Just though I'd bring this topic up for discussion after spending 12 hours repairing 5 capes with multiple slug holes. Each cape had been hammered 3-4 times in the neck/shoulder area. Counting entrance and exit wounds that's 6-8 holes per cape! Man, I really dislike sewing! Do any of you charge extra for repairing hunter inflicted damage? Up until this point, I haven't charged for this type of repair. I have always considered this part of being a taxidermist. But after spending all day yesterday sewing, I have started thinking about charging for the repairs. I could have mounted a deer instead of repairing these uncalled for holes. Now before all the bashing begins, let me just say that I realize that without these holes, I wouldn't have any work to begin with, as the deer have to be harvested somehow. I have always tried to hit my deer behind the shoulder. I feel this shot is the most humane, and it doesn't hurt the cape. I have done this way before I became a taxidermist. From an early age I was brought up to take pride in a humane and ethical harvest. I know also that a neck shot is also a humane shot. My point is this ,why should I repair slug holes for free? A neck shot is not required to harvest a deer. I have more time invested in mounting neck shot deer vs. a deer that has no slug holes to repair. Currently, I charge the same amount regardless. I am not making as much on the neck shot deer because of the extra time involved. Why should I lose money because of someones sloppy shooting? Let's hear how some of you guys run your business. Charge for the repair or not? Thanks Shannon.
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I charge 45 per hour 2 hour minimum for sewing. That includes holes other than one entrance and one exit, slit throats, knife cuts and/or hunter skinned capes cut all the way down the neck.
I would just let the customer know the amount of extra work involved and charge them for it,it just might make some of them start shooting behind the shoulder-thats the way I was brought up too,behind the shoulder,-neck shots only if it was the only shot I had.
Yeah, I forgot to add that. It is in my contract they sign upfront. I also have a clause in there that if it is frozen and I cannot tell at the time of deleivery that I have the descretion to charge when it is thawed for work.
I usually do not charge extra but I should. Cut throats and short capes are still common esp. from east coast hunters. I have even had hunters cut the cape from the front side all the way to the chin. I had one hunter do this on a full curl bighorn ram. THE most common problems are with antelope hunters. Its still hot here in September when most antelope are shot. The first hunter(s) will kill an animal at daybreak and then the other hunter(s) will not get one till almost dark, in the meantime the first bloody lope gets to ride in the back of a truck all day long in the sun and dust loosing hair and spoiling. These are also the guys that usually say pronghorn meat does not taste good. I do charge for replacement capes.
I also charged 575 for deer and lope shoulder mounts last year and 795. for sheep and I took in a lot of work.
Lets get real,your saying that if you have to sew a couple slug holes and it takes a bout a half an hour,you going to charge the customer 90.00 ?
Lets get real,your saying that if you have to sew a couple slug holes and it takes a bout a half an hour,you going to charge the customer 90.00 ?
A neck shot is not humane. It is, ONLY if you hit the vertabraes. I harvested a blacktail deer once that had a large bullet wound in the neck that was covered in maggots. I rolled the buck over on its back and saw that its testicles were blown off (apparently when the neck shot didn't put it down and it ran away) and it also was covered in maggots. Smelled to high heaven like roadkill in the summer. Complete waste!
Yes sir that is what I am saying. That is my hourly charge that I build into my mounts and that is what I charge per hour for sewing. If it is neglagience or blatent damage I charge the two hour minimum. If there is only three small holes I may not do it but for the most part I try to stick to my guns. I can't beleive I would be the only one. Alot of guys have prices built in to their pricelist for sewing.
Personally I love sewing it's so relaxing, I am
sewing right ( OUCH ) DARN NEEDLE UNDER THE FINGER NAIL
AGAIN ! Can we charge for bandades and pain suffering lol
Shannon what ever you deside just be up front with your cus.
when they bring it.
from the customers point of view.No one likes to be nickled and dimed to death with extra charges,and on top of that ,be told they made a bad shot and aren't as ethical as their taxidermist is.
