Taxidermist "may have lost my horns/cape"!!!! ???

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the forum, mainly because I guess I need some advise (Surprise surprise, right?) Anyway, this year I killed the biggest buck of my life and first whitetail in one.
I dropped my buck off at a local taxidermy shop (I have since moved about 2 hours away from the town) but still, a local dude. I called him yesterday, since it was my 5 month mark from dropping it off, to see if he had started it yet, and what the status was, and he tells me that he "lost his building" and that he "trusted some guys he shouldn't have and they helped themselves to meat and horns".
This is officially my worst sportsman's nightmare, I'm wondering what anyone has to say about this? He even went as far as to tell me that I'd have to take him to small claims court to recollect my $225 that I paid when dropping the horns/mount off. I'm at a loss, this is the stuff you hear about from horror stories, not the buck of my lifetime! Any help would be appreciated, point me in the right direction! Thank you in advance.

-Ray

Who is the taxidermist, name and city where located? Maybe some one else has used him or knows of him and can help. It might also help to make sure no one else tries to use him again in the future.
My suggestions is a FTF at his front door, I would by pass small claims court.

Please tell me it wasn't Logan Garnder
!!!????

Rob Hallenbeck-Hill Country Deer Processing and Taxidermy.
Fredericksburg, TX.

Now as far as small claims court, I've never been, where do I start, what do I do? Thank you for the replies.

He just text me "could not find antlers"

-Ray

If he won't give your money back, go to the court house and file on him. I don't know what it will cost- maybe $50. You have to fill out names and why your suing. I'd throw in something for loosing your horns, maybe the cost of the hunt. Good luck

I hunt in Fredericksburg and have seen that place before. I hope you get something worked out with this guy. Sorry to hear this!

Hope you got a picture. If you got the time and cash id take him to court just to be a arse but that's just me.... actualy I know what I would do but will not advise on here.

that stinks

I have quite a few pics of him actually, before and after. I also have the money to take this guy to court, unfortunately, all I want is my damn antlers back, being that this is the biggest buck I've ever killed, and my first ever whitetail. This guy is so irresponsible, it astounds me, what a great show he put on when I was dropping off my trophy though. (#(*#R(*#@JR#JUR#@)U#@(U

Great deer.

Situations like yours have happened to many more people than you think, including myself. I learned from it and from now on will never allow anything other than a professional, full-time, shop operating, well known, and reliable taxidermist do work for me.

X2 do your homework.

I have a jerk here in Odessa that can't seem to get a oryx hide tanned after over 1 year! He flaunts his certificates and crap and always has work going on but can't get a simple tan job delivered!? Cowboy Chris Taxidermy is POS in my book!

That's truly sad, Great Deer.

i used him for my first deer also, i just got an antler mount, but even though it took him like a year and two months we got that, our shoulder mount black buck and a European mount sitka back and we weren't impressed long story short i never would expect him to do that, we had a taxidermist here in Nevada do that and he got so many death threats and what not that its not funny. our experiences with other taxidermists ended after that hunt because we decided to give it a try and six years later we are now the fourth largest taxidermy shop in Nevada. taxidermy is a cut throat business.

not real sure,but you may also be able to file a lein on him and/or business, and if his original business may have include a family member on documents, include them, that might get some attention at some point, court house. just a thought no advice.

Thank you for the replies. I'll be driving out there in about 4 days to figure everything out. I contacted the local game warden there and he hates the guy, he said he'd love to go out there with me and figure what happened out, and he said he'd phone the local Sheriff's office so we can get a deputy on scene. I'll let you know how it all turns out. Thanks again everyone.
-Ray

Bummer. Brosig's here in Mid/OD does some VERY nice work. Go there next time!

Sue him for the price of a replica set of antlers. If you have lots of pictures and possibly the measurements, replicas can be made of the antlers and mounted on a form using another cape. Might not be exactly the same, but better than just letting him get away with it.

Sucks man. That's a good deer too.

