Since I dont flesh and tan the hides myself, it takes at least 2 or 3 months for me to get mounts done. I send them to a quality tannery.. From my experience, the hides from the tannery are usually pretty damn good when they come back. They smell great, and the tumbler they put them through makes them really soft. A couple things bad about a tannery though is sometimes, the hide can come back with a few little extra nicks and dings in it.. Nothing that some sewing and Apoxie Sculpt cant fix. Also, the turn around time is longer. It takes like 2-3 months just to get the hide back from them. After that, I have to do a little more detailed fleshing and then I can mount. I usually always let the mounts dry for at least a week b4 I do finish work, just to make sure nothing pulls, or cracks... I think about the worst thing that could happen is the tear ducts pulling out because there is a lot of stress on that area when the whole face starts drying and shrinking.