If you must be a prima donna,approach it from the opposite direction.Charge like all mounts require extra sewing,and if a customer takes good care of his trophy,give him a small credit and compliment him.This way everyone's happy.
In my contract I specifically state that repairing one entrance and one exit hole from a broadhead or bullet is included in the cost of the mount. Repairing extra bullet or broadhead holes or cut briskets, necks, etc. should be an extra cost. Put it in your contract and in your price list. You need to charge for this as this is one reason why taxidermists don't get paid what they deserve.
in the neck is not humane. You can miss the vertebrate and only get a meat shot. It's easier to make a heart shot anyways.
I don't know where you guys come from ,that you can gouge a customer for 100.00 bucks to make a few sewing repairs but the few times I mentioned extra cost for repairs,I never herd the end of it,It's not bad,It's a couple little holes,you charge enough now (475.00 & up)just do your job,on & on.
I just saw some work from a so called Artist / Taxidermist from Canada,what a joke.My customer for years was talked into leaving his trophy deer head in Canada to be mounted and delivered because of boarder problems (taxidermist said).He was told only tanned and perfectly cleaned skulls leave Canada.The work was an absolute joke.I would of been ashamed to deliver that mess.Very poor cape alignment,eye work sucked,sunk in and dirty,ears were nicely done but not where they should be,gap around the mouth and stitching that would make you laugh,nose filled in,no detail.The stitches had to be a 1/2 inch apart,the seam was 1/2 an inch wide.You could see that no form prep was done and no hide paste was used.
The repairs to the antlers from a so called artist was just ridiculous..My first try at repairing antlers would of put his to shame, I'm still never 100% happy with my coloring.They charged extra for cleaning the skull plate and some skinning cuts that they did.I never herd of such charges.It's work like that that make you appreciate the best.All that for $750.00 US MONEY delivered to your door from Canada,I guess that was the selling point,it sure as hell wasn't his work... Earl
I do not charge for bullet holes , because without the bullet holes , their would not be any mounting , I charge for stupidity $50.00 to $100.00 or more. cut throaths , cape in 2 pieces.
But if you are charging to fix it , be sure you do not see the repairs when you are done. Do not work for free , no one does , so charge good for all your work , but do a dam good job.
are only as inhumane as the person doing the shooting. 5 of my last 6 elk were taken with neck shots. It doesn't have to hit a vertebrae to kill them. The internal shock from the bullet will do the trick. It will kill alot faster than a shoulder shot, wastes less steak meat, and if done right there is no tracking. I've seen animals that were suppose to be shot behind the shoulder that I would call inhumane. Idiot shooters will always be around. Have a good rest, know your capabilities and your rifles, wait for the right shot and take it. Most people shoulder shoot because it is alot bigger target. Especially if you get slow moving slugs being tossed at fast running deer. As far a neck shooting an animal that you know you are going to mount, I always tell them not to do it. It could cost them a new cape. Breck, I think your deers damage was from something else. It would be an almost impossible shot to take the testicals off a deer and not hit anything else. Just my opinion
The testicles were shot off, I believe they call that a Texas Heart Shot, only the shooter missed that shot also. No other explination, he wounded the buck in the neck and then shot his balls off as it ran away. Also it wasn't just the testicles but a large area surronding the testicles.
In your original post it didn't say that the surrounding area was bad too. Thats why I was questioning it as a bullet wound. I've seen deer around here missing their testicles but it is usually from getting hung up on the fences and not being shot off. Also have seen some wounds in the neck that were nasty looking but it was from being gored. I still believe a neck shot is a good fast killing shot but like any other shot it has to be placed right. Hope you didn't take my post as being negative towards you. That wasn't the intent.
...at all, just wanted to expound on it. I agree that it all depends on shot placement and a hunter can miss the chest and wound and lose an animal, however, the lungs are a much bigger target and therefore there is more room for error. I have a friend who prided himself in never having lost an animal and attributed such losses to poor marksmanship and poor hunting skills. He was going on about this the day before opener and at the end of the next day he was humbled after his arrow passed through the gut of a deer and he lost it. Point is, we all make mistakes, and shooting at the boiler room is more forgiving. Happy hunting!
