Update- Christmas in July ended up being Christmas in August. No matter, mounts are finally home. Nothing is as easy as we want. After what seemed an eternity, our mounts were delivered to Coppersmiths in Chicago last week. I received and paid the invoice last Friday and picked up the crate yesterday. I was very much relieved that the additional unknown expenses were not that much. We ended up @$410 more than what was provided early on as an estimate (shown above in my earlier posts with fees). With a previously expected timeline of Aug 1st pickup, actual date of Aug 19 pickup had me a bit concerned over potentially high storage fees. Luckily, this was not the case and Laura at Coppersmith’s was very good to work with.
Quick summary of my experience yesterday with picking up- as mentioned, I paid my invoice Friday evening and drove to Chicago Monday morning. Upon arrival, I simply pulled up to an open warehouse door where I was met by a forklift driver warehouse handler (Orlando was on vacation this week and not there). The driver was extremely pleasant and helpful. Within 15 minutes he had my crate located, paperwork completed, truck loaded, and I would have been on my way……….
However, two gentlemen had pulled up behind me to pick up their crates as well while this was happening. And so the talking began. Both such great guys. The sharing of adventures and comradery amongst outdoorsmen is such a wonderful thing. Neither gentlemen are members here but I hope they do join soon.
Arrived home no problem and Hunter and I were excited to open the crate up. Upon opening, everything seemed to be intact. Packaging was great. Only the tip of one ear had rubbed up against another horn a slight amount. Not bad considering we had 7 shoulder mounts, three euros, and four hides packed into a 4’x5’x4’ crate and traveling as far as they did. No holes in the crate. The downside was that we did see there had been some water in the crate at some point and several of the mounts had rusted staples on the backside of the forms. No off smells or dampness felt. Hoping that getting them into a dry environment will protect them from further problems. It seemed very minimal.
Any suggestions here on the water issues and what else we should do?
Pics of the finished mounts to come soon once we get them hung. Initial inspection of the mounts is that the taxidermy appears excellent. Eyes/ears/nose all look phenomenal. We are very pleased with the end products which is a blessing after such a long wait. I cannot emphasize enough on inspecting other work done by the taxidermist prior to commitment. Knowing what to expect is essential. I cannot imagine how we would feel today if the work was subpar.
Here is a snapshot of our final bill to Coppersmiths.
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