I also use Michael Blunk and either Harvey's or DeWayne's in Blackwell. I'm not sure if Blunk does elk or not. He does great work on deer.
Hey I've got a buddy who wants to go to school for this; are there any good taxidermy schools/courses in central OK? Thanks.
I know he does do elk, but I doubt very many.
+1 on Mann Taxidermy. They did my 2008 buck and it turned out beautiful. I have had several compliments. Good price, great work but they have been a bit backed up and their lead times are getting a bit longer than they used to be but the work is totally worth the wait.
LookAlive taxidermy in Avant Ok, Jimmie will treat you right and fix you up with a very nice mount. He just got done with my deer and only took 5 weeks. Fast and pays attention to details. What was nice was the chance to see other customers work that was waiting pickup instead of his own stuff. It was very detailed, the eyes seemed to come alive. Jimmie Ph 918-263-2234.
My questions are: Where are you going elk hunting and WHEN?
First you may be better off just planning on doing the butchering yourself. Odds are very good that you may have to skin and quarter you elk just to get it to the truck. At that point you may as well finish butchering it, an elk is just like butchering an oversized deer. Same cuts of meat and everything, just bigger.
Second, if this is an earlier hunt (anything before November) you will most likely not be able to bring him back whole if you are very far from Oklahoma. Elk retain body warmth VERY WELL. Much more so than any deer. They are dense and have very thick hair. It is very important to skin them fairly quickly to allow the meat to cool properly. PLUS, if you are thinking about getting a mount you need to get the hide off him and let that cool so it doesn't "slip" when mounting. You can ruin a hide pretty easily if you don't treat it properly.
First you may be better off just planning on doing the butchering yourself. Odds are very good that you may have to skin and quarter you elk just to get it to the truck. At that point you may as well finish butchering it, an elk is just like butchering an oversized deer. Same cuts of meat and everything, just bigger.
Second, if this is an earlier hunt (anything before November) you will most likely not be able to bring him back whole if you are very far from Oklahoma. Elk retain body warmth VERY WELL. Much more so than any deer. They are dense and have very thick hair. It is very important to skin them fairly quickly to allow the meat to cool properly. PLUS, if you are thinking about getting a mount you need to get the hide off him and let that cool so it doesn't "slip" when mounting. You can ruin a hide pretty easily if you don't treat it properly.
I'm hunting in New Mexico in mid-October. I've been going back and forth on butchering myself, I haven't had too many good experiences with processors on deer I've taken in. Not that they've been too terribly bad, just that I've enjoyed what I've butchered much more.
I'm really leaning toward a european mount just because I have short ceilings in my house and it'd look a little odd with an elk shoulder mount sitting near the floor but I haven't totally made my mind up yet.
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