taxi didn't pay the $35, then the cape is still your friend's and he needs to go pick it up ASAP. The longer he waits, the greater the odds that the cape gets used, and that this thing will spiral out of his control. If the matter of doing the shoulder mount comes up, tell your friend to use these 4 words- "I can't afford it".

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24

roadrunner · Oct 29, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Oct-29-18 AT 12:31PM (MST)[p]Tristate's post is correct, and I agree with it.

Another thing to consider is this: wage. The taxidermist has the right to his wage just like anyone else. Mechanics charge a shop fee in the form of an hourly rate with either a 1 hr or 2 hr minimum. The time actually spent is irrelevant because the same overhead for the business applies per hour.

$50 per hour wage equals an annual salary of $104,000. How many make that kind of money? Answer is a lot. But, the taxidermist only makes his wage based on what work they get, it's not necessarily consistent the way it is for Mr. Lineman.

Only a fool works for free...

dmandoes · Oct 29, 2018

good lord! hell must of froze over. to many people agreeing with tristate.

Deerlove · Oct 29, 2018

Yep I agree with him too!

eelgrass · Oct 29, 2018

I only have a couple heads mounted that were done years ago. My guy has been doing it for decades and doesn't take any new clients last I heard. If I get a good big cape in great condition, I just swing by and let him have it if he wants to remove it. He usually sends out one of his crew to do it while we visit for a few minutes. Some times he passes too.

quest · Oct 30, 2018

I agree, $75 sounds about right. If you had to buy a green cape it would be about $100. It's not that hard to cape out a deer head...theres lots of how to do it's on YouTube. You could resale that cape if it's in good shape and a decent size or leave it with the taxidermist as credit for your next job? There?s different ways to look at it, where everyone can win.

Snoopdogg · Oct 30, 2018

>Thanks to everyone who has responded.
> I asked you to
>tell it to me straight
>and you did. I
>appreciate the honesty. Like
>I said, my experience in
>this area is very limited
>and you have widened my
>perspective. Thank you.
>
>Soup

Good perpective. Handled like an adult.

cbeard · Oct 30, 2018

I agree with Tristate too.

foundation · Oct 30, 2018

Pretty much the only thing I have read from Tristate that makes any sense.

desperatehills · Oct 30, 2018

I was in Arizona and wanted to use my home taxidermist in Oregon. The taxidermist there was cool with it and charged me $50 to cape my animal. $75 is certainly not unreasonable

Tikka · Oct 30, 2018

Just cape your own it's not that difficult...

callsalot · Nov 2, 2018

Having worked in the outdoor industry one of the biggest complaints is we all think we're best friends so everybody wants a break. Those that are in the outdoor industry are there to make a living period like everyone else. $75 is fair, I seriously spend more than that on big gulps at 7 eleven in a month and his time is more important than that.