I took in 2 deer this season which were practically ruined in my opinion but the customers still wanted them mounted even after I told them that the results wouldnt be great and that it would cost extra.Its the same old thing, they cut the dang cape halfway up the neck,.why in @$#% do people dress a deer that way? or they chop up the brisket area you cant figure out what to sew where because it looks like a bunch of strips.I normally wouldnt even accept a deer cape like that but they were both for kids (first deer) yet you would think that grandpa or dad would know you dont slit the throat on something you want mounted.
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I would swear some people get drunk before skinning and use broken beer bottles. Trying to repair some of these are a pain in the arse. My advise is to charge enough to make them remember how to do it correctly, or at least get it to someone who knows how to cape it out. Remember, every piece of work you turn out will reflect on you. These guys are not going to admit what they did to their buddies when they show it off. Instead the are going to throw off on your work if there is a visible seam. I have done enough like that that I have gotten to the point (if it's bad) I won't do it. I will offer to help him find another cape that HE can purchase. (Don't forget a taxi is a magician, or should be in some peoples mind.) How much time are you personally willing to put into capes repairs?
That is something that is up to each taxi to decide. When word gets around you will see far less reckless skinning going on.
let the thing sit for two days in 54 degree heat before they bring it in. All I can say with three of them that I've gotten in this year is " Thank God for Vicks "
Had a cape given to me yesterday, cut from the belly all the way up to the chin. They thought that I should sew it up with no problem at all. I gave it back and turned it down. These guys had no idea how to cape a deer out, hunted for years and never had a mount done, I gave them a paper that I put together showing them of how to's and what not to do. They were never taught the right way.
There is s saying that says ,An eye that can't see ,won't hurt your heart.
Meaning if the customer doesn't see what your doing it won't hurt your business.
That is why I collect so many capes from all states and any size, I simply replace the cape and say, Iam I not an Artist I fixed the Junk you brought me, never had one come back in 40 years and say, "this is not my cape"
try a couple of days of highs of eighty-four and lows in the sixties!
There is no getting around it, you will get a certain percentage of unmountable to high risk capes every year. Like someone just said, keeping extra capes on hand is not a bad idea. Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving, Jack.
People always ask me. "what is the hardest thing to mount?" I say bad capes. I just caped a Mule Deer that was green and slipping.It came from Nebraska and I'm in south Mississippi.took 2 days to thaw. which they froze after they got home. They said they kept it on ice.I'm think of making a video on skinning and caping out a head to rent to traveling hunters. Some people won't buy a new cape if they didn't kill it there self. so you just have to do a horn mount.I can go on for hours on this subject,but I'll just quit for now. Oh yea I had a wt from Texas Yesterday that stunk ,but they guy is having a new cape shipped in from texas to replace it.As a whole most of the capes are good I just like complaning about the bad ones.
i have taken a little over 30 deer this year and to this point i have had about 5-6 that were ruined.
how about a potiential B&C buck that they let hang for 12 days at around 45 degrees........... "but its cool in there"
picked up from the butcheer soaking wet and put in a trash bag. left out all night in 60 degree heat and then all the next day in the back of the truck in around 75 degrees in the sun.
left it at the processor for 7 days, laying in the cooler in standing water.
hung for 4 days around 55 degrees.
it never seems to end. and they all think im the bad guy for telling them they screwed up.
Everyone who does taxidermy has,does, and will see some of this. It is extremely frustrating. Alex mentioned in an earlier post, that he buys up a supply of capes for just this purpose. I personally have used my own personal capes to help the uneducated. I'm not sure if I didn't add to the problem by doing so or not. I do know that if I buy a boat load of capes for this, I am either going to have to charge more,or take a loss on the cost of the cape. Some of these capes can get pretty pricey, and I personally am not will to make a habit of taking that kind of loss on my work. I started from scratch and nearly went bankrupt the first couple of years. I did like a lot of folks do a took in anything someone would bring in just to try to make a dollar. When I started to refuse bad smelling/slipping capes and started to charge for my time to sew a hacked up hide back together, a lot of that stuff quit. I informed everyone of them how to handle and cape an animal. I also put up a big sign and got them to sign a contract stating that since I do not hve total control of the specimen from the time it is harvested there is no garantee that it can be sucessfully mounted and will not be held liable for anything not turning out as desired. I lost some business this way, but the majority of my clients know the drill and have helped to educated future clients. I don't care how fast someone may be, they can't mount them all.