taxidermy question

jlvandersnick

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Jan 17, 2012
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486
Location
Hamilton, Montana
for those of you who speak "taxidermy" what is wrong with these mounts. I picked them up a few days ago and in my opinion.....they look like "****".

I have taxidermy from eight different guys and have only used someone a second time twice. This guy is one of the two. He has historically done good work but recently lost his best guy so it seems he had one of his new guys with less experience and expertise do these mounts. I am particularly disappointed in the one on the right...the bigger one. He ranks 33rd all time (92 0/8) according to SCI and looks like someone out of their garage did the mount. There is no excuse as these are original capes, horns and skull plates.

I'm only interested in informed opinions about these two mounts please.
I can send more pics to anyone who has expertise and training and desires them.

Thanks Jerry

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I agree the necks look unnatural. Also, to me, the eyes on the mount on the right don't seem set correctly. I would not be happy if they were mine.
 
I agree the necks look unnatural. Also, to me, the eyes on the mount on the right don't seem set correctly. I would not be happy if they were mine.

I think they look like ****....I'm ****ed. This guy has done three other mounts for me and they all were really good. I know he knows good taxidermy from ****.

It ****es me off that this is the job that he did.......he doesn't know it yet but he is redoing both of them. That is why I need the input...so when I talk to him I have more to say other than I think "they look like ****"
 
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You asked for comments, so here goes. The mounts, especially the big guy, look so unnatural that it makes me wonder what forms the guy used to put the hides on. Both necks are not in a natural position like the other member mentioned with them way too vertical and the hides are not stretched tight or full like they should be if they were mounted on the proper sized forms. They also don't look natural the way he raised the hair on the back of the neck so much. Some taxis raise it a little and others leave it down like it is 99% of the time in real life. The head of the big guy doesn't even look like a goat head it's so screwed up. The picture of this goat on my wall is what one should look like. It was done by Jim Marsico, a world renowned taxidermist/sculpture in Cody, WY. Jim has a grizzly mounted in the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum along with a diorama of five antelope in the Smithsonian Museum in DC, so it's obvious he knows what he's doing or he wouldn't be putting sutff in those places. That mount cost $650 back in 2009. I'm wondering how much the guy charged you for those two abortions? Anyway, I would be raising a storm and asking for my money back such that I could take them to a pro that knows what a good antelope mount looks like and not trust him to redo them. There is no way as good as those bucks are, especially the big boy, that I could hang them on my wall as bad as they look no matter how big the horns are! Taxidermists that do a terrible job like those two bucks should be outed so nobody else spends hard earned money on junk. You asked and I'm sorry I had to tell the truth, but I have to assume the truth is what you wanted or you wouldn't have started the thread.
 
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I flipped back and forth between good pictures of antelope, to test my impressions against, and I'll agree the head pose is unflattering if not unnatural. The face is too broad at the muzzle, and appears flat across it. The one view of the nostrils look almost like a bear snout. Some regional differences in colors I've seen, but the black seems artificially black. The eyes don't thrill me much either, but can't quite put it to words. Nice antelope that certainly don't display as well as they should. Not unusual for a shop to lose a talented apprentice and see quality drop.
 
It's hard to put my finger on what it is, but they do look unnatural......It's funny how some taxidermist's are really good at some animals but can't seem to make others "just right". I had a similar experience with a cougar that I got a full size body mount of. The shop who did it, does OUTSTANDING deer mounts, so I assumed that the cat was in good hands. When I picked it up, it didn't look right, when I brought it home it didn't look right, and now 17 years later, it still doesn't look right, and every time I look at it I think I should get it fixed......At the time I had already waited 2 years for it, and no one else seemed to notice, (It's not horrid,it's just not right) so I didn't say anything! Bring them back or get them fixed because it will bug you forever. I learned that if I ever get another big cat, I will bring it to a Taxidermist that knows and does A LOT of cats and knows how to make them look alive!
 
It appears that the problem is with the form, and exaggerated by a nose up pose. The eye spacing and area where the horns meet the head seem to be off. Here are two of my mounts done by two different taxidermists over the years. Similar angles to the OP's pics.
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jl, I've seen a lot of Az antelope mounts, but I'll have to agree these look unnatural. Besides the necks/head positions, I noticed the mouth openings don't look right to me. Also the eyes do not appear as wide open as naturally observed.
 
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