taxidermy bills

[Quicksilver]

I paid $950 for my bear mount in WA. Very reputable taxidermist with years of experience. Specializes in African game and does a great job. If the animal is worth it to me to get mounted, to an extent I don’t care what it’s worth. To me it’s a trophy and it’s just another service paid for to get what you want. If the outcome is quality work, it’s much easier to swallow the bill.

 

[WCB]

Just had this convo with my Taxidermist. He said anyone that is good will be around $800-$900 in our area. He also said he just got a letter from one of the taxidermy suppliers that costs across the board are going up 35%. Thankfully I got 4 shoulder mounts done last year and thankfully I get a considerable discount due to sending him a bunch of business in the past and being family friends.

He is "semi retired" down to basically clients he wants to do work for but guys call and he just throws a wild price at them for some work and they don't care...they just ask when can they drop it off?

 

[30338]

I do a few euro mounts for family and friends. I moved a lot in my life and wrapping up skulls and tossing them in a box is way the heck easier than crating a caribou, elk or deer mount. But I do have a few mounts that I like a lot too. Anything I mount these days is gonna have to be something sort of special, otherwise its maceration or boil time.

 

[wind gypsy]

I was quoted $550 for an elk euro mount a month ago.. hard pass.

Also, my wife isn't big on shoulder mounts in the house. Poor quality mounts would make that a bunch worse.

 

[KenLee]

It’s not just the cost to get something mounted, another factor is what the hell is your family going to do with the taxidermy when you’re dead and gone.

Obviously they don’t have the personal attachment you do.

Sell em for $10 each at a yard sale, of course!

 

[ReddingArcher]

Its freaking expensive! Actually we were just talking about this in my office a few minutes ago. Deer are at $900 and I talked to a taxidermist about doing a pig for me and its $1300! WTH!!. I have 4 blacktail that I need to get mounted but I also need capes for them at another $100 a pop.

 

[highcountrymuley]

expenses and wait times went up crazily in last couple years. my taxi kinda retired, said he still does a few and i would still use him... he went into guiding full time to make more $ , i guess. i have two mounted bucks and probably won't do another unless he is crazy big and beautiful (with double throat patch!) but isn' t that what we all hope for?! i love a nice shoulder mount but they are a pain to move around. around $700 to $900 for the few i checked out this year in CO.

 

[Justin Crossley]

$900.00 for a pronghorn or deer here in our area of WY.

I just paid $925 each for my antelope mount and mule deer mount.

 

[roadrunner]

If a taxidermist pays themself $50/hr and a mount takes 10 hours of applied labor to complete plus the cost of tanning and materials, $900 for a mount isn't necessarily a bad price. Never mind the taxidermist still has to pay business taxes and other operating costs that you the customer gets to pay. $1,000 now is a fair price.

Only a fool works for free...

 

[Justin Crossley]

I paid $950 for my bear mount in WA. Very reputable taxidermist with years of experience. Specializes in African game and does a great job. If the animal is worth it to me to get mounted, to an extent I don’t care what it’s worth. To me it’s a trophy and it’s just another service paid for to get what you want. If the outcome is quality work, it’s much easier to swallow the bill.

Who did you go to? That's way less than my guys charge for bears.

 

[Quicksilver]

Who did you go to? That's way less than my guys charge for bears.

I should add that’s a shoulder bear mount. Wildlife art in Custer, WA. This was a few years ago so prices may have increased. I appreciated his honesty, the guy who will turn down work if he feels the outcome won’t be perfect (early season bear rugs for example).

 

[OMB]

I was quoted $550 for an elk euro mount a month ago.. hard pass.

Also, my wife isn't big on shoulder mounts in the house. Poor quality mounts would make that a bunch worse.

$550 for a euro mount is bananas.

I have one whitetail shoulder mount of a nice buck I shot when I was a teenager, but I've done every deer since as a euro mount. I've been in too many houses where there's a dozen or more deer shoulder mounts and it ends up looking tacky and cluttered. I've done euros myself in the past but I've got a local guy who does it with beetles as a side hustle for $50/each and the last two I've sent his way have turned out phenomenal.

I am doing my sheep as a wall pedestal with no habitat, and was quoted $1500 for that, which I thought was a fair price from a shop that specializes in those sorts of things. That's a trophy I'd never cheap out on, but I don't see myself ever shoulder mounting another deer again (a big Coues might be the exception.)

 

[drra]

I like to see my Bear on the gun safe and mountain lion over my desk, brightens my day walking into the room and seeing them - well worth the expense to me and to many they wouldn't be trophies. They are to me and that is all that matters.

 

[TheViking]

$100 for my buddy to do a euro for me. Worth it, no mess and cleanup for me.
I only have one shoulder mount - a 206" mule deer, and that was $550, but it was a buck of a lifetime. Shot a really nice bull this year, probably 320" to maybe 330" range, euro it is. Maybe if I ever shoot a 360" bull I'll consider a full shoulder mount.

 

[Brent]

I consider $750 right now extremely reasonable to pay for a reputable taxidermist to do a deer shoulder mount. In fact, I'd be leery of paying less. To those that don't want to pay, I say don't pay. It will keep the wait times down for us that value good taxidermy, plus as stated before, there are less expensive options to display your trophies.

 

[Brent]

Only a fool works for free...

Yeah! Especially when you have guys lining up at the door to get heads mounted.

 

[CHL]

Valid points by all y’all. Here’s another thing, amazing to me what “really good” is to each person as it relates to pricing. Cats and Bears … way different than a shoulder Deer mount as far as how well it presents seems like. Always eye opening to me when ya see the mounts.

 

[Joseph2186]

My guy just went up to $800 for a deer/antelope shoulder mount. He charged $1800 for my canada moose shoulder mount. I view these prices are fair and reasonable considering the quality of his work. Says it hasnt affected his business at all. There are guys charging 450 for a deer shoulder mount around here but you most certainly get what you pay for. Once Im dead it wont really matter what happens to my stuff, but I certainly enjoy looking at it while im here.

 

[eaglemountainman]

My guy in Wyoming charged $680 for an antelope in '19 and a muley in '20.....shipped tmd in Florida. He had to bump me 100 bucks for last year's whitetail because of supply and shipping increases. And he does quality work, with great attention to details.

 

[william schmaltz]

Just had a couple buddies leave with moose capes. They could come hunt caribou next year for what they were each about to pay for a moose shoulder mount. The pricing is probably fair considering time and materials, I just can't justify to shoulder mount stuff.