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Taxidermist Issues

Mschmeiske

Mschmeiske

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
2,021
Location
New York
Long story short I dropped off my Deer in 2020 to a guy to have him do a shoulder mount for me. This year I chose to use someone else.

I ran into him the other day and he asked what I did with my deer this year and I said getting it mounted. He went ballistic and gave me the finger so I reciprocated and told him the same and that he was a clown. He then proceeded to try and fight me, call my girlfriend names, and threaten us with the ol’ “don’t let me catch you in a dark alley at night” until the establishment finally removed him.

I let a couple days go by to see if he would cool his jets and needless to say, he hasn’t and he hung up on me.

I’m not sure what to do at the moment….

I’m assuming small claims court is the only option? Just curious if anyone else has gone through this.
 
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Wow, what a Dolt! I say street justice it is..... just kidding. That's not the way to settle anything in the long run... do unto others etc. I would say small claims court for sure and also report his business to the BBB. But, if you paid him money already and he still has your property, I'd be going to the local police department and filing a report of theft of property.
 
Just ask him nicely to get it back you never know I had a similar problem a few years back and I was too the point of starting go nuts then before things went high and to the left I asked for it back And he gave it back after he had it for a year and half turns out he had issues with the plack I wanted
 
Doesn’t sound like a real professional businessman. Pretty shady if you ask me. If you wanna go somewhere else with your business who cares. It happens all the time. Your still his customer for your 2020 buck and he should treat you as such. If he’s withholding your deer pretty sure getting a wildlife warden involved will have him singing a different tune. Especially if he’s not doing things by the book.
 
Yeah, he still has my deer… and I tried talking to him and he hung up. My friend Joe is supposed to try and talk to him, but I’m sure this guy will continue to be a herb…..

Court might be the only option, but I’ll try a couple of the other suggestions above before hand. See if an officer or game warden can assist. I appreciate the feedback and sorry if I wasn’t super clear above… This has been on my mind for 3 days and I can’t stop thinking about it sadly…. Think it’s an anxiety thing for me.
 
Mschmeiske said:
Yeah, he still has my deer… and I tried talking to him and he hung up. My friend Joe is supposed to try and talk to him, but I’m sure this guy will continue to be a herb…..

Court might be the only option, but I’ll try a couple of the other suggestions above before hand. See if an officer or game warden can assist. I appreciate the feedback and sorry if I wasn’t super clear above… This has been on my mind for 3 days and I can’t stop thinking about it sadly…. Think it’s an anxiety thing for me.
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I would think the warden or police could help.
 
Tell him you want the antlers and cape from your 2020 buck; consider it in writing. If he declines get the authorities involved.
 
I know police will not be able to help as it is a civil agreement (20+ years of law enforcement (in Wisconsin though)). I'm not sure a game warden would be able to help either but would be the better option of the two.

He's definitely a tool though for what he did about you using a different taxidermist. Definitely not professional.



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Homebrew454 said:
I know police will not be able to help as it is a civil agreement (20+ years of law enforcement (in Wisconsin though)). I'm not sure a game warden would be able to help either but would be the better option of the two.

He's definitely a tool though for what he did about you using a different taxidermist. Definitely not professional.



Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk
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Yeah I think you’re right.. I’m going to try it anyway, but small claims court might be my only option.

Someone mentioned the other day before I left, that they over heard him say I’d be getting it back in pieces…if I was lucky too at all. I worked hard to shoot that buck (as most of us do) and it was going to be my first shoulder mount. Turd…..
 
Probably in hindsight you should of let him cool down longer. That's just a very strange reaction for several reasons..
A why does he know youve gotten a mountable buck? Assuming its been least a week since you killed said buck and the original conversation, he's probably been stewing on that knowledge since the day he found out about the new buck.

B most decent taxidermists by now are nearing capacity or already turning down work. So unless the buck was something really special that any taxi would kill to do the mount, sounds like not many other hunters are giving him work.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
Probably in hindsight you should of let him cool down longer. That's just a very strange reaction for several reasons..
A why does he know youve gotten a mountable buck? Assuming its been least a week since you killed said buck and the original conversation, he's probably been stewing on that knowledge since the day he found out about the new buck.

B most decent taxidermists by now are nearing capacity or already turning down work. So unless the buck was something really special that any taxi would kill to do the mount, sounds like not many other hunters are giving him work.
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I verbally said I was getting it mounted when he asked, but I believe it was a rhetorical question. I assume he heard it through the grapevine or saw the buck on Facebook. He claimed he’s big on loyalty to my buddy Joe…. Stupid in this sense. I Tattoo for a living and have clients who see other artists and I don’t care…. The only people I’ve ever met that do are one of two things: not busy or self conscious about their work.
 
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Law enforcement (7 years and counting) can’t do anything in a civil agreement. If you get it back in pieces that can be criminal. Glad you didn’t resort to street justice. It can be gratifying in the moment but is never worth the result. Was their a timeframe in the agreement?
 
Petrichor said:
Law enforcement (7 years and counting) can’t do anything in a civil agreement. If you get it back in pieces that can be criminal. Glad you didn’t resort to street justice. It can be gratifying in the moment but is never worth the result. Was their a timeframe in the agreement?
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I agree. In the long run it’s not good in many ways… I don’t want to be a criminal and I try to keep a clean conscience. My 2020 spring gobbler took him 15months…

No matter the outcome, I’ll stick with this other taxidermist I found. Add this onto a list of DIY stuff I should learn. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about not getting a mount back.

I’m quitting tattooing for taxidermy.
 
Watch the “Oceans” movie triology, then go get your deer back incognito….
 
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