Outtfitters, Tanneries, Taxidermists and quality of work....

[GravityKills]

Ok, bear with me on this one. May or may not be opening a can of worms, but wanted to know if others had this ever come up. With the debate going on about WG "stealing" customers, this raised an eyebrow with me. Here is my story,...

I am still very close with myex's family. An ex family member had a brother go on a buffalo hunt in South Dakota last month. One of those ultra-guided hunts for the not-so-experienced hunters.... When leaving on the hunt, he mentioned to his sister (my friend) he was thinking of having his buffalo rugged and his friend wanted his mounted. She told him I was a taxidermist, and could use the work (bless her heart!). He called me up, and we set it all up.

So, he and his friend go and take two buffalo. He wanted to watch the skinning process, and asked if he could. His buffalo was skinned first. As they started, he was asked about taxidermy work, and said he wanted the entire skin for a rug, and the head for a euro. So,... this woman skinning did a WONDERFUL job,.... no holes, no meat left on, just a top notch skinning job. The head was entirely cleaned of all meat. The skin was packaged neatly and very well and put to the side.

His buddies buffalo was next. As they started, the other skin, neatly packaged, was pulled to the side and paperwork was brought out for him to fill out for the taxidermy work. At that point, he said "no..... I have a taxidermist". They began to drill him about using THEIR taxidermist and tanner, but he stuck to me, and said he wanted to bring the skins home to have me take care of.

So.... at this point, the second buffalo got skinned out "very quickly" as I was told. Tossed into a cooler and thrown on the trailer.

So, I get these buffalo. The first skin was the one I pulled out first, neatly folded, still frozen, no meat, very easy for me to prepare and salt.
The second, however, was NASTY. Jumbled into a cooler, not bagged, not forzen, full of holes, about 23 pounds of meat left on (YES, I weighed it!). the head was badily cut up. I took pictures... a 5 inch cut above one eye, a 4 inch cut across the side of the nose. Both eyelids cut. Missing pieces around the horns, and several deep cuts where the Y incesion was started and started again. WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!

I know I am gonna have fun piecing this shoulder mount. And, yesterday, I get a call from the hunter friend. The outfitter called and asked him if the skins were sent to the Wildlife Gallery...... Wha?

So..... I was wondering.... did they stop their careful skinning because he told them the skins were going to a taxidermist that was not theirs? Has this happened to anyone else? Or am I just rwading into this too much? Gostta tell ya, though, those HUGE DEEP cuts in the face of that buffalo were horrible, and anyone with 20 years of skinning for this outfitter/ranch should be ashamed.

[gab]

that's pretty common.time is money so most taxidermist who skin something to be frozen fro another taxidermist will leave more meat on it.I tell my guys that I'd rather them leave meat than holes.But them slicing holes in it is wrong.
 As far as wildlife gallery goes,it sounds like they have there hand in all large producing markets;Africa,canada and now the buffalo ranches.For an outfitter to be so concerned about where it goes,there's probably a kickback involved somewhere.

[haulot]

the outfitter definately gets a kick back from the taxidermist they recomend.

[Bucknut]

That's pretty standard in Africa. Mount it there and they skin it great. Coming back to the U.S. - hack job.

[Matt]

It's ashame, but I have had that happen to me as well. Some of my clients insisted they have a taxidermist and it seems they want to make things harder in the long run. In the end, the outfitter loses the repeat business from my clients as well as their friends.

[George Roof]

All too often.  Every time I get one of these, however, I make SURE I sit down and write the outfitter a long letter.  I tell him who his client was and when he was there.  I also advise him of the results I have in my shop.  Then I tell him that I am often asked by clients to recommend outfitters and I keep a list of unscrupulous outfitters whose only concern seems about the tips and kickbacks they get.  I advise him that I'm sending a letter to his state outfitters association and to the North American Hunt Club so that their recommendation booklet can have a asterisk beside his name in their next edition.  AND I DO IT.  Most of us don't have "disposable income" and often save for years in order to go on a special hunt.  To be hosed by an outfitter is just treacherous.

[GravityKills]

You cant see how long this cut is due to the hair (thank goodness, I can hide the stitching!), but this cut goes from the nose to the corner of the mouth. The one above the eye goes from the back corner of the eyelid almost to the ear. And there was a LOT of meat left on the face, and the cuts were clear through the meat and skin. No simple mistake.

[Jerry Huffaker]

Looks to me like the WG strikes again. They think they are going to BULLY the whole taxidermy industry.

The Outfitter should be named.

[GravityKills]

I dont even know the name of the outfitter, at the time it didnt seem nessesary to know where he got them. He brought them back himself, so they were not shipped to me or anything. The poor guy dont know good from bad, he is a "new" hunter and said he thought the gal skinning did a good job. She was blowing smoke up their butt, like a tourist, telling than she has done this for 20+ years for this ranch, how fast and clean she is, blah blah blah.