Campbell Richard Taxidermist

Write a Review951-926-4972

I was extremely disappointed with dealing with Mr. Campbell. I was stationed in an area that was very remote, it was roughly a two hour drive to his home. I never went into his house (where he ran his business from) and that was a mistake. I'm sure I would have seen indicators as to how disorganized he is. I brought in a bobcat and asked to have a rug mount done. He told me roughly 4-5 months. THREE YEARS LATER I RECEIVED MY BOBCAT BACK. I've done some very basic hide tanning from instruction on youtube and produced better quality. The hide was as stiff as could be, there is glue visible around the eyes, paint on the eyes, the gums were not completely attached to the teeth and the list goes on. I called him over and over throughout the YEARS and always got....its almost done. I'm sure any other taxidermy studio would agree with me on the quality of the product. The price was outlandish as well, but I had no other option without driving another few hours.

I am an active duty Marine and an avid hunter and this guy is by far the worst taxidermist and business person I have ever come across. Mr. Campbell works out of his home which is fairly common for several of the taxidermists I've come across and I have never had an issue with this business model in my previous dealings with other taxidermists. However, Mr. Campbell does not have a clean area and his house/taxidermy shop is in absolute shambles with skins, taxidermy materials and projects in various states of completion just strewn about or haphazardly lying on the floor. Not exactly where I want my mounts to be, where they can be damaged or lost among the mess.



Second, this guy initially told me the two Whitetail shoulder mounts I brought him would be completed in 4-6 months. That sounded reasonable to me as previous mounts I have had done elsewhere take anything from 6-9 months to up to a year to complete depending on the taxidermists work load and time for tanning, material ordering, etc. I had to call Mr. Campbell at the 8, 12 and 15 month interval because receiving no updates or progress reports I had no idea when I would be able to pick up my mounts. Each time I called he was rude and told me "just a few more weeks" offering no real information or progress report up to that point or a set completion date. Finally I was forced to give him an absolute no later than completion date that was OVER 16 MONTHS after I had dropped off my deer initially for him to actually buckle down and finish.



Now we get to the best part of the story. When I arrived to pick up my mounts after waiting twice as long as I should have to receive them, HE HAD MOUNTED THE DEER IN THE OPPOSITE POSES i HAD REQUESTED!!! Not to mention the workmanship was shotty and the deer look like a mount a teenager could have done. When I pointed out his mistake he responded "Well do you think you could learn to live with it?" Now I am out $900 ($450 per head) and have to find an actual professional taxidermist to fix the mounts and give me a product that I can actually hang proudly in my house. MR. CAMPBELL IS UNPROFESSIONAL IN HIS DEALINGS WITH CUSTOMERS AND HIS PRODUCT ISN'T WORTH HALF WHAT HE CHARGES SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO HANDLE YOUR PRIZED TROPHY KEEP SHOPPING AND PICK A REPUTABLE TAXIDERMIST.