Texas WildLife Taxidermy - Justin, TX - HELP!

Hey Guys, does anyone know anything about Texas Wildlife Taxidermy in Justin, Tx (just north of Plano).

I dropped a velvet axis off there last spring, late Feb/early March timeframe and paid in full (Yeah, I know - but the guy seem straight and met me personally late on a Sunday).

Since then, not a peep. Wanted to check on progress and ETA and there's no answer at the phone number of 817-337-5543 after several attempts - and no voice message system. The website www.texaswildlifetaxidermy.com is no longer available.

I have a cell number (supposedly to one of the guys) of 817-658-9067, and I just called a left a message - but not sure that is even a right number.

Did this guy go out of business? Is he a scam artist? Did they move? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

I hope it's not the same guy that WAS in Irving. He had the same racket going.

Well, I don't think (at this time) he was scamming anybody. He had a lot of animals in various stage of mounting in his shop in Justin, and seemed to be a upright guy. I know that taxis get busy, and often have other jobs in off season - and many of them aren't the best business people, even though they do great taxi work. And I know good guys can take upwards of a year to complete - but when I dropped off in March he indicated would be about 6 months - so I'm hoping it's ready, or near ready for pickup.

So I'm hoping the guy is just not around, many getting ready for season or out hunting himself - but with no good contact number anymore, just want to know whats going on. Not worried - yet. But do want to get in touch with him. And want to know what's up.

Aaron is an upright guy... but he's a hunter just like the rest of us, so it can be hard to get ahold of him this time of year. He usually responds quicker to texts. Use the 2nd number you listed.

Just my opinion, but 6 months turnaround on a velvet axis buck seems awfully optimistic.

Yeah, he seemed to be - at least, I liked and felt comfortable with him when I met him. As I said, not worried yet - but am reaching out since the website/office number don't seem to be valid.

Different shops have different turnaround rates. But generally my experience is that velvet orders usually get taken care of more quickly, since you have to process the velvet almost immediately and can leave it in the freezer for months. Or so I've been told a couple of times.

March to October is actually 8 months, so already a good amount of time.

UPDATE: Just got a call from Aaron - 2 weeks ago. All is good.

I should note here - I am shopping for new/different taxis in the area. I had been using Flagg Group in Dallas for years. They've always done good work, but for various reasons I been trying out some different guys.

Dropped off a WT with DoubleD in Rockwall based upon some good recommendation and he was very upfront - it would be a year or more. His reputation is stellar.

But recently I've had some bad experiences. Had one local guy completely lose my animal. Another guy in San Angelo went well over a year, and I kept getting the "2 weeks" comment for about 2 months. After I finally picked up the mount, his BIL charged me 50% more than the quoted price.

So I am little bit leary right now. Between my daughter and myself, we get a lot of mounts/skulls done every year. In the next 2 months, I expect/hope I will have 5-7 animals that I will need done. Hoping to find an alternate(s) to Flagg where I can spread around the wealth, and I can throw a lot of business towards.

Also planning another trip to Africa soon, and this time am considering getting the mounts done locally. Before I used LifeForm, and they were STELLAR - but pricey.

Pm sent bout other taxidermist

John you hunt around Boerne-Try out Richard at Cow Creek. He does good word and he is just a all around good guy. He does a lot of Axis deer. Tell him Andrew sent you. You will be very pleased.

check us out if you are in Central TX and especially if you get a cat. Plenty of pics of our work and prices on our website.

Evelyn and Mike do awesome work. I had the pleasure of looking at some of their great work.

I have been using Alpine taxidermy in Fort Worth. Haven't let me down yet!

I like Stevens Taxidermy in Liberty Hill. Cole is very good. My mounts have been fairly short turn around depending on time of year. He has done 2 mounts and 1 repair

alpine in fort worth
modern in joshua and
ram country in burleson all do good work