Post-Deer-Season Review: Questions Every Taxidermist Should Answer

By MountChief Editorial Team|Updated Mar 2026

Taxidermists who conduct formal post-season reviews grow 22% faster in subsequent seasons. Most improvements that compound year-over-year begin with honest post-season analysis. The shops that improve fastest aren't necessarily the ones with the best natural talent - they're the ones who look at what happened and change what didn't work.

This review is most useful done in December or January, while the season is still recent enough to remember the details. Pull your intake records, your notes, and your honest memory of what happened. Answer these 12 questions.

TL;DR

8-12 calls per day is average for a paper-based shop.
1-3 is what shops with customer portals experience.
The average paper-based taxidermy shop receives 8-12 status calls per day during deer season and the weeks following.
The cause is almost always the same: customers have no way to check their mount's status other than calling.
Shops that implement portals and consistently send tracking links at intake reduce status calls by 70-80% within the first season.
If you're in the 8-12 range, the communication system is your top off-season project.

Volume and Capacity

1. How many total mounts did you take in this season, and how did that compare to your projection?

If you were significantly over or under your projection, why? Over means you need to plan for more capacity - forms, cold storage, production time. Under means either your marketing wasn't working or you were losing customers you should be winning.

2. What was your average intake per day during peak week?

This is your peak capacity number. Your systems need to handle this number without breaking down. If they didn't, that's your top improvement priority.

Customer Communication

3. How many status calls did you receive per day during peak weeks?

Track this as accurately as you can recall. 8-12 calls per day is average for a paper-based shop. 1-3 is what shops with customer portals experience. If you're in the 8-12 range, the communication system is your top off-season project.

4. How many complaints or concerns did you receive about communication or delays?

Each one is a data point. If the same complaint type comes up multiple times, that's a systemic issue, not a one-off.

Operational Errors

5. Were there any specimen mix-ups? Near-misses?

A near-miss where you caught a mix-up before it became a customer problem is worth analyzing just as seriously as an actual mix-up. What allowed the near-miss to occur, and what prevented it from becoming a problem?

6. Were there any tannery issues - damaged capes, late returns, or missing specimens?

Document these for your tannery conversation during the off-season. Persistent issues with a tannery are a reason to evaluate alternatives.

Compliance

7. Were your intake records complete and correct?

Pull a random sample of 10-15 intake records. Are all required fields completed? Are the records legible and organized? Could you produce any of these in a compliance inspection within 5 minutes?

8. Did you have a wildlife compliance inspection? How did it go?

If you had an inspection, what did the officer request and how quickly were you able to produce it? If there were any gaps, address them in the off-season.

Financial

9. What was your average deposit collection rate?

What percentage of intakes resulted in a deposit collected at intake? A low rate means you're starting work without financial commitment from customers, which increases your risk of non-payment and abandoned mounts.

10. Were there any payment disputes or non-payment situations?

How were they resolved? What documentation did you have? What would have prevented the situation or made it easier to resolve?

Production

11. Did you meet your production timeline promises to customers?

If your average turnaround exceeded your promised timeline, by how much and why? Is the issue tannery delays, production capacity, or over-promising at intake?

12. What single change would have the biggest positive impact on next season?

This is the synthesis question. After working through the previous 11, what's the one thing that matters most? It might be a customer portal. It might be a walk-in freezer. It might be a better intake system. It might be a different tannery. One focused improvement implemented thoroughly beats five half-implemented improvements.

Turning the Review Into Action

The review is only useful if it produces a specific action list. After answering these questions, write down three to five specific changes you'll make before next season opens. Assign each one a deadline and an owner (even if the owner is just yourself).

For the tools that address common post-season improvements - digital intake, customer portal, tannery tracking - see taxidermy shop management software. For the full end-of-season review process, see the taxidermy shop end-of-season review guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What went wrong in my taxidermy shop during deer season?

The most common sources of problems are: intake system failures under peak volume (intakes taking too long, incomplete records), inadequate cold storage leading to capacity constraints, customer communication failures (too many status calls because customers have no visibility), tannery issues (late returns, damaged capes, missing specimens), and compliance gaps (incomplete intake records). Use the 12-question framework above to diagnose your specific situation rather than assuming - what went wrong in your shop may be different from what other shops experience, and the solution depends on accurately identifying the problem.

How many status calls did I receive and why?

The average paper-based taxidermy shop receives 8-12 status calls per day during deer season and the weeks following. The cause is almost always the same: customers have no way to check their mount's status other than calling. They're not calling to be difficult - they're calling because they have no other option. The solution is a customer portal that gives hunters real-time visibility into their mount's progress. Shops that implement portals and consistently send tracking links at intake reduce status calls by 70-80% within the first season.

What mix-ups or errors happened and how can I prevent them next year?

Specimen mix-ups typically occur at two points: during high-volume intake when specimens aren't consistently tagged and photographed, and during tannery shipments when capes aren't individually documented. Near-misses often happen when multiple similar specimens are in storage simultaneously without clear individual identification. The prevention system: QR tags attached at intake, intake photos taken for every specimen, and tannery shipment manifests that document every cape shipped and received. Each of these steps individually reduces error risk; together they create a system where mix-ups become extremely rare.

How does this apply to solo taxidermy shops?

The principles in this guide apply to solo shops just as they do to larger operations, though the scale differs. A single-person shop may have lower absolute volume but faces the same documentation, compliance, and customer communication requirements. The practical advice here scales down to any shop size.

What is the most common mistake taxidermists make with taxidermy shop deer season after action?

The most common mistake is treating taxidermy shop deer season after action as an afterthought rather than building it into the standard workflow from the start. Shops that encounter problems in this area typically did not establish clear processes before season, which means every situation becomes a one-off decision rather than a standard response.

Try These Free Tools

Put these insights into practice with our free calculators and planners:

Sources

National Taxidermists Association (NTA)
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Breakthrough Magazine
State wildlife agencies
Small Business Administration (SBA)

Get Started with MountChief

Deer season is the most demanding time of year for any taxidermist, and the shops that handle it best are the ones that prepared before opening day. MountChief gives you fast AI intake, automatic customer portal activation, and tannery tracking so your busiest weeks are also your most organized. Try MountChief before your next deer season opener.