I am an archery hunter from north central IL. On Dec.16 I arrowed a giant whitetail. I was actually able to put two arrows into the buck, the first unfortunatly into the shoulder, the second after the deer was laying on the ground was a single lung hit. I tracked the deer for two days until it cross a field and into a quary.
After three months I convinced myself that the buck had lived. That was until the 11th of this month when a shed hunter and fellow bow hunter found the carcass of my buck.This is were the story gets worse. He refuses to give me the buck even though he calls it my deer and accepts the fact that I killed it. I was able to have a few pictures taken. The buck scores a 174 6/8, with a 24 1/2in outside spread and a 22in inside. 11 1/2 G-2's , 6 1/2in brow tines. With a perfect 10pt typical rack. This is by far one of the larges deer taken in the Illinios Valley.
I believe the shed hunter would let me make a replica. What i need to know is who can make an exact high quaitly replica. And what that process would cost. I am very interested in any related fields or web sites, or business.
Thank You.
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Call Leo, He makes the best repos you can get. 916 635-1270 Another great repo maker is Bill Gauthier Do a search on his name for his e-mail
Tony
You can reach Bill at ( wildart@prodigy.net)
...offering the hunter some cash for the rack? From my understanding, replicating antlers is fairly expensive.
Btw, there was just a big conversation on "shed hunting" in Illinois here (on another website) that was very interesting. Depending on which CPO you talk to, it could be interpreted as being ILLEGAL to pick up those sheds w/o first speaking with the DNR and obtaining the proper tags for it. I know some guys that were actually written fines for using horns for rattling. And, they were confiscated.
And it is ILLEGAL to pick up sheds in ANY forrest preserves here in Illinois.
You may wish to have your friend find out the legalities first. As it may be difficult to find a taxidermist to do the replicas w/o proper documentation on the actual antlers...
he is from central illinois and does a fantastick job. I cant seem to find his contact info right off the bat, but maybe someone on here will have it for you.
heres a pic
http://www.breakthroughmagazine.com/issues/winter01/gallery5.htm
here's his number: Bryan Umbanhowar, (217) 375-4329,
I make replicas as well, but I like to suggest Brian, or Terry Vining, or even a few others. Replicas are a bit expensive, unfortunately. They must be accurate in shape, of course, but coloring is another consideration too. I find that suggesting a person who does good mold building is one way to go, but I prefer to suggest antler replicators specifically, as they know the pigment angles much better. The fellow that had those replicas at the World show did excellent work too. If anyone wonders why Im not including myself, its because I dont like doing them, hahaha! Plus folks dont wanna pay what I believe theyre worth. One other thing, if Im not mistaken, picking up antlers on skulls is illegal in Illinois without a tag. According to his story, theyre not sheds, but a carcass. Of course, the guy doesnt have any obligation to the hunter. Hopefully he can get his replication done, it sure would be a happy ending to yet another wounded/non-recovered deer story. I always feel for the guys...
I am a professional mold maker and colour match painter of osteological and paleontological items.
Photo references available of recent work.