CouesWhitetail Report post Posted September 7, 2011 I am happy to announce that Jim Hartsock of Southwest Wildlife Taxidermy has joined on as a sponsor of CouesWhitetail.com. I know several of our members have spoken highly of his work. I spoke with several of his customers and they all gave rave reviews such as "He is phenomenal...There is no way I could be happier with his work". One of his customers has used Jim for over 15 years and has had him do 47 shoulder mounts/lifesize mounts/custom mounts. Jim started doing taxidermy 36 years ago at the age of 14 and never stopped. He has been mounting Coues deer since moving to Arizona 25 years ago and says he loves to recreate the differences that exist in the different subspecies of whitetail. Jim has 2 full time employees and they are qualified in all phases of taxidermy. They bring the total years of experience of Southwest Wildlife to about 75 years. They mount about 100 coues deer a year. Custom work is not a problem. Jim said, "We mount all species of animals, birds and fish. About 70% of our work is African and International. We love to do major alterations. Almost all of our mounts are altered in some way. Some for position and some for size. Every animal is different and each difference needs to be addressed." They have quick turnaround time averaging 8-12 months. When I asked him "What makes your taxidermy business different than the others? Why should someone hire you rather than one of your competitors?" here is what he said, "When selecting a taxidermist I suggest that the hunter go look at the work, not just one piece but a number of them. Look to see if the animal looks alive and ready to step off the wall. We recreate animals that look like they will step off the walls. We pride ourselves in anatomical correctness, We listen to the customer to provide him with what he wants. We are here today and will be here tomorrow. We are the only shop in the valley licensed by the state and federal government, and approved by the USDA. No one else can say that." Jim regularly attends taxidermy conferences and competitions. He has competed for over 20 years and has won numerous 1st, 2nd, 3rd ribbons in both the open division and Masters. He has also won many Best of Categories, Peoples Choice, Taxidermist Choice, in mammals, birds, fish. He received the Arizona Best All Around 4 times, 3 in a row. (98,99,2000 and again in 2004). He won the Award of Excellence given by the National Taxidermy Assn. in life-size mammals. At that time only 75 taxidermist in the world had received that honor. He has competed and won awards at various state competitions, Regional’s, and Nationals. Of all the awards he has won in both the open division and Masters the ones he is most proud of are the Peoples Choice Awards he has received because that means that typical customers are liking his work. Jim has a showroom with over 100 completed mounts that are constantly changing. So plan a trip and check out his work in person. If you can't make it to the showroom, you can check out his work on his website. http://www.swwildlife.com/ Southwest Wildlife Taxidermy 16443 N. 91st Street Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 480-661-0372 jim@swwildlife.com check out his work in these pics: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted September 7, 2011 Welcome Southwest Wildlife Taxidermy. Thanks for joining cwt as a sponsor here. I definitely will check out your site. Good luck with your business this hunting season. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted September 7, 2011 Those are some nice mounts, Welcome aboard! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted September 7, 2011 Welcome and thanks for supporting the site! Some nice mounts as others have said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites