PLACEHOLDER: studio wall of finished whitetail shoulder mounts at eye level in warm light, one pedestal mount on a walnut base in the foreground, workbench with hide tools out of focus behind

Your deer only gets mounted once.

A family run taxidermy studio in Excelsior Springs. Whitetail shoulder and pedestal mounts, european skulls, turkeys, fish and tanned hides, done here in the shop and not shipped out to somebody else.

Family run since 2009 · State and federal tags handled · Deer back in 8 to 10 months

Call about a mount

123 Main St, Excelsior Springs, MO Whitetail shoulder mount from $675 Half down at drop off

The work

Seven ways to bring an animal home.

What you pick mostly comes down to where it is going to hang and how much wall you have. Bring a photo of the room if you are not sure. A pedestal mount in a corner reads bigger than a shoulder mount on a wide wall, and it costs less than most people expect.

PLACEHOLDER: finished whitetail shoulder mount on a wall in warm light, semi-sneak pose, ears forward, eyes and nose detailed, hide seam invisible

Whitetail shoulder mounts

Upright, semi-sneak, sneak or full turn. Commercial tanning, hand-set eyes, and the hairline around the eye and nose finished so the seam does not show.

from $675

PLACEHOLDER: whitetail pedestal mount on a turned walnut base standing in a corner of a room, head turned, upper shoulder and brisket showing

Pedestal and wall pedestal

Floor pedestal on a turned base, or a wall pedestal that carries the shoulder off the wall. Best answer for a big deer in a small room.

from $895

PLACEHOLDER: cleaned and whitened european whitetail skull with full antlers mounted on a live-edge walnut plaque

European skulls

Cleaned, degreased and whitened, then hung on a walnut or live-edge plaque. Two weeks in the shop instead of ten months, and the cheapest thing in this list.

$155–$225

PLACEHOLDER: full strut turkey mount with fan spread and wings flared standing on a natural wood base with dried grass

Turkeys

Full strut, half strut, flying, or just the fan and beard on a plaque. Full strut needs floor or shelf space, so measure before you commit.

$150–$625

PLACEHOLDER: mounted largemouth bass on a driftwood base with airbrushed color, wet-look gloss on the flank, fins spread

Fish, skin and replica

Skin mounts on anything that came out cold and whole. Replica if you released it, and a replica also holds its color longer, so most walleye and bass go that way now.

$16 / inch

PLACEHOLDER: tanned deer hide laid flat over a bench next to a finished bear rug with felt edging

Tanned hides and rugs

Hair-on tanning, or a full rug with felt edging and a sewn liner. Send the cape with us at drop off and it comes back with the mount.

from $210

PLACEHOLDER: close crop of a numbered work tag wired to a set of antlers on a rack, hunter's name and county written on it, forms clipboard beside it

Price sheet

Written down, because nobody should ask what a mount costs.

Whitetail shoulder mountAny pose, commercial tan, hand-set eyes$675
Whitetail pedestal mountTurned walnut base, head turned to suit the room$895
European skull, whitenedOn a walnut or live-edge plaque$155–$225
Turkey, full strutFan and wings spread, natural base$625
Turkey fan and beard plaqueTwo weeks, walk-in$150
Fish, skin or replicaPer inch of length, base included$16 / in

Half down at drop off and the rest when you pick it up. Deer dropped off in November come back the following August or September, which is normal for anybody doing the work themselves and slow for anybody who is not. Elk, antelope, bear and anything out of state are quoted one at a time, and out-of-state animals need the tag and the paperwork with them. Prices here are illustrative for this preview.

Before you bring it in

Four things that decide whether a cape is usable.

Almost every ruined mount is ruined in the first two hours in the field, and none of it is hard to avoid. If you are unsure, stop and call before you cut anything. We would rather answer the phone at ten at night than lose the hide.

PLACEHOLDER: hunter's hands holding a field-dressed deer cape cut well behind the front shoulder, showing how much hide to leave — Cut behind the shoulder, not at the neck

PLACEHOLDER: deer head and cape rolled hair-side out in a large plastic bag going into a chest freezer — Bag it and freeze it, do not salt it

PLACEHOLDER: close view of a deer's throat and brisket area unmarked and intact, with a knife set aside — Leave the throat alone for a mount

PLACEHOLDER: fish laid flat in a wet towel inside a bag with the fins folded in, going into a freezer — Fish go in wet, flat, fins folded

PLACEHOLDER: the taxidermist at the workbench setting the eye on a whitetail form, reference photos of live deer taped to the wall above the bench

The studio

Two people, and every animal goes through both of them.

Owner name goes here opened the shop in 2009 and still does every mount that leaves it. Two weeks a year go to competition and continuing education, which sounds like a hobby and is actually the reason the eyes on a mount from 2009 look like the eyes on a mount from this fall.

There is a limit on how many deer come in each season and it is a real limit. When the board is full it is full, and we will tell you that in November instead of holding your animal in a freezer until March.

Owner name goes here, Excelsior Springs

Drop off

South Titus Avenue, and a cooler out back.

Studio

123 Main St
Excelsior Springs, MO 64024

Walk-in drop off during shop hours. There is a cooler on the back dock for after hours in season, with tags and a pen in the box on the wall. Fill the tag out before you leave, and text a photo of it.

Hours

Monday to Friday8 to 5
SaturdayBy appointment
SundayClosed

During rifle season we are here late and the phone gets answered. Any other time of year, leave a message with the species and the county it came out of.

Get in touch

(816) 555-0178

studio@example.com

Towns we cover: Excelsior Springs, Kearney, Liberty, Lawson, Smithville, Richmond, Plattsburg, Holt, Polo and the rest of Clay, Ray and Clinton County.