Dropped of a whitetail to a taxidermist the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2018. I called him ~November 1, 2019 just for an update since I had not heard anything in almost a year and he said a couple more weeks, but definitely by your drop off day. I then called ~December 1, 2019 and he said 3-4 more weeks. Tried calling him a couple times this past weekend but have not gotten ahold of him. How long should a shoulder mount take?

I am trying a new guy this year and he estimated 8-9 months from my drop off of 12/1. Your's is on the long side and that is frustrating, but I had a javelina with my old taxidermist (he was really good, but slow) and waited 18 months. I would keep calling - the squeaky wheel and all...

Depends on the taxi and just how busy they are. I have it take 14-15 months by a larger well know taxi to get my mounts done. Depending on the area you are in and when the most deer are brought in, it might be 16 months or longer if the taxi gets a lot of mounts in every year. Some work by themselves and others have help, it still takes them a long time to get the mounts out. If they do a lot of WT, MD, exotics and African game then I would not expect them to do a 6-9 month time frame, more like 15 months or so. Did you ask him how long when you originally dropped it off?

kman2017 have you paid for the mount/ I would be inclined to pay him a visit.

I paid half upfront.

Finally got ahold of the guy today and got the good ol' 3 more weeks.

That sucks...may be worth your time to pay him a visit to discuss your mount in person...