Taxidermy Shop End-of-Season Review: What to Analyze After Deer Season

By MountChief Editorial Team|Updated Mar 2026

Shops that conduct formal end-of-season reviews grow revenue 22% faster in subsequent seasons. That performance gap isn't because the review itself generates revenue. It's because the review turns this season's lessons into next season's improvements rather than letting the same problems repeat year after year.

Most production problems that plagued this season will repeat next season without a review. That's the default if you don't sit down, look at the data, and make specific decisions. The end-of-season review breaks that cycle.

Here's what to analyze and how to use it.

TL;DR

If you quoted 12 months and most jobs took 16, that's a systematic expectation problem you need to address.
European mounts should show 45-60% margins.
Shops that conduct formal end-of-season reviews grow revenue 22% faster in subsequent seasons.
A complete review typically takes 3-4 hours and requires access to your job records, financial data, and honest recall of what went wrong.
Revenue concentration risk (if 80% of revenue comes from deer, what happens if deer season is down next year?).
Abandoned or unclaimed mounts: How many jobs were abandoned or are sitting unclaimed?

When to Do the Review

Late January or early February is the right window. Early enough that this season is fresh in your memory. Late enough that most of the season's jobs are closed and you have nearly complete data to work with.

Set aside 3-4 hours. This isn't a 30-minute exercise. You're looking at your full season's performance across multiple dimensions. Do it when you're not exhausted from season and when you have access to your job records and financial data.

Section 1: Intake Volume Analysis

Start with the raw numbers.

Total intake by species:

Deer shoulder mounts
Deer European mounts
Turkey
Fish (replicas vs. skin mounts)
Birds
Other species

Intake by month: Which months saw the highest intake? When did the peak hit compared to prior years? Was it earlier or later than expected?

Intake source: If you track how customers found you, which sources generated the most intake? Past customers, referrals, Google search, social media, hunting groups?

First-time vs. repeat customers: What percentage of your intake was returning customers? Year-over-year change?

What to look for: Growth trends in specific species. Unexpected volume in a month you were underprepared for. Intake sources that aren't contributing enough relative to your marketing effort.

Section 2: Production Performance

Jobs completed vs. jobs in queue: How many jobs came in this season and how many are still in production? What's your projected completion timeline on the remaining queue?

Average production time by species: Track how long jobs actually took versus your estimated turnaround. If you quoted 12 months and most jobs took 16, that's a systematic expectation problem you need to address.

Tannery performance: How long did your tannery actually take versus their quoted turnaround? Did any damage occur? How were damage claims handled?

Production bottlenecks: Were there specific points in the season where production stalled? Weeks where the bench sat idle while you waited on tannery returns? Periods where you were trying to mount ten jobs and had backlog pressure?

Rework rate: How many jobs required significant rework (remounting, correcting major errors, addressing customer quality complaints)? Any patterns in what triggered rework?

What to look for: Tannery turnaround that doesn't match quotes. Production phases where jobs consistently pile up. Rework patterns that suggest a specific technique or process improvement is needed.

Section 3: Customer Experience Analysis

Customer complaints or disputes: Every complaint this season, documented. What was the complaint? How was it resolved? Was the customer retained?

Customer communication failures: Were there periods when your queue backed up with status calls because customers weren't getting proactive updates? Were there specific jobs where communication was inadequate?

Portal usage (if applicable): If you use a customer portal, what percentage of customers activated their tracking link? Which customers are checking most frequently (often indicates anxiety you're not addressing through proactive updates)?

Pickup experience: How many customers showed up for pickup and had issues (balance surprise, mount not fully complete, quality concerns)? How were these handled?

Reviews and referrals: Did you receive new reviews this season? Positive or critical themes? Do you have data on how many new customers came from referrals?

What to look for: Recurring complaint themes that indicate a systematic problem. High portal check frequency on certain job types (might indicate you should proactively update more often for those). Communication breakdowns at specific production stages.

