Issue with my mule deer mount !

B

BigBuckKiller

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The buck I shot on the Henrys last year is in the Taxidermist. I just got a call from him and he said "I have some bad news".apparently the hair came out on the neck. I went and looked at it and its a spot 3"X7" starting in the white patch down.whatever tanery he sent it too shaved it too close and ended up cutting the roots of the hair off causing it to fall out.Just wondering if anyone knows a taxidermist in utah where I can buy the piece I need to patch it .My taxidermist has a few hides he uses as parts and pieces but the color and length are not the same.
 
Why the hell did the tanery shave the hair? I'm not a taxidermist so I don't know, is that a common practice?
 
That does suck. Ive got a real nice Bookclifffs muley cape in my freezer from last Oct. I cant legally sell it but you can have it for free. Its adeep haired full cape in perfect condition if you want it let me know , my wife needs the freezer space. BH1
 
Now Buckhunter1 that is what this site is all about,You're welcome at my fire anytime.Dang that might fine of you.


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Very generous offer, Buckhunter. These types of things make me proud to associate with you guys.
 
BBK,

I am not a taxi, but I would think long and hard about replacing versus fixing? If it has one bad spot maybe there is more you are not seeing yet?

I would talk to buckhunter about his cape? That is pretty damn nice of him.
 
Buckhunter1
Thank you very much. I have been very upset over this. I will send you a pm with my number so we can talk.What happend was when they send the hide in they put it in a machine that shaves all the fat and meat off. The guy running it shaved it too close and cut the roots off . Thats the only thing holding the hair in.That was a once in a lifetime tag and probley a once in a lifetime buck. I never thought this would have happend.
 
Sorry to hear about that bigbuck...I've been doing taxidermy for almost 40 years and bad things do happen to good folks, I'm impressed that your taxidermist was honest enough to tell you the truth about what happened to your cape. Tha hair of mammals is very delicate and not held in the cape by much at all. I would suggest that you take BH1's offer and replace your cape. I know it's not the same one that was on your deer,....but it will make a nice mount that you can enjoy for many, many years. Good luck with all this.
 
Sounds like you had a crappy taxidermist. If Greg Heil was still down there that wouldn't have happened...But we have him up in Idaho now and not letting him leave.
 
sorry to hear about your cape....I agree with ktc, patching it is a bad idea. get a whole new cape for sure, it wont be your bucks cape but it will look a helluva lot better.

I know how you feel, it happened to me on a book speedgoat and it takes a while to get over it.

by the way...my taxidermist didnt have the nards to own up to it, he tried to pass another cape off to me without saying anything. (previous taxidermist)
 
you know its kinda funny you said that .he didnt actually tell me that .he said the tanery said it was from heat damage. there is know way cause it cold and I had the hide off really fast. It was shot on Thursday and to the shop on sunday. WE always take very good care of our animales.I was actually kinda insulted when he told me that. I took the bad piece to my old taxidermist and asked him what he thought and he said know way was it heat damage. thats when he told me what happend. He said if the hide is spoiled from heat then the skin starts to blister. the bad piece he cut out had nothing wrong with the skin at all
 
buckhunter1,

Has anyone told you today you are a good guy?;-) Good to see someone step up for free and help a guy out.
 
BUY THE CAPE FROM Buckhunter & DON'T SCREW WITH THAT ALREADY SCREWED UP HIDE!!!

MIGHT COST YOU LITTLE EXTRA!!!

IT'LL BE THE BEST THING YOU EVER DID!!!

"I'M NOT COMPLAINING,I'M TELLING IT THE WAY IT IS,SOME OF YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT,THATS O.K.,SOMETIMES THE TRUTH HURTS & YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT,OR YOU FIND OUT WHAT THE FACTS ARE,STAND UP & VOICE YOUR OWN OPINION,THIS IS STILL AMERICA THE LAST TIME I CHECKED"!!!

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REMEMBER!!!

THERE'S ONLY ONE bobcat!!!
 
I doubt that it was the taxidermist's "screw-up" more than likely the tannery is at fault. Unfortunately tanneries pay little and that results in employees who don't even speak english.
 
Hey BigBuckKIller,
My cousin does taxidermy, he might be able to hook you up with something. I also have a couple other family members who do taxidermy.

Longridge
 
That really blows balls ----
I heard in Az. Kruegers Kreations is the #1 Antelope Taxidermist --NOT Mule Deer.

The Tax. needs to step up to the plate and take some responsibility for the screwed up deer of a lifetime since everyone else just wants to point fingers.
Anyway the least he could do is put a tree branch with snow on it (deer peering thru the tree) in front of the damaged area to hide as much as possible. Making the mount a semi-pedestal or whatever the proper terminology should be.
THIS IS THE VERY LEAST THOSE A.H.'S SHOULD DO.

