Hunter Sues Local Taxidermist

[darius]

im not one to mount any of my kill s , but i have an artistic eye .

i have seen deer heads done by this guy , yuck !!!

[chuck0039]

I have taken two fish to him and my Whitetail. I have never had a problem and have been happy with his work. The two fish have been perch and I have got them back three months after I have taken them in. The deer took close to 8 months but I was happy with his work.


I have reqommended him to my friends and they have all been happy with his work.


I know there are two sides to every story so I will wait and see what the out come is before I pass judgment on Clarence.

[horse_men]

Funny this comes up as he has a great horned owl of mine, I though about it today, pulled the pink slip to give him a call and see what is happening. The date of drop off was Aug. 2007!! I have called several times over the past few years and evertime it is the same answer, should be done soon. when I called earlier today there was no answer. Doesn't look like I will get my owl or my deposit now.

[scrapper]

Sadly even the most talanted artists/taxidermist in many cases are brutal business men. Sounds like this guy fits into that catagory. He does great work but sadly will never in his life time get caught up. He should just slam the door for the next five years and do the work he has to clear the backlog, no way in the world anyone can justify waitng up to five years for a mount. Regardless of how the hide is stored it cannot last five years in a freezer without extreme freezer burn due to dehydration. And if the place is a mess then cross contamination between hides is a certainty. The guy probably has a pretty good case that Clarance is responsible for the damage to his hides.

[huntinstuff]

There r many very talented taxidermists in the province

Alex, Brian, Marko come to mind.

I have never seen a poor mount from those guys. Ever. Its called pride.

Yes. Some things take time. But three or four years is unacceptable.

I use a semi retired taxidermist. I pay 100% or close to it up front. I have yet to wait more than a year for anything. I am fortunate to know him.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

There r many very talented taxidermists in the province

Alex, Brian, Marko come to mind.

I have never seen a poor mount from those guys. Ever. Its called pride.

Yes. Some things take time. But three or four years is unacceptable.

I use a semi retired taxidermist. I pay 100% or close to it up front. I have yet to wait more than a year for anything. I am fortunate to know him.

I agree... that is far too long.

Most guys want to see their mount while they can still remember shooting it in the first place...

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by pesky672

I agree... that is far too long.

Most guys want to see their mount while they can still remember shooting it in the first place...

Exactly. If it cant be done in less than 2 years, you either need to work more, get some help, or learn to run a business properly.

Clarence is a nice man, but his shop is unorganized.

Pay a visit to Northfork in Whitehorse if you wanna see a taxidermy shop. Truly amazing.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

There r many very talented taxidermists in the province

Alex, Brian, Marko come to mind.

I have never seen a poor mount from those guys. Ever. Its called pride.

Yes. Some things take time. But three or four years is unacceptable.

I use a semi retired taxidermist. I pay 100% or close to it up front. I have yet to wait more than a year for anything. I am fortunate to know him.

Way I see it, taxidermist and business man seem to be an oxymoron, especially good taxidermist. Too many out there who can't combine the two and the customer is the one who suffers. Stopped to check out one place, west of Sundre. Big sign on the road, but when I got there, scary looking operation, photo copied price list. Crossed that one off my list real quick.

Grizz

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by chuck0039

I have taken two fish to him and my Whitetail. I have never had a problem and have been happy with his work. The two fish have been perch and I have got them back three months after I have taken them in. The deer took close to 8 months but I was happy with his work.


I have reqommended him to my friends and they have all been happy with his work.


I know there are two sides to every story so I will wait and see what the out come is before I pass judgment on Clarence.

Your deer may look fine now, but come back in 10 years and see if it still looks as good then. I got a mulie and pheasant done bu Jim Boland 20 some odd years ago and they look alive still. You pay for quality. I have to wonder if this hunter brought his animals to this guy, he must have seen the supposedly bad workmanshil and stepped over the junk that others have mentioned, why then would he leave them there. Seems to me that if I were to spend that kind of cash on taxidermy, I'd be wanting to peruse his mounts and check references.

[buck-8835]

This is all a surprise to me. I have taken him 2 deer and a bear so far and I have gotten all three back within 6 months and I love the work.

[LacLaBicheNS]

I'll add my experience with him.

I took a pike to him last august or sept (2011).. He told me it would be done by nov. Well it wasn't done by nov. I called a few times and he kept me updated on the progress and was a very nice guy to deal with. The fish was finished on about dec 18th 2011. So about a month late. No biggie.

