i am just curious as too who here knows who does good big game mounts. mainly deer and elk. i would not be looking for a european mount. but a full mount prolly shoulders forward. pics would be nice also. much apriciated thanks

I think I just might be able to help you.

Warning....

Quality costs.

Some Antlered game.

Rick Leach of Trophy Taxidery in Portland Oregon. He's done 2 deer heads for me plus a wood duck drake, his work is simply amazing... He's a bit pricey but worth every penny. He's currently doing my 29 pound steelhead mount as we speak!

Keith

If you have the tanned cape I would be willing to do it for you, but I can't promise I would do it any cheaper than someone like Buzz Cook at Olympic Taxidermy in North Bend. It's allot of work to do a head right, and I'm a perfectionist. I've done almost a dozen heads in the past, but only have two of those at home. You can swing by my place if your ever down Silverdale way and see the Blacktail and Whitetail I did.

thanks for all the info. more or less i guess what i am wondering as hunting season is starting for me. and hopefuly i do shoot a animal that is of mounting quality, i was wanting to have something lined up as i don't know how to tan a hide. and would be looking for somewhere to drop the head and cape off to have done. also i am wanting a wall mount although the whole body stuff is killer. also i have never done more than a european mount myself. but would like to have a real head mount done

I can cape the head if you get one and don't know how to do it. After that, I always send my capes out to be professionally tanned. The quick cure tanning methods are a joke. Or, just take the whole head and cape to a reputable taxidermist and plunk down your $500. Again, Buzz Cook is about as good as you will find if you go that route.

thanks sol. i apriciate the info, and offer. i might take you up on your offer if not i will use the guy you mentiond. as i drive through silverdale about 3 times a month on my way back to sequim. thanks again.

Here's my one and only whitetail to date. I plan on "upgrading" him real soon. I believe he was the last buck I mounted before I went full-blown steelhead stuntman. The full-body bear mount is one I did with the guy that taught me how to do taxidermy, who has since moved to Montana.

I didn't realize you did that bear yourself Tim. Nice job!

The funnest part of doing that bear was arrowing him from the ground at 10 yards. The arrow went though both lungs and heart and it was stone dead within 3 yards and 45 seconds. Biggest adrenalene rush I have ever felt.

very cool Tim takes alot of talent & patience approx how many hours went into the bear project?

You're going to test my memory, Frank, I did that back in 1992.

Realistically, I think it took about 12 hours to skin the bear all the way out, body, head, legs and feet. Skinning to the end of each toe to clip the claws is a biotch. A couple more hours to flesh the hyde and prep it to send out for tanning. The tanning bill wasn't cheap as I recall, probably $400 back then. The foam body was probably $300, open mouth and eyes another $150. The modifications to the form took half a day, pasting, fitting and stiching took a full day. Detail work on the mouth took a couple hours and then there is the couple hours of misc. time in detail work as it drys over the following couple of days. The base work took about 10 hours.

I would say approximately 40 hours of labor and $850 to $950 in materials. At $100 an hour, which is what you will pay a *talented* taxidermist, your looking at about $5000 for a full body bear mount.

I paid $4500 for my lifesize brown bear mount back in 2001.

Thanks for the education Tim was curious as to time spent on such a project.As I had no fricken clue I have always admired mounts of big game & birds.Sal that thing is huge .


Frank

If I was going to miss I'm glad I missed on the high side. People in the art trades have been getting finacially tooled for years, and taxidermy isn't the place for a sportsman to scrimp. They should be looking around for the highest bid they can find, not the lowest. You can only mount something once, but you have to look at it for the rest of your life.

Just like finish carpentry, right Bucket?

Dang Tim.. That's some good work you did.

You ever try painting a steelhead mount?

Keith

I've done a few skin mounted fish, including steelhead. Realistically, I am more comfortable doing animals than aquatic species, which is why when I got my 29-pound steelhead I hired the most expensive artist I could find. Game heads are another matter. I feel like I can put as good or better detail into them as the best artists out there.

It shows in your pictures of your deer and bear...

Keith