SORRY BRO catch you on the next hunt My Az. Archery Unit 10/18 Lope Tag

Later Bran

G
 
Did you get the cape and are you putting it on your mount so we can see it.


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Way to go Buckhunter1. Your a class act. Welcome at my camp anytime.

Hope the cape works for the damaged one and we get pictures when it it complete!!!
 
Az. Kruegers Kreations is a excellent taxidermist. Hes a world champion. He knows his animals.
 
That's unfortunate BBK. It's a bad deal when you can not use the cape that goes with the buck, but you still have the Antlers and that is what counts.

I took a buck on the Henry's in 06, I would like to see a picture of yours.
 
>Az. Kruegers Kreations is a excellent
>taxidermist. Hes a world champion.
>He knows his animals.


Kruegers Kreation is a very excellent taxidermist. Whatever it is that happend is not because of him.I also know it was not because of me.When I dropped it off he even told me it was in good condition. It is 100% the tanneries fault.As far as the hide buckhunter sent me the post office kept it and never sent me a notice that they had it until 13 days after it arrived.needless to say it was a box of soup.I would like to post a picture but I was asked to wait until it came out in the September/October issue of Muley Crazy.
 
Sorry that all this has happened to your deer bigbuck...it sucks for sure. As I said before....bad stuff happens to good folks now and then...sad but true. The bad thing about mounting mammals is this....they have hair, which can and will turn loose and fall out sometimes. We as hunters and taxidermists have no control over the critter before it's killed, so we know nothing about what has happened to it just prior to our killing it. Any number of things can affect the hide and hair. The animal may be sick or injured and we see no evidence of it at all. One good thing about doing fish as opposed to mammals....there is really nothing on a fish that I can't recreate with epoxy.....not so on a hairy critter....good luck with your deer hope you get to enjoy it for many, many years to come.
 
While it may be possible for the tannery to have screwed it up...that is the classic location for a cape to slip due to bacteria. Lots of people cut off the cape, with the head still attached, then they plop it down on the ground, or in the back of a truck etc, and the body heat gets trapped in that area, which causes slipping. Often times you don't see the damage materialize until it is back from the tanney.

I certainly cannot see patching an area like that either. I have never tried to patch anything. If it is too large of an area to cut out, you are better off with a replacement cape.
 
There is no way the spot on my hide was from heat damage.I have shot and caped too many animales for that to happen.I live in Arizona and hunt in the desert and have never lost one yet and we have 15 mounts on the wall.It was very cold on the Henerys. From the day I shot the deer to the Taxidermist was three days.I have been on hunts where im in a T shirt and shot a deer on the second day and stay the whole week. I had it mounted and it came back perfect.
 
Every deer is different, and three days is a long time in my opinion. I cannot count how many deer I have seen that shed or slip in the area below the throat patch. Unless it was caped, cooled down, and kept refrigerated, a cape can be damaged. Bacteria damage sets in immediately, all you can do is get it salted and dried, or frozen as quickly as possible. Even if it was frozen, there can be bacteria damage as it thaws out.

That being said, if he used a tannery, then it is 100% out of his hands. Most taxidermists have a section in their contract to protect themselves from liability due to tanning. Chris is not a hack, and I have no doubt he treated your specimen correctly.
 
>Every deer is different, and three
>days is a long time
>in my opinion. I cannot
>count how many deer I
>have seen that shed or
>slip in the area below
>the throat patch. Unless it
>was caped, cooled down, and
>kept refrigerated, a cape can
>be damaged. Bacteria damage sets
>in immediately, all you can
>do is get it salted
>and dried, or frozen as
>quickly as possible. Even if
>it was frozen, there can
>be bacteria damage as it
>thaws out.
>
>That being said, if he used
>a tannery, then it is
>100% out of his hands.
>Most taxidermists have a section
>in their contract to protect
>themselves from liability due to
>tanning. Chris is not a
>hack, and I have no
>doubt he treated your specimen
>correctly.


First of all I never said anything about him being a hack !I think he is a very good taxidermist..other wise I would have never took my deer to him.Second I never once said he was to blame.I actually said it was not his fault.I said "It is 100% the tannery at fault".And how is every deer different when it comes to a hide? If it is caped and cooled right it shouldn t matter.Like I said Chris is not to blame for this.I want to make that clear as i did in my previous posts.
 
BigBuck,
Sounds like you're not having a good day. These guys are trying to help you understand some variables that may have been a factor with your cape.