The only thing I have to say in a negative way and I am not sure to this day what really happened. The day I caught the fish I measured it at exactly 44inches. And my buddy with me measured it at 44 as well. I tried to release her, but blood pouring out of the gills and belly up for about 15 mins. So I kept it, happy but wish she woudl have swam away. So to make sure I didn't waste the fish I speed home and wrapped her up in a wet towel and into the freezer. I did not weigh or take a girth.

............. when I picked the fish up from clarence, it looked a little short. I measured it and it comes to about 40.5 on the wall. The girth looks the same, but the length to this day looks short. Even comparing it to the pictures when I caught it, it doesnt look to be the same fish? The only thing that I scratch my head over is that a 44 inch fish would give clarence about 60$ more than a 40 inch fish that he charged me for so I dont get it. Unless he had a 40 inch mould in his shop but no 44 inch mould???? I dunno.

Other than that, I was really happy and the fish looks great. Anyone that see's it says so

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by LacLaBicheNS

I'll add my experience with him.

I took a pike to him last august or sept (2011).. He told me it would be done by nov. Well it wasn't done by nov. I called a few times and he kept me updated on the progress and was a very nice guy to deal with. The fish was finished on about dec 18th 2011. So about a month late. No biggie.

The only thing I have to say in a negative way and I am not sure to this day what really happened. The day I caught the fish I measured it at exactly 44inches. And my buddy with me measured it at 44 as well. I tried to release her, but blood pouring out of the gills and belly up for about 15 mins. So I kept it, happy but wish she woudl have swam away. So to make sure I didn't waste the fish I speed home and wrapped her up in a wet towel and into the freezer. I did not weigh or take a girth.

............. when I picked the fish up from clarence, it looked a little short. I measured it and it comes to about 40.5 on the wall. The girth looks the same, but the length to this day looks short. Even comparing it to the pictures when I caught it, it doesnt look to be the same fish? The only thing that I scratch my head over is that a 44 inch fish would give clarence about 60$ more than a 40 inch fish that he charged me for so I dont get it. Unless he had a 40 inch mould in his shop but no 44 inch mould???? I dunno.

Other than that, I was really happy and the fish looks great. Anyone that see's it says so

Artificial heads come in a few different sizes. While the girth may be correct the length maybe longer or shorter depending on the fish

[LacLaBicheNS]

Originally Posted by flyguyd

Artificial heads come in a few different sizes. While the girth may be correct the length maybe longer or shorter depending on the fish

I didn't know this?!
How do I avoid this? Do you have to be blunt and tell them you want it measuring 44 inches when its on the wall?

from talking to clarence I thought the head was the real head? I know he told me the gills are the real gills.

[double gun]

Originally Posted by LacLaBicheNS

I didn't know this?!
How do I avoid this? Do you have to be blunt and tell them you want it measuring 44 inches when its on the wall?

from talking to clarence I thought the head was the real head? I know he told me the gills are the real gills.

I spoke to him about the use of artifical heads this winter. He said he uses the real head on pike. In fact the only one I can remember him mentioning using an artificial head on was trout because of the grease.

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by LacLaBicheNS

I didn't know this?!
How do I avoid this? Do you have to be blunt and tell them you want it measuring 44 inches when its on the wall?

from talking to clarence I thought the head was the real head? I know he told me the gills are the real gills.

If you've got a real head and your missing 4 inches its either a different fish or something went very wrong in the process, IMO.

And it will eventually leak grease. My pike is over 20 yrs old and its finally stopped leaking...lol

[Alberta Bigbore]

Hopefully the guy gets the money he's asking for. Unreal. I'd be pretty upset too.

[Killerb]

Yikes I don't know the guy but the stories sound typical. It seems like he was a good taxidermist but greed and overbooking got to him. He probably focused on getting people through the door instead of quality.

[.257Weatherby]

Originally Posted by darius

sorry . . .
if your pet dies and its the vets fault all you are entitled to is the value of the pet . ie- what you paid would probably be the replacement value . if it is a bitch that you sell her litter then you have a case to get more ., a proven loss of income in this case .

if you pay $50k for a hunt and you can buy said hide for $5k, shipped to you and all fees , etc . . that is what you are legally entitled to in this case as this is all the taxidermist damaged . you still recieved the hunt so why should the taxi be liable for that ?

good thing you are not a lawyer .. .

