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Iso Veteran Advice

Discussion in 'Beginners' started by ConservativeMillenial01, Jan 8, 2021.

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  1. Jan 8, 2021 #1
    ConservativeMillenial01

    ConservativeMillenial01 New Member

    2
    0
    Tennessee
    View attachment 223130 View attachment 223129 View attachment 223127 I have been mounting birds for about 9 years throughout my youth as I’m pretty passionate about hunting and preservation of things with feathers. One of my family members owns his own taxidermy shop and has been running it for 25 years.His mammal work is phenomenal and in years past his commercial birds could be considered above average. In the past year, his birds have become absolutely unacceptable. People were paying him a premium of $350 for a basic base duck mount. He spit out a batch of 40 ducks and geese in a 3 week time span that pissed off a lot of his clients including a couple of long time family friends. (I am currently attempting a couple remounts on them and have already found a quarter inch of fat and a lot of meat still in the birds). I do not work with him in any way and just do it as a true hobby for extra cash out of a small shop at my house ( I have about 80 birds in the freezer from swan, crane, geese, ducks and pheasants) All this being said, I am starting to be contacted by majority of his bird clients from this whole ordeal. I don’t want to steer the clients away because I feel bad for them being ripped off so bad by someone. I also don’t want to go behind the back of a family member taking in his clients or disrespecting him any way. He is my elder and a veteran taxi. Really need opinions on the best thing to do in this situation. The pics are one of the birds I’m currently remounting for free for a family friend.
     
  3. Jan 8, 2021 #2
    Tanglewood Taxidermy

    Tanglewood Taxidermy Well-Known Member

    6,413
    3,195
    dallas oregon
    I would refer them to a bird taxidermist that you would trust your birds with.
     
    ConservativeMillenial01 likes this.

  5. Jan 10, 2021 #3
    Mike Powell

    Mike Powell Well-Known Member

    2,486
    712
    Lavon, TX
    My grandfather taught me to never criticize someone else’s work to gain business for yourself or to make your work look better. He said to always let your work speak for itself. With that in mind I would be extra careful not to say a word about the quality of your family member’s work. That being said, if someone brings something to you of their own volition (you’re not doing or saying anything to attract his clients or to dissuade them from using him/her) I would accept the work. If he loses a client for his poor workmanship, that’s on him. If you participate in criticizing his work and spreading negative criticism that in any way causes him to lose clients, then it would be on you. Outside of that, I see no reason you should not accept dissatisfied customers from your family member or anyone else.
     
    Westcoast and ARUsher like this.
  6. Jan 11, 2021 #4
    Westcoast

    Westcoast Active Member

    182
    142
    I would not get involved. If he’s been in business for 25 years then he is well versed in the business. I’m not understanding why his clients are contacting you and not him with a concern over his work. Like Mike said above, your work will speak for itself. If it’s good, people will want it. If it’s bad, they wont. I would completely remove myself from the situation if I were you and refer his clients back to him. Also, like other taxidermists I know, I personally won’t fix other taxidermists work for this exact reason. If you want to go in business, then turn a solid product and let the chips fall where they may. But, never criticize anyone else’s work unless they ask you to, it’s just bad ju ju, hope this helps, good luck!!
     
    ARUsher likes this.
  7. Jan 19, 2021 #5
    jessewild

    jessewild Active Member

    196
    61
    Whitewater,Wisconsin
    Couldnt agree more westcoast. Steer away from it. If its only a hobby for yourself then i assume u dont have a taxidermy license which in turn means you cant legally charge anyone.
     
  8. Jan 30, 2021 #6
    ConservativeMillenial01

    ConservativeMillenial01 New Member

    2
    0
    Tennessee
    I want to thank all you guys for all the valuable input. I do have my taxidermy license, as I do this as a hobby for extra cash. In regards to the situation, I went ahead and dropped by my family members shop to catch up with him and show him what I had been working on recently for constructive criticism (not looking to bring up anything myself). Fortunately my family member brought up his recent batch of birds and the personal situation that resulted in the quality which I will not be sharing, but has offered me an opportunity to work under him doing all of his birds as a trial run this following year from my own shop at my house. I accepted the terms and feel this was the best possible way things could have went. I also fully disclosed the events that transpired and he fully understood my conflict in the situation.