You've caped 15 or so and had them come out great. That's good. Most taxidermists have caped 1000's if they've been in business for 5+ years. I think the point that is being made here is that some animals have bad spots on them before you ever kill them, due to bruising, infection, skin defects, illness, past scars/wounds, etc. I'm not saying this was the case, but it is a very real occurrence.

The other point that is being made is this: Most hunters sever the neck about 4-8 inches below the head and leave the rest intact while they take it to the taxidermist for final caping. This can pose a problem that they are not aware of. These deer or any other animal for that matter have millions of bacteria in their windpipes from the stomach and digestive tract. These bacteria come in contact with the skin right at the location the esophagus contacts the skin just below the white patch. The head continues to produce heat which allows the bacteria to flourish, and the skin and hair insulates the warmth inside the throat causing the bacteria to go wild. (they thrive in warm damp environments) Bacteria deposit their digestive enzymes all over the area to break down the "food" skin they are attempting to consume. This is what causes the hair to fall out. Many times this will not cause the hair to fall out immediately but during the rigors of the tanning process it will fall out in the area previously affected by the bacteria.

This are the very reasons that taxidermists and tanneries have a clause that reads something like: tanning is at the customer's own risk......
They've seen too many capes mishandled by customers before they arrive at the shop. (I can't believe how many capes I get that are cut too short, or split halfway up the brisket. Or capes that guys cape out all the way and cut off the eyelids and the lips.) I'm not blaming you for this, I'm just mentioning it as a fact most taxidermists will agree with.

Sorry to go into this long description, but it may serve a purpose for someone else who may chance upon it.

Any taxidermist worth his salt can tell you with no problem whether a hide has a natural bald spot,(skin will be dark colored) a bald spot caused by a fall through the rocks,(skin will be rough and appear like the back side of a chamois) hair slippage caused by bacteria,(skin will be white) or a spot that was shaved too thin by the tannery to retain the hair roots.(skin will be paper thin) There should be no question as to which of these options it was.

If the spot was cut out before you saw it, I would surmise someone did not want you to see why the hair fell out. If my tannery cut a spot large enough to ruin a cape, I'm sure they would offer to replace the cape at no charge.

The bottom line is the cape is toast, and it's too bad. But, the good news is there are lots of capes for sale for a couple hundred bucks that are just as big, and if you know what you're looking for you can find one that's probably better looking than the one you lost.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.
DBD
 
Yeah I have seen better days.My Taxidermist was right up front with me about the spot.Right when he got it back he told me about it.The reason I say it was the tanneries fault is because it was just like you said. Paper thin.Anyways it is what it is.Im sure it will get figured.He is a good taxidermist and im sure he will do what he can.
 
The fact that he told you the cape was bad proves that you have a taxidermist with some integrity. Heck, he could have swappped the capes and maybe you wouldn't have known. I have two bucks that don't have the orignal capes and I can tell you when I'm kicking back in the easy chair admiring them, the last thing in the world I'm thinking about is that the capes are not the orignals.

Mike
 
I have a buck without the original cape and every time I am in my easy chair staring up at him, I am disgusted. The mount is very good, but the cape is smaller than the original and I think to myself, that is not the deer I shot.

If there was a way to use the original cape, even if it didn't look quite as good as a new one, I would go with the original option. If you buy one, make sure it is a big, beautiful cape!
 
I have a buck from Wyoming I took in 06 that the cape was ruined by a shot to the head. The buck is pushing 200" and I will get him mounted some day when I take another Mature buck that I don't want to mount. I have done this before, this way it still has sentimental value.
 
The way I view a replacement cape is like this... the deer the cape came off of deserved to be admired too, so you are killing two birds with one stone. I do taxidermy, but only have four of my own pieces mounted. Three of them have replacement capes...
 
hey i also have a big buck cape from a huge bodied deer i killed on the rifle hunt in northern utah two years ago its tanned and in my freezer for a spare if you would like you can have this one or look at it if the others dont work out

THE A TEAM
 
Hey BigBuckKiller, just wanted to say hi, thanx for the picture of your buck, what a great muley! Wondering if you have drawn anything yet? I know your waiting on AZ, good luck! Im waitng on AZ as well, maybe this week? Talk to you soon. BH1
 
Sixthtine....Thanks for your offer.I already have it all worked out though.For some reason if it dont work out I will for sure keep you in mind.Thanks again.Yes im going to post a picture of it.I just have to wait for it to come out in the september/october issue of muley crazy.I sent Buckhunter a picture because he gave me his deer hide.I figured I should send him a picture.
 
Hey Buckhunter how you doin? I was wondering if you ever got my letter..You know how the post office is...Still waiting on Az results. Probley a couple of more weeks.We will be going to colorado this year on a Mule deer hunt so far.
 

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