Chocolate's taxidermy Chelsea, OK
Oklahoma
I killed my best buck last year and it had a radio collar - the hide around that collar was all worn and infected - did not save it. Chocolate's in Chelsea had did my buddy's buck previous year. For $150 for the cape and $450 for the work, 8 months later I got my mount. Taxidermist wasn't there when I picked it up.
face looks ok, the hair is riffled in several spots, but the worst parts are the hold in the lower brisket you can stick a pinky finger in and the bad cut near the ear where you can see bare form ..... the top was stitched poorly as well, but its on top so ....
anyway, never a text back from the taxidermist, a go-between told me to call and they'd instruct me how to fix this myself. what? its literally brand new from shop, I shouldn't have to fix
anyway, just a head up to anyone looking at Chocolates for their taxidermy, this is the work they do now
I’m from just south of Chelsea near foyil. Live in Kansas now. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Good Taxidermist so hard to find. At least everything else looks ok.
I’ve used him for Euro mounts. At one time he was considered one of the best. My only complaint was it took a loooooonnnngggggg time. I believe Embry had an unsatisfactory experience if my memory serves me well.
I took a buck my wife arrowed back in 2010 or so. Same kind of deal… buck is ready, here’s where to pick it up… leave check here…
We picked it up and the face/eyes looked decent. But… the hide was horrid. That mount is now in the landfill somewhere and the antlers sit out in our garage in skull cap state.
I just think a lot of taxidermists take in too much work and get overwhelmed. This leads to poor work. Many times Taxidermist’s have “helpers” and I feel this is where the work gets degraded. Sad but true.
I’m just glad I’m not getting another shoulder mounted unless it’s a GIANT. Where I can control taxidermy is skull mounting my own deer. :)
Stealthy, did you at least get to see the old cement truck container they painted to look like a spaceship?
yes I saw the spaceship - wasn't worth the $$$ I spent on a crap mount !!
Ah yes, the winganon spaceship. Not that I kill anything worth a shoulder mount but I’ve moved into the euro only from now on. I have one shoulder mount and he looks nice but I’ve had to fight clothes moths a couple of times. Btw sorry about your bad experience.
My brother in law killed a once in a lifetime buck a couple years ago and took it here. That mount looks awful. We heard that the main guy who used to mount them is too busy farming marijuana now so his helper did the mount. We will never take another deer back there.
I've known Chocolate for a few years now. Got to know him through his support of our agency's annual handicap hunt where he scores and mounts the biggest buck harvested for free each year. I've used him multiple times since and currently have one with him now. I always get top of the line professional mounts back. You mentioned you had to have a replacement cape used, which can be problematic in itself. As good as Chocolate and his crew are they cant perform miracles. I brought him one with a 2 inch rage hole in front of the shoulder and you cant even tell where it's at. If you dont bring in a perfect cape you shouldnt expect to get a perfect one back. He does run a crew out of his shop. Having the customer base he has requires him to train and rely on multiple folks for the amount of work they get each year. That alone should speak to the quality of their work. You should probably do something more productive with your time than trash a good, hard working, local company.
I live in that area as well. He used to do great work, seems his focus is on his pot farms now. There's better taxidermist in the area I'd look into for sure
I took one I arrowed off Oologah WMA down to Dirty Creek in Muskogee and was happy with the results, I've now had 2 heads done by him. Its just a long drive to muskogee from Chelsea, I'll try and attach photos.
A friend of mine was recomended to try Powder Horn in Blue Jacket, his work he had in his shop looked good