Tod,the lungs and heart are not in a deer or elk's neck, they are in it's chest. That's why most people place their shots there. No kidding it's a bigger target, that's the whole idea to take the best high percentage killing shot. A little high or back you still hit a lung. A little front you hit shoulder blade and animal is down. A little low you hit heart. What happens when you're a little off on a neck shot? You mean to tell me your willing to take a low percentage neck shot to save some steak meat? No matter how you twist it, given the choice ,chest/shoulder shot every time.
Joe, The shots I take are at the upper corner of the shoulder blade. I do it because I can. I don't shoot at running game. 95% of the animals I take don't even know I'm there. Usually I will watch them for hours before I take a shot. I shoot, on average, 1,000 rounds a summer through my rifle, and simply put, know it. I'm not saying everyone should neck shoot. I'm saying that it is not an inhumane shot if you know what you are doing. I've killed plenty of game with behind the shoulder shots. I usually lose a good portion of a shoulder though when I do. With a well placed neck shot, for me, they have dropped in their tracks and meat loss is limited to what I usually use for burger. Like I said in my above post, know your rifle and limitations and use a good rest. If you are comfortable with it, shoot. If not don't. I know the heart and lungs are not in the neck but the highway that sends all the messages to them is. Shock from a bullet shuts all that down plus the legs.
Tod, you owe it to the animal to take the the most humane , highest percentage shot you can to kill it. Just because your a good shot and you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. Now you say you shoot at the upper corner of the shoulder blade. That's not the neck to me. That's the shoulder area. You didn't answer my question as to what happens if your neck shot is off a little. It's not inhumane if you make the shot,but if you miss , it is. Your target is smaller there,period. Even great shots miss sometimes. Like I said earlier you owe it to the animal to take the highest percentage, humane, killing shot you can, the shoulder/lung area.
Joe, I know what you are saying. It's not for everyone. My shot isn't about percentage it's about quick kills. I practice ALOT to be able to be consistant in my shots. Thats what I owe an animal. I worked as aguide for alot of years and have seen a good share of high percentage shots go bad. It's hard to believe that you could miss the shoulder area at 100 yds. but I've seen it done. The area I aim for depending on angle is from the upper corner ahead of the shoulder to another 1/3 up the neck. My argument isn't that there is more to aim at behind the shoulder, I know that. It's someone saying that a neck shot is inhumane. If you miss your heart/lung shot and hit the upper leg, is it then inhumane? To me, any shot that isn't thought out before the trigger is pulled could be classified as inhumane. I've seen alot of shoulder shooting hunters throwing lead like mad men at running deer that end up in lost animals. Thats inhumane
In my contract, it states, that I charge extra to repair more than two holes or for any holes that are larger than a golf ball. I also charge extra for any other repaires I must make. I'm going to start charging extra for long incisions up the back. I've been telling people not to cut the hides up the back of the neck for years. In my opinion that is just damage plain and simple. I charge $40 per hour for repair work.
My thoughts are, neck shots are all or nothing. Kill or cripple. I miss the heart and I still have lungs, liver, a shoulder take down and worse case, a spine. Miss the structural neck, the column, and theres not much else. I certainly have seen my share of healed scars in neck skins(capes) over the years. I suppose if I lived in rifle country, and were shooting deer from X number of yards that didnt know I was there, well I might think differently. Im in muzzleloader, shotgun and archery country...15 to 100 plus yards shooting.
I only charge for excessive damage, and only if I believe I can convincingly repair it. Too much damage and I simply refuse the job, unless they were willing to replace the cape, which many arent. The really badly damaged ones wont be nice, so I tell them up front.
Anything beyond that, it's $5 an inch. You can charge by the hour or by the inch. Sounds like prostitution! LOL!
I only shoot game in the neck when I am going to eat and not mount it for my wall. so that would mean that I only go for the throat on does. except this last fall where all I had on my 20 point buck was the white spot on his neck behind a fallen tree at 65 yards with my muzzleloader.