Any solid recommendations for axis shoulder mount taxidermist in the greater Houston region? Also willing to drive a little bit for the right guy (especially with quality axis examples)

Brandon's guy does a good job

Is Hutto too far? Check out Outlaw Taxidermy. He does great work with everything

Palermo in Bryan does solid work. Used on multiple occasions. Not too far and perfect excuse to get back to Aggieland.

I dropped mine off at B&B on Jones road. But they have about a 15 month lead time.

Travis Manning

My friend got his axis done at Tanner Taxidermy in East Bernard & it turned out great. Got it done pretty quick too

Southern Wings in Huntsville does great work.

Major Creations did mine.

Woods and Water in Conroe area has filled my house and my father's house and my Sisters house with museum quality mounts from safaris and critters all over the world from 4 different continents. Incredible stuff. He is at the Dallas Safari Club show every year and the Vegas Safari Club show most years.

Palermo.

Another for Woods and Waters. Unless a taxidermist really knows Axis it will not look right. W and W knows Axis. Lots of good ones also in the Kerrville area where they kill lots of Axis….. but long drive from Houston.

Thanks everybody. Narrowed it down to Travis Manning, but now Woods and Water is in the mix

I would've but he's just so far out from me, and I don't get that direction much. Picked up a suppressor from Capitol Armory on the way out there, and it's been ready for 5 months now. Haha

Understandable, I have used Woods and water of a couple animals and my dad used rowdy for his first safari and his second safari is there presently. Rowdy and the rest of the W&W crew are good people!

I live in Alvin. W&W is over an hour and half for me. Worth it.

Another vote for Woods and Waters. Great folks, and they do really quality work.

Major Creations. David Major is the MAN!

I thought about them, especially since I need to take a duck there, but hard to go with him when I couldn't find a single axis picture from them (not that they don't fo them, just good to see examples)

Ag 11 said:

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My friend got his axis done at Tanner Taxidermy in East Bernard & it turned out great. Got it done pretty quick too

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Lmao david took 18 months to get a hide back to me. Would not recommend. Also the quality of the work seems dependent on whether he does the work himself vs one of his underlings.

He did a mule deer for a friend of mine and it looks absolutely terrible

tlh3842 said:

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I thought about them, especially since I need to take a duck there, but hard to go with him when I couldn't find a single axis picture from them (not that they don't fo them, just good to see examples)

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He has done my Oryx, my fallows, and my sons biggest deer. He currently has my bobcat with mallard that should be done in the next week.

Whomever you use, make sure they know that an axis has a brown nose and not a black one. I see black noses on axis mounts a lot and it's a pet peeve of mine…

This 1000 times. Thank you ttha_aggie! Most taxidermists make Axis heads, noses, necks, eyes look like whitetail. The head, neck, nose and eye features of an Axis take talent to get them correct.

bassmaster07 said:

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Major Creations did mine.

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Agree. MC has done axis, oryx, whitetail, blackbuck, bobcat, turkey and more for us and all that hunt with us.

Glad to see several of yall recommending Major Creations.

Yall will probably laugh but I'll be taking them a couple of doves in a month or so. I shot a banded WW a few years ago and have never had anything to do with the band besides just sitting on my dresser, so I finally kept a couple of birds from this season but have had a heck of a time finding someone who will mess with dove. Seems like nobody in the B/CS area will do them, found his website and even called to verify they'll do them and they said bring them on.

I'd been curious about Major Creations, but with what I've heard about axis (including the nose coloring, which is the first thing the guide mentioned when we talked about taxidermy) it's hard to feel good about them without seeing a single axis example.

Anyone have a shoulder mount axis from Major Creations they can share a pic of? They're closer to me than Woods and Water, but of course I don't want to let distance make the decision for me.

Here is my wife's axis from Majors. Shot last thanksgiving and got it back middle of July. We called him Pirate because he was blind in one eye and she wanted to keep that in the mount so he was able to get a glossy eye to incorporate that for her. He does all of our mounts (oryx, bobcat, whitetail and ducks) and I will keep taking things to him.

Google pictures of live Axis. Look at them and make the comparison. Should answer your question. Pay most attention to the head shape and the look of the markings on the top and brow of the head and how the eyes look.
An Axis usually has a type of "scowl" look to his eyes and brow that lots of taxidermists miss. Along with nose shape and color.

Here is a photo of my first axis from a taxidermist in Kerrville, he takes awhile but is top notch for exotics

Here he is as compared to a fallow that W&W did.

None of these are mine but they're all from a friend and guy on my lease that does taxidermy on the side. He does good work

Good detail on the Axis. Correct head shape and brow….
Nice!

For sure nice work. Looks like how Axis are suppose to look!!

He does a good job!

Not my pics but have hunted where this pics were taken. Should give you a good idea of what their face and nose should look like:

I'll be able to add the axis from last year to the photo list on Friday for additional comparison!