What a shame. Thanks for sharing with everyone. Maybe you saved someone else here the same problem!

See if you can find out who he was renting his shop from and get in touch with the landlord. If your skull is still in the shop, you should be able to get it back.

Man, this sounds eerily familiar....

as I stated above... you are on the right track in calling the Chamber and the Sheriff..
but also call the local Game Warden and the County / City DA.... could turn into a civil case.... much easier to pursue than a onesy twosy issue...

there may already be something in the works.... unfortunately you will have to dig for the info...

just my ..... as I have been in your shoes and know exactly how you feel at this point.

good luck

Good luck Buckrage,that is so un-cool of that DB,call sheriff,he stole your money and your antlers,take it to court.Hunter30 you my-sir are a good man and you know what they say about good men!

I had same problem in Eagle Lake had a taxidermist take $1,700 and four gators. The police, and DA helped, but I ended up getting them back by letting everybody know and finally someone contacted me when he was cleaning shop out and luckily he still had them frozen. Just let everyone know and find out where he is and show up with witnesses. Most likely a civil matter unless you can get other customers together. This is very common and makes the reputable taxi look bad.

Take the guy to small claims court. He's required to appear. You can get a judgement for the cost you paid, plus any expenses to recover. If he doesn't have the skull anymore, file a civil suit to recoup the total cost of the hunt - hunt fees, trip costs, license fees etc...

next time bring it by my house we can pop it in a turkey fryer and il bleach ad u can be on your way! Haha

O by the way tell the little one I said congrats and I'm sorry!

BuckRage, The sheriff is your best bet. I had the same problem a couple of years ago but within 1 hour of the sheriff calling his cell number and also contacting his wife I received a call from the Taxidermist and a date & time to pick up my mount.

I had the same exact thing happen 15 years ago here in Mansfield Texas, I was friends with the guy and had done over 2000 worth of business with him over the years. all of a sudden his shop closed and he was GONE! Well I ran an add in the FWST and OMG my phone rang off the hook!!! We had a lawyer take up the case Pro Bono and we sued him for a total of 32 thousand dollars! gee after he got served papers he hired a guy to meet us at his old shop and every Saturday for 3 months he would open up the shop and give us our mounts and a cashiers check for the original deposits...... I still wanted to punch that "A" hole in the puss!

I think I will chime in on this. I left a nice set of antlers at AYW Taxidermy on 1187 in Mansfield in November. His first promise was after the first of the year. Since then, I have spoken to him several times, and he has made several new promises.
Now, for the past several weeks, he does not answer his phone, and all I get is the recorded message. I have left several messages. His web site is now gone, so I cannot send an email. Has anybody had any dealings with this guy? My brother has had a few mounts done by him, and we had some processing done too. I went by today, the shop is still there. The 24 hour drop off freezer is still there. he shop still looks the same inside as far as I can see through the windows. Any suggestions or information?

$200 for a euro mount is very expensive

I am sorry for your loss. I just dont know how I would feel, but it would be bad for them. My dad and I lost 8 mounts of differant game several years ago to a guy in Weatherford named BART WALKER. Anyone seen him, I would love to have a private talk with him.

I bet I know who this was. I had the same problem.

Seriously it some sort of cultural thing. Taxadermissts are notorious for missing deadlines. I don't know why they are so bad with time management. I've had several very frustrating experiences of the last few years with a couple different taxis. In fact I don't think I've ever had a taxidermist make a deadline, and I have about 10 mounts. I always seem to feel better though when I get the animals back and they look so nice. I hope you get your son's rack back.

It is just a matter of the numbers of heads they take in and when they give u a date you have to know it is an estimate give or take a month or so

200 of a skull mount... My friends better be nice to me... I think I did 4 for free this year.

I have a taxi now that I will use for the rest of my life... His prices are very reasonable and he does great work. He is very very honest also.

X1000

This is a crappy cell phone pic that I just took 30 seconds ago in my office, but I had this one done this year. Dropped it off Dec 26, got it back first week in Jan. Cost $65. The wood looks a lot better than the pic shows.

I'm a big fan of skull mounts because I like to hold the horns.

Texan that looks great..plus I like big 8's

Great looking mount, Texas til I die.

My buddy and his dad do them out in Odessa, probably the best looking euro's I've ever seen, they are very white and never get that yellow look. He charges $160 for whitetail plaque mounted. He's going to try and start doing them here in the metroplex. They are fast on their turn around times usually less than 2 weeks. Knowing how good their work is $200 is pretty high. It's a shame he's ruining your sons memory of his deer. Hope you get it back.

Thanks everyone for your input. I've tried to contact him several more times but still not answering. Got a good guy trying to work on it for me here in the forum with some connections to the guy. I appreciate his help and ya all's input as well.

I don't know for sure if it can be done with out the original horns, but I have seen replicas made before. I'm sure you got some pictures of the deer. See if anyone can make a replica euro. I hope you're able to get the original back though. Good luck, a friend of mine had a similar thing happen with his daughter's first buck. He finally got it back, but the guy had left the horns outside and the squirrels had their way with them.

This is great advise. You have entered an agreement/ contract with this clown. He is obligated to fullfill the end of the deal. Threaten or actually have papers delivered to his wife/ residence.