That sucks man! My bet is he sold the horns, hope the gamewarden will hang a fat one in his a$$!! Hope im wrong. Good luck man hate that that hapened to ya!

Sad to hear.
Good luck nailing the DB

Man, that is terrible.... Sorry to hear about this bad experience.

You beat me to it. I was gonna say, call the GW. That'll get the ball rolling. This happens way to much at a lot of taxi's. For the life of me, I can't understand why these folks can't get more organized. I know there's some good ones out there so I don't mean to lump them all into one category but it just seems like some of the folks couldn't keep books on a snow cone stand.

dang that sucks, very nice deer. Since the warden hates him so much maybe he could help you out and sue him for the price of the hunt as well.

I mistakenly listed the game warden as the one who "hates him" that's incorrect, it's a local deputy I talked to that stated he hated dealing with him.
From what I have found out, it seems that the taxidermist was burglarized, and there wasn't much he could do. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that he finds my horns. I offered a no questions asked $100.00 to whoever hands me my horns, no police, nothing. I just want the horns back.
Hopefully it goes smooth, but something tells me that my horns are long gone. Biggest buck I've ever killed and first whitetail, so thankful that my first hunting experience after coming home from the middle east resulted in theft, FML.
Glad the rest of TX doesn't suck.

hey Ray
I am really sorry to hear your going through this. If the taxi will not offer a solution, then you may make a couple of suggestions. I know these will never replace your trophy, but it's something...
1) I would put a bill together itemized estimating your loss ( hunting trip cost breakdown, replacement cape, horn cost..check taxidermy.net for comparable pricing). Then I would offer him a payoff plan, 50-100 bucks a month till he pays off.
2) if he can't pay, then have him arrange a replacement hunt. If the guys a legit taxi, he knows hunters who might sympathize and offer to help him and you out by getting you on another hunt. I'd definitely check the place out first before agreeing.

If the guy will not work with you. Get on Taxidermy.net and post on the bad dealings site, and put pictures of the buck. These horns will eventually make it to another shop and you may be able to find them that way. Ive seen it happen...Don't sweat the cape, those are pretty easy to replace.

Just my 2cents, hope it helps. Most taxi's are reputable folks who care about your trophy. Good luck

For what it´s worth you still ought to take him to small claims, itemize everything as listed above, and seek a judgement with the court. You will need to then pursue the judgement. It may not seem like much or you might not get anything, but a judgement on record can cause people all sorts of grief.

http://www.texasbar.com/Content/Navigati...ClaimsCourt.pdf

http://library.law.smu.edu/Research-Tools/Research-Guides/Texas-Law-(300)/307-Small-Claims-Court---Texas

Sorry for your bad luck. I've been jacked around by a taxidermist also.
You can take him to small claims court. Every county has a different fee for filing, usually $35.00 to $50.00, with a maximum amount of $5000.00 in damages. You can sue for any amount up to the maximum allowed, and basically have to prove to the judge why you deserve that amount.
If you only sue for a small amount, he probably won't even show up at the hearing, and the judge can only allow you what you sued for in the initial filing.And just because you win the case, there's no law in place to make him pay. He'll get a judgement put on his credit record and that'll mess with him for years. A little tip to get his sorry attention..
Sue him for the maximum allowable, probably $5000.00. Won't cost any extra and it WILL get his attention. He'll either settle before it goes to court, or he'll show up to argue his case and the judge will allow whatever he sees fit. Small claims court is pretty loose. It all depends on what the judge is like. You might even get a judge who's been screwed by a taxidermist himself and he'll lower the boom on the guy. You never know....You won't loose though, and the guy may even try to counter sue, but it will get dismissed right off.
Good luck..make the guy have to think about what he's done to you and probably a bunch of other guys.
Make sure you have all receipts/documents.

helped themselves to meat? that sounds kind of gross! that usually isnt edible meat..... i would totally be angry at anyone who did that! that is your hard earned deer and they need to compensate somehow. SOOO irresponsible.