I have never had a fish mounted until recently. I found a guy in the Irving area who owns www.hunt-n-fishen.net We e-mailed back and forth, he was real prompt about answering all my questions, even sent me pictures of work he has done previously. I liked how professional he was so I called him up; he gave me a good deal and I drove to his house (he works out of his garage) to drop it off. He told me if I paid in full he would have the fish done in a month. Now it's going on the 8th week and I have been calling him every weekend for the last three weekends to schedule a pick-up time...and every week he tells me it won't be ready for another week. Now he's not picking up calls, his voice mail box is full so I can't leave a message. My last resort was to e-mail him two days ago but still no answer. Anyone work with this guy before? His name is Danny Gray, and he claims to have worked in the taxidermy business in Decatur, Texas for 18 years until he moved to Irving a few years ago. What should I do? Am I just being impatient? Was it a scam? Any suggestions and comments are welcome.

sorry your getting the run around from this guy..
I don't know of him--

and welcome to the forum...

you know where he lives, I would go have a face to face ,and get things right--in a polite way of course (at first)

Sounds like the run around to me. I know it takes at least two weekes for a fish to dry after they are mounted. Then you have to paint them. So, a month would mean he isn`t very busy. I would stop by and see him in person.

pay in full,that should have set off an alarm..........

Pay in full, not a good start. I would go see the fella.

I hope you saved ALL of your e-mails from the very first time you made contact. It sounds like you will be in small claims court before it is all said and done .

Bad news is do a "Danny Gray taxidermist" search on Google and this post is the first hit.

Most pay in 1/2 and upon receipt pay the other 1/2. Sorry.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I never had to deal with a taxidermist before; usually the fish are released or eaten! Looks like I'm a day late and a dollar short this time around... next time I'll be more careful.

I got mine done by one of my golfing buddies who was a taxidermist. We played golf several times while waiting for all my fish that have been mounted (3) and it always seemed like they'd be ready next week...

maybe it's just a thing about taxidermists...

I had a similar problem with my son's first buck. It is now at the 3rd taxi. The original guy claimed to have a siezure of some sort but I think he just took in more work than he could handle. What really po'd me though was that he would never answer his phone or return calls. He would respond to emails but sometimes after a week or so. I was getting to the point that an in person visit was going to be the only way. Unless you know the person I would stick with taxis that have a regular business. I learned my lesson.

It is sad, but you just can't pay for anything up front. Hopefully, everything will work out and if it doesn't, chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Just curious h0ngkn0t2, what species fish and how big?
And welcome to the forum.

When I got a fiberglass replica from taxidermist Ron Kelly, I paid for it with my credit card. He shipped it to me after about 3 months, as he said it would be. If I had a bad experience like you, I would just cancel the order and call my credit card company to reverse the charges. (And, BTW, the fish lived to be caught another day)

http://www.fishcreations.com/index.html

It wasn't a record by far but it was my personal best for a largemouth. I would catch a few decent sized largemouth while using a Rat-L-Trap for sandies, I got addicted to their fighting power so I thought I'd give LMB a try this year. Got a Chatter Frog and tested it in the water. Caught a few ranging from 14-17". Came back the next week to try my luck and caught this beauty, she was a little less than 23". Now I might never see her again.

That video clip on your sig hurts me to whatch.....aggie

Truely sorry this happened to you. It breaks down trust in the whole system.

yeah that sucks, take up carp fishing for a fight ...at least you got a good photo of it! nice fish!

Have to throw my story out there. I had caught a nice 9 pounder a few years back in February. Unfortunately, after weigh in she died before I could get her back in the water. Anyways, I took her to a so called taxidermist. He told me the fish would be ready in about 3 months. I paid half up front. After 4 months I heard nothing. I went to his house where he had his shop set up. I saw a brownish black fish on his work table. He wouldn't show me my fish. He told me he should have it done in about a week or so. Well by the 6 month, he finally calls me. I said where is my fish, he said come pick it up. Needless to say he had a replica on the wall and said here it is. I promptly told him I am not an idiot that is a replica and the worst paint job I have ever seen. Needless to say I walked out with a replica and did not pay the full amount. I then called another taxidermist to repaint the fish. That cost me $100 because he felt sorry for me or whatever. But, my advice, check references not just the work. To me, anyone can get a pic of a mount. But references are hard to beat. Sorry for your trouble, been there before. I would say go to his house, and give him the what for. To often us fishers and hunters are ripped off by want to be taxidermists.

Just to be the odd man out here... The one fish I had done was promised in 3 months and took six. I had paid 1/2 up front. The guy was a regular taxi, and had a small shop, and every time I stopped by, he was working. The guy did a great job, go figure. Sometimes things just take longer than people think they will.

Sorry about your frustration with the taxidermist, but dude, that's a monster LMB! IMHO. Thanks for posting the pic. It gives me hope because I have never come close to landing a LMB like that. And even though you have some reservations about your taxidermist choice, at least you will always have the satisfaction of reeling that hog in. Nobody can ever take that from you.

And welcome to TFF.

You look young and probably havn't fished for long but you should know as everyone else here that those kind of fish are very special and should be let go to reproduce and give another angler the same thrill you got of catching her. To kill a fish like that is a shame although it is perfectly legal to do so assuming you have a current fishing license. All you need is a photo like the one you submitted and the weight and or length and girth measurement of the fish so a competent taxidermist can make a fiberglass replica that looks better than a skin mount and it will last for ever unlike a fish that has been killed and skin mounted. I know as I have mounted bass for over 25 years and for the last ten have never taken a skin mount to do just replica's.
I am sorry for your delima and it doesn't sound promising but you still have your trophy mounted in the manner I have described above even though it will cost you again.

Good luck and good fishing,

So for 15 years you have mounted fish? And now you want to preach to the guy that he should have let it go, for the good of reproduction. And provided he has a current fishing licence? You didn't mention to him how much of a difference in price it is for a replica verses a skin mount. His post was about getting cheated out of his fish not getting your opinion of catch and release!

Thats right evv59 I mounted bass just like every other taxidermist did back in those days as there were no good fiberglass reproductions available. Since they have been available most good taxidermist will not touch a skin mount any more. A fiberglass reproduction will cost more but it will also look better and last forever. That was my point I was making as It seems apparent he did know this was an option.
As far as my opinion on catch and release I was not lecturing him on my views but any true sprotsman should promote catch and release to every one that bass fishes. If you think its bad to suggest to a young angler that catch and release is an option then you are part of the problem. It seems like there is always someone on here that has to jump on anybody they don't agree with.

That is a really nice fish you caught there. Sounds you like you found a good spot since you were catching 14-17 inchers the day before, those aren't too shabby either. Lake or pond?
Just keep after the guy, sometimes those taxidermists take a lot longer than they say they will. Good luck and let us know if you ever get your fish back.