Good Thing your not a Lawyer either .
The Judgement maybe more or less than you paid for said Dog or said Trips to the Dark Continent or Down Under for that matter, what you failed to mention is the fat chance the defendant will actually pay up.
Even if the person is insured the fees will still have to be paid unless the Lawyer is working on a fee recovery basis.
Thus the chance of even replacing items are slim.
Then again if the Claimant can afford 100k trips around the world I am sure he has a connection to a Good Lawyer.
Tight Groups and will be an interesting read,
Rob

[338ultra]

This is going way back, does anybody remember when Clarence used to get his shop broken into every couple of years always in December right after he took in some book whitetails,always thought it was kind of suspicious,thats when i pulled the plug. Started using Gord at northwest, good thing, one of the best mounts i have was done there by Brian whenhe was only learning the craft, it still looks as good today as the day i picked it up.

[LacLaBicheNS]

Originally Posted by flyguyd

If you've got a real head and your missing 4 inches its either a different fish or something went very wrong in the process, IMO.

And it will eventually leak grease. My pike is over 20 yrs old and its finally stopped leaking...lol

Anyway I could tell if something went wrong? like should I look for a seem in the middle of the fish or something?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by LacLaBicheNS

Anyway I could tell if something went wrong? like should I look for a seem in the middle of the fish or something?

I think at this point I would just enjoy what you have to show of the memory of the trip. I don't think it is going to get fixed if there is a problem anyway. Too bad it seems it is either not your fish or it is not representative of the fish you caught.

LC

[Bigtoad]

Marco Polo, shmolo....

what is truly irreplaceable is the trophy Alberta Porcupine he was having mounted. Those things don't just grow on trees around here you know... That hide alone could run 10K, easy.

[Mike_W]

I belive there are some good taxidermist and there are some bad ones!!
I took my wolves into Northern Impressions Taxidermy and both Doug and his wife were exceptional good communication can go along ways. Doug gave me a date of when he expected to have them done and due to some beetle issues and the cold they werent working my skulls as quick as normal.
So I called to check a couple times and if I left a message I would be called back usually within the hour it is amazing how far good communication can go!!

[hwy_6363]

I got a whitetail mount done by Clarence about 2 yrs ago. When I took it in it was the end of Novemeber and it seemed every square inch of his shop was covered by newly delivered heads. It was quite the site, heads of all sorts everywhere. There was a definite smell to the place. But, Clarence was super nice and he showed me a few of the mounts he had in progress. It took him about a year to do my whitetail and I am happy with it, it looks just how I wanted it and the deer looks great. I had to call and check in with him a few times to get updates and he always answered the phone.
It does seem like he has taken on too much work and has gotten overwhelmed. I'd heard he'd taken on a few apprentices over the years but none of them stuck around after getting trained. He should stop taking on new clients/business and get caught up on what must be hundereds of mounts. He's a good guy and a talented taxidermist but needs to get some help.

[colour86]

There is a reason apprentices don't stick around there. Its the way he treats people and his attitude. The shop gets overwhelming after awhile too. Like i mentioned earlier my fiance was doing rugs from him and the stories do not sound like how anyone should run a business or how anyone should treat someone else. It was a joke.

[PistonBroke]

All i have to say is....brian dobson....brian dobson... Worlds finest taxi, imo

[High_N_Wide]

There are lots of taxidermists out there to choose from. Lots of things to consider when you are picking one too. Experience, specialty, personality, delivery times and lastly price.

As Mike said I use Northern Impressions and Doug is a stand up guy who has done some of the nicest mounts I have seen. I would put my full coyote up against any. With that said Sugar Creek looks like he does amazing work and there is another one on here I believe from around Provost that looks like great work aswell.

I know if I had all the amazing animals that were apparently ruined, I would have done some homework on who was mounting them. And although I do not know the defendant or his shop, it sounds like he may have had a bit of a reputation before this happened.

Trev

[LacLaBicheNS]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

I think at this point I would just enjoy what you have to show of the memory of the trip. I don't think it is going to get fixed if there is a problem anyway. Too bad it seems it is either not your fish or it is not representative of the fish you caught.

LC

like I said I'm very happy with the mount, the time it took and dealing with him. I will deffinitly use him for a fish again. But as I also said I wish the numbers added up better and half the time I think it might have been my measureing (although I usually come ot the conclusion my measurements are right because someone else got the same).

[DAVE]

Is he still into the Bronze Sculptures. I thought i herd that is his main thing now day's ??

[gwh12]

He still has my cinnamon I shot in 09' beautiful bear