Out of line or not ?

If he built a wooden crate around a 300 in bull rack uncut I could see it being high The big question is WHY DID HE CUT IT WHEN THE CLIENT REQUESTED! LOL

 

It does seem high to me also but without knowing the freight bill who knows. I shipped 2 elk racks and capes from Co to TX last Friday. $200 each to flesh/salt, $100 to build crate. Shipping was $235.31. Total cost $732.31.
As for not splitting the skull, well maybe it wouldn't matter. It doesn't take a very large elk to be to big for shipping via UPS or FedEx even split.
If this was a guided hunt and the outfitter dropped the stuff off I would be in contact with them.

 

I have shipped 300 inch plus replica's in oversized boxes, insured and it has cost well over two hundred to ship them ups. When you get into oversize the price soars. However, shipping by freight in a crate is usually cheaper by size in comparison. I can see 400 to 500 is shipping charges from some remote area in the west to Louisianna. Alot of it has to do with accessability, size and distance shipped. They start adding surcharges and insurance hold on to your ass. or wallet anyway. It's alot like going to Africa and having stuff mounted over there and shipped back. You may save on mounting cost, but shipping will eat that up in a hurry.

 

I'm telling you that the Elk would be around $300-$400 in many shops to split, turn and flesh. Many of you act like you just turn the ears, nose, eyes and say eff it..........no you don't, you get all read meat, fat, big membrane off the elk, you have a pretty descent skin to salt.

Plus you all keep talking about shipping the antlers (which uncut I can see $400 in a second) but you also have boxing and shipping fees for the elk hide. It's going to be cheaper to ship seprately because the more weight you keep putting in that oversize box you are going to keep paying the oversize rate.



Harley, there are many shops I know who if they do not turn a $100 an hour will go bankrupt. You work from your house and have not a clue what some of these Taxidermist's overhead are.


Seriously I saw somebody say earlier.....well is "your" hourly labor rate is" WHO'S HOURLY WORK RATE?! Some Taxidermist's have million dollar buildings while little piss ants like me have a $100,0000 building and some work out of their garage and/or basement. But who are we to sy what "his" hourly rate is.

I'm sorry, but shipping elk antlers uncut, FLESHING and turning an elk to go to another Taxidermist and all the boxing, time, etc.......once again I can see that $950 in my head as clear as day.

 

ups nails you for oversized boxes,probably 200-250,but an LTL would have been about the same.if i had to do it,and i do quite a bit,here's what the breakdown with uncut antlers would have been:S&F $ 350,Crate $100,LTL shipping,$200-300(shipping to and from the northwest is some of the most expensive).so 650 -750 would be in line.that being said,$200 or more could have been saved by cutting the skull plate,but that also voids any scoring,such as SCI or B&C.

 

I am a deer guy for the most part and I can turn and flesh a deer in an hour. That is really clean! I just did an elk and it took me 4 hours. So I am with Mike, a big crate for a full elk rack takes some time and materials too.

Bruce

 

What I would like to see is a breakdown of where the money was going. If we knew how much he charged for prepping the hide(time/materials), building the crate(time/materials), and shipping, it would be easier to make a good judgement. Actually though it would be on the client because he didn't get a quote before hand. I may have jumped the gun on my comments without enough information. Even if it does seem to be high, no one is going to tell me how much to charge for my time, so I wouldn't tell anyone else how much to charge for their time.

 

If he wasn't getting the mount himself, the rate for caping, prepping etc. is higher. Lots of taxidermists out here do that including me. His is just ALOT higher. Not many of us like prepping stuff we don't get to mount. The client didn't have to leave it there.

 

I can agree with this 100%


Michael P I understand where you are coming from too, I do have LOW overhead, but How long on avg does it take to skin one off the head? I have done very few elk, but in my experience splitting turning takes less time than a deer because it's bigger and easier to work with. Fleshing takes a little longer but almost washes out with the time saved splitting and turning. The only thing I guess I have no concept is the time it takes to skin off the head because all of the ones I have done come in caped out and frozen green.

 

I just caped and turned a red stag. Same thing. 1hour and a half. and I'm slow.

 

How in the heck do you all get an elk cape done in under 5 hours. This is my 4 year and have done about 6 elk capes and they take me about 6-7 hours to completely flesh, turn, and salt to get it ready for the tannery. Is it necessary to get all the membrane off or do you all just get the big chunks of meat off and salt. And the tannery will take care of the rest during their process. I sometimes feel like I am overdoing it.
Regards, Geno

 

You may be over doing it, BUT alot depends on how the cape was handled in the feild. This cape came in clean as a whisle thanks to a seasoned hunter who knew how to properly cape an animal. But YES you need to get it free of any meat and membrane.

 

the last elk I had came in skinned and salted. Not turned or fleshed by any stretch of the imagination. rolled the head up into the body skin and threw it ina walk in cooler for the next 7 days. I got it smelling like rut and spoiled skin. brige of nose was green and so was the chin so got it turned got off the red meat and salted the crap out of 3 times in 2 days time and put a fan on it to dry it out. Got it shipped to the tannery, and hopin it holds together. As bad as it was if it is going to slip there was nothing I could do about it. got it done in about 2 1/2 hours.

 

I just shipped a Caribou european (small caribou) from AK to Texas to a client.. paid 281.00 and the only carrier I found that would or could ship was UPS.. Took me half a freaking day just to get all the tips padded, and build a box aorund it out of 4 or 5 different boxes..... with virtually ZERO room to spare.. Once you hit a certain size.. its OVERSIZED..and the price jumps quick.

People who deer all day can knock em out quick.. a Elk.. WTF.. it takes time, time the taxidermist would have been paid for in the mount price if he was doing the mount. So I am sure he was billed for his time, materials and the actual cost of shipping. ;D

Hoytman

 

Some people dont know how to cange oil in their car.. or diagnose a problem with their auto.... what does one do? they take it to a mechanic and get charged 85.00 an hour for labor.. hmmmm... Mechanics is a trade, so is taxidermy..

 

We charge more for fleshing on animals we have to prep for other taxidermists. We also charge more on tine repair or any other repair on mounts we did not mount ourselves. If it is our mount, we consider those charges discounted due to also getting the mounting done. If we don't mount it the price for individual services goes up. So charging more for the prep work on that cape I can see. Still think the shipping rate is way too high, but that is on the carriers not the taxidermist. We are in this business to make money and a living.

 

This thread reminds me why so many taxidermists are overworked and underpaid...........you believe your time and your profession aren't worth anything (or at least not enough).

 

Be pro active ~ teach your client how to cape for a FAIR fee. I was only ever given a 1on 1 lesson once then they cant get screwed over . My rules are if they dont know how to head cape I do the first 1 for free but they MUST watch & LEARN after that to cape turn & salt a sambar ( same size as elk ) $ 100 ( 2 hrs ) fallow $ 80 (1 1/2 hrs ) that is whether I do the mount or not. I am one of 3 taxidermists that I know of that will accept unskinned heads, everyone else demands they be dry salted heads cut & boiled clean or they wont touch them, hey also wont touch vevet heads at all !!!