Only thing I know that takes longer to get back than my NFA Tax Stamps is my white tail shoulder mount. November 18, 2016 I dropped him off and got him back today, so worth the wait my taxidermist did a great job and my boys reaction was so awesome!
This is my first mount as I have always taken does as they taste so much better and the meat is why I hunt. But last go round I took a smaller buck so figured I would get it mounted even though he was a bit small.
Being that I haven’t talked to my boys about hunting yet. My 2 year old loves deer and always looks for them when we are driving at dusk.
So I put the mount up in my shop today and just had him walk into the shop and I really had no clue how he would react was hoping he would not be startled. He walked in and immediately yelled “Look a reindeer, I love it!!!!” He turned to me with his huge smile that melts your heart and just said “he is so beautiful!, I love it!”

I wish I had video to share but I will certainly will always remember it.

Damn, that's a long time. My guy is usually only 6-7 months.

Funny story - The last one I took to him was a 5 pt. whitetail I got a few years ago. I've killed quite a few nice big muleys but I'd never gotten what I thought was a mountable whitetail until then. I was pretty proud of it until I went to pick it up. We walked back into his shop and he had all his mounts hanging on the walls and when we got to the whitetail wall I thought I saw which one was mine...a nice (not huge, but nice) buck surrounded by some bigger, but mostly smaller, mounts. He just smiled and said, "Ummm, no. This one's yours." He was damn near the smallest of the bunch!

I'm still proud of him and he looks good on the wall.

This guy is swamped. Certainly the best in the state if not many surrounding states. Mine was small and I know it but it was a really good looking set of antlers for the size. Not the smallest he has done but probably close.

A year and change is normal around here and many taxidermists are longer than that.

Glad your kid likes ths mount. I've got 5 on the wall and my 3 year old loves them. Makes for some delicate discussions about death and killing, though.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
A year and change is normal around here and many taxidermists are longer than that.

Glad your kid likes ths mount. I've got 5 on the wall and my 3 year old loves them. Makes for some delicate discussions about death and killing, though.

Delicate but important life lessons.
My 4 year old was not as excited he said “so how long has he been deaded and where did you get him?”

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

Delicate but important life lessons.
My 4 year old was not as excited he said “so how long has he been deaded and where did you get him?”

"He's not dead. He's in a state of suspended animation."

Just about every time we eat supper my four year old daughter asks "Daddy did you kill this?" If we are eating something I didn't kill like pork or chicken she always asks "Who killed it then?"