Question about deer mounts

Not sure about the cost for a shoulder mount around Pensacola but I'd say at least $500. If you can get video or pictures of the deer when it was alive...it might be helpful but certainly not necessary. Photos are more for fish. As for trophy care and preparation, it is very important to get the hide off the critter and get it cool and or salted asap. When you go to remove the hide, cut down the back of the neck using caution not to shave off the back of the hair folicles. Unless you are pretty experienced, leave turning the ears, lips, and eyes to your taxidermist. When you make your initial cut when you first field dress the deer, do not go all the way to the brisket, this leaves plenty of "material" for the taxidermist to work with. You should also cut down the back side of the front legs, down to the first joint, then cut around the radius and work up toward the face. Good luck on getting what you are looking for, James

<DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: #7f9db9 0.75pt solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 6pt; BORDER-TOP: #7f9db9 0.75pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 6pt; BACKGROUND: white; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6pt; BORDER-LEFT: #7f9db9 0.25pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 6pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #7f9db9 0.75pt solid"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">This is one of those items that fall in the category of "You Pay For What You Get". I've got 17 or so mounts in my house so I've got a little experience with taxidermist. The biggest thing to know with taxidermists is each one has their own style. So if you get a mount done by one guy because it was cheap and then later get a mount done by another guy who has a good reputation they are not going to look the same beside each other. That cheap mount will definitely stand out. In other words pick your taxidermist out and keep him. Go with someone who has some experience and has been around for a good while?.they aren?t going anywhere anytime soon and all your mounts will match up and look great together.<P style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; mso-border-alt: solid #7F9DB9 .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #7F9DB9 .25pt; mso-padding-alt: 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">On a personal note Istarted usingMichael Cole a few years ago when I moved back to Milton from living inNorth Alabama. He has done several mounts for me from deer, to pheasant, to turkeys. I have been very impressed with his mounts and his drive to improve himself. He is a perfectionist by heart and continues to put out better and better mounts every year. He has some reallyawesome stuff and ideas. He is also a Christian, a dad, and a great husband. I think that also says a lot about who he is as well. You will not go wrong by choosing him to do your mount. I looked at some of the othertaxidermist from Mobile over to Crestviewbut felt like the higher prices were helping pay for high dollar shops and employee overhead...not because the mount was better quality. Michael, his dad, and brother do all their own stuff and each put their own touch into it. Which 1 keeps overhead down and 2 means you are getting something that they put their own stamp of approval on. Good Luck with whom ever you choose.</DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">

As mentioned above, know what type of work someone does as that is what you are paying for, and it matters more than anything else.

I hunt with the Taxidermist that does all of Jeff Foxworthy's personalworkand for his Plantation. He is Unreal in his ability to recreate a living animal. I have never seen anything to match his work. I get alot of heat from other hunting buddies about how long he keeps my deer, but I will not take them anywhere else. He currently has a deer that will be done in 2 weeks that I killed in Jan. of 06, it scored 157 B&C, and I couldn't be happier. The mount is going to be in an aggressive posture, head down and ears tucked back, just as he was when I took the fatal shot that killed him. He doesn'ttake that long on all his work, but I will wait as long as he needs me too, and it is well worth it, and the cost should be looked at the same way.

I hope this helped, and good luck.