PhxDT Report post Posted May 16, 2015 I didn't want to go here, but if that was my elk, i would not pay for the mount. I have heard a lot of horror stories about R&R. It looks like he mounted your antlers on a spike cape, and a bad one at that. The neck is waaay too skinny for a mature bull and looks as if it just finished a chemo treatment. I know it's not what you wanted to hear. I however, am very critical on my taxidermy work. You work your butt off to take that animal, pay top dollar and wait up to a few years to get the mount back. You should expect nothing less than a piece of art that you can be proud to hang and display for a lifetime. Just my 2 cents and please take no offense to my comment Thanks for the opinion- not offended, just looking for the reasonable solution. If I waited this long, I am worried how long it would be before it is fixed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
5guyshunting Report post Posted May 16, 2015 I didn't want to go here, but if that was my elk, i would not pay for the mount. I have heard a lot of horror stories about R&R. It looks like he mounted your antlers on a spike cape, and a bad one at that. The neck is waaay too skinny for a mature bull and looks as if it just finished a chemo treatment. I know it's not what you wanted to hear. I however, am very critical on my taxidermy work. You work your butt off to take that animal, pay top dollar and wait up to a few years to get the mount back. You should expect nothing less than a piece of art that you can be proud to hang and display for a lifetime. Just my 2 cents and please take no offense to my comment I concur. If it was mine and I knew my efforts were in check to preserve the cape I would not pay one cent. Thats my one cent and the same , no offense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 16, 2015 If you are dissatisfied, have him remove the antlers and give them back. You could have a good, reputable taxidermist mount them on a good cape. You have already waited 2.5 years, what's another 6 months? There are plenty of great taxidermists that advertise on this website that i am sure would be more than happy and accomodating to right this wrong situation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lancetkenyon Report post Posted May 16, 2015 PM sent. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgraffaz Report post Posted May 18, 2015 I am getting my little brothers cow elk cape tanned by him right now and am a little concerned....he does take along time I can say that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AverageJoe Report post Posted May 18, 2015 He doesnt tan anything himself, he sends all the capes/hides off to get tanned Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murfys69law Report post Posted May 18, 2015 That doesn't mean you got your cape tho. They do capes in lots. Chances are you have someone elses cape on your elk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhxDT Report post Posted May 18, 2015 Thank you for everyone's comments. We talked it through, walked through the matching process- showing how he numbers all the cape. I believe this is my cape, it was likely damaged by the tannery I think. We spent plenty of time looking at my pictures and how the cape looks now. He agreed to put a new cape on it, which I appreciated. In the mean time, I get to take it home and display it in my living room. Since it is 12' up, it'll be harder to notice the flaws. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azpredator@work Report post Posted May 19, 2015 Good for you.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 19, 2015 Glad you at least asked for am explaination Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
5guyshunting Report post Posted May 19, 2015 It will be the real deal with the new cape. You will be happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
murfys69law Report post Posted May 19, 2015 You will def. notice a difference. Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Becker Report post Posted May 19, 2015 Hmmmm bad cape or maybe not yours. After thinking about it appears different compared to your bull. Going to look ok 12' up so you don't see the flaws???? Crazy long turn around time? Seriously how do you guys think all that's ok even with the health problems??? Even if you generally like the guy how do you PAY to get a crappy product with an even longer turn around time. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 19, 2015 I was waiting for a good taxidermist to chime in on this. You should never have to hide a mount. I had a friend who just started doing taxidermy mount my last buck. Just picked it up today. It turned out really good. Much better than R&R does and it was like his 5th animal to ever mount. Also had it back in 5 months. There is NO excuse, other than laziness for an animal taking much more than a year to complete. We need to start a pinned thread on taxidermists to avoid. Most are repeat offenders 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Becker Report post Posted May 19, 2015 I'm all for it if you know. Turn around times are a touchy thing. And some people specifically say this is how long it's going to take. For those guys I have no complaints. Guys running a true one man studio tend to get swamped. At least if they are good. It just pains me to see some of the mounts people spend their hard earned earned money to get that are complete disasters. I'm generally not the guy to speak up as its really a personal choice but if guys would spend just a small bit of time and go look at people's work. They would save themselves some headache. I can probably count on one hand how many people have actually come to my shop just to look at the work over the last 2 years!!! Ohwell. Enough blab from me as I have already stepped out of my comfort zone on this type of topic 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