Section 4: Financial Analysis

This section requires pulling your actual numbers, not estimates.

Total season revenue: By species and by month. Where did your revenue come from?

Average job value by species: Compare to your pricing to see whether your actual average matches what you thought you were charging.

Tannery cost as percentage of revenue: How much of your total revenue went to tannery costs? Industry average is 15-20%. If you're significantly above that, either your tannery rates are high or your pricing isn't covering costs.

Gross margin by species: Which species generated the best margin? Which were you undercharging on? European mounts should show 45-60% margins. Full-body bears should show similar margins if you've costed them correctly.

Uncollected balances: How many completed jobs have outstanding balances? What's the total uncollected? What's your plan to collect?

Abandoned or unclaimed mounts: How many jobs were abandoned or are sitting unclaimed? What did those represent in terms of invested cost? Do you have a storage fee policy in place?

What to look for: Margin gaps between species that suggest under-pricing. Tannery costs eating into profitability on specific species. Revenue concentration risk (if 80% of revenue comes from deer, what happens if deer season is down next year?).

Section 5: Operations and Systems

Intake process: Did your intake process work under pressure? Were there information gaps that caused downstream problems? Did every customer get a tracking link at intake?

Software and tools: Did your shop management system do what you needed? What features did you underuse? What was missing?

Supply chain: Did you run out of any supplies during season? Which ones? What's the pre-order plan for next season?

Staffing: If you have employees or apprentices, did workload distribution work? Were any team members consistently overloaded or underutilized?

Capacity management: Did you hit your intake limit and manage it proactively? Or did you overcommit and scramble?

What to look for: Intake process gaps that caused specific disputes. Supply chain failures that stopped production. Staffing imbalances that created bottlenecks or stress.

Section 6: Setting Goals for Next Season

The review has two outputs: understanding what happened and deciding what to change. For each major issue you identified, write down a specific action for next season.

Not vague goals: "communicate better with customers." Specific actions: "send a tannery shipment notification for every cape when it ships, starting this October."

Not aspirational targets: "do more turkey work." Specific plans: "market turkey season on Facebook in March to past customers who've hunted turkey in the last three years."

Document these decisions somewhere you'll find them in July when you're starting to plan for the next season. A brief written plan you can reference beats a good conversation you can't remember.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a taxidermy shop analyze after deer season?

Focus on six areas: intake volume by species and source, production performance including bottlenecks and tannery turnaround, customer experience including complaints and communication failures, financial results including margins by species and uncollected balances, operations including supply chain and staffing, and specific decisions for next season. A complete review typically takes 3-4 hours and requires access to your job records, financial data, and honest recall of what went wrong.

How do I measure whether my deer season was successful?

Beyond total revenue, measure: average job value vs. your target, gross margin by species vs. your target margins, customer complaint rate (number of complaints per 100 jobs), percentage of jobs completed within your quoted turnaround, percentage of first-time customers who had a tracking portal set up at intake, and repeat customer rate vs. prior seasons. A season where revenue was up but margins eroded, complaints increased, and turnarounds slipped is not a success by any measure beyond the top line.

What changes should I make for next deer season based on this year's data?

Every shop's answer is specific, but common themes from end-of-season reviews include: adjusting intake cutoff dates based on actual production capacity, updating prices to reflect material cost increases, changing tannery relationships based on this season's damage or turnaround performance, implementing or improving the pre-season outreach to past customers, and addressing the specific intake information gaps that caused this season's disputes. Write your decisions down in February while they're fresh, then act on them in July and August before the next season builds.

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 end of season review?

The most common mistake is treating taxidermy shop end of season review 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
Small Business Administration (SBA)

Get Started with MountChief

Pre-season preparation is what separates shops that handle peak volume smoothly from those that fall behind on day one. MountChief's intake, tracking, and communication tools are designed to handle the pace of your busiest weeks. Try MountChief before your next season opener.