Anyone need help?

[taxidermist44]

I am a Professional Taxidermist with 17 years of experience and awards in this field. I would be glad to help anyone with any questions if I can. I am sure alot of you do your own work or would like to. Please fire away, if you would like to start doing your own work.

[turtle]

too many questions would'nt know where to start.
1. how do you prepare the hides?
2. seen some pics in magazines where mount looked way better than before pic of deer. but as for me it had lost it's individuality. is there always a reative license in mounting or are there those that can make a mount look true to life?
3. what materials are used in a mount and what kind of cost is involved?
4. are there chemicals that would require a respirator or just well ventilated area

as I guess you can tell I have a interest but no knowledge in this area

[taxidermist44]

First off, I suggest getting a free catalog from McKenzie Taxidermy Supply. They are the largest supplier and have just about everything. You can access their website and order a catalog via the internet. You can also shop online after you create an account.
For a basic shoulder mount you will need to buy:
1- Shoulder form, 1- pair of Ear Liners and 1- pair of eyes. Some of their forms have hangers pre-installed on the back and some don't, so I always order some hangers as well.
Basic Supplies needed:
Hide paste, cape thread, cape needle, 2 part Apoxie Sculpt, hide puller, a set of dental sculpting tools, stapler,lip tucking tool, mounting stand,sandpaper,small flashlight, level, dry wall screws ( 3" and 1"), auto body bondo OR Dura-Bond drywall mud ( powdered), cloth tape measure, small pins. Most taxidermists also use a small air compressor, airbrush and airbrush paint for finishing, but you don't have to until you find out if you are going to like it or not. I will answer more questions on my next post.

[turtle]

great!!!! now I have a place to start thanks for the tip about catalog. perhaps that will give me the basic knowledge I need but I'm sure open the door to a lot more questions.

[wildgamegirl22]

We just got a fox a couple of days ago. Skinned it, and put it in the freezer. I'm going to order a tanning kit from van dykes but how much time do I have before our hide goes bad? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[taxidermist44]

I wouldn't let it go over 6 months. The best thing to do ( in my opinion), is to flesh it, turn the lips, eyelids, and ears and salt it and let it dry out. Then send it to The Wildlife Gallery in Michigan.I think they charge $45.00 for a full fox hide tan. Fox and Coyotes are very smelly dogs and it isn't easy to get rid of the smell. If you want a rug, then I would suggest getting it " Dry " tanned. If you want it for mounting, then I would suggest a " Wet" tan.

[taxidermist44]

Hey Turtle,
Have you purchased any taxidermy tools or anything? What's been going on since you started looking into the world of taxidermy?

[wildgamegirl22]

thanks for the response, I'll keep that in mind

[bigbuckchaser10]

i was lucky enough to bag a buck on the last day of muzzle loader season,my question is how long can the head stay in freezer before i get it to the taxidermist?its in two heavy duty trashbags and sealed tight.

[taxidermist44]

The trash bags are a good idea, however, they still have trapped air inside them. I wouldn't keep the head in there any longer than 3 months.

[amteurhntr]

i have a question how long would you think it would take a professional with awards to do a 23 inch 7 pound laregmouth bass cause the guy i took mine to has had it for 2 years

[taxidermist44]

I usually try to have my fish done in about 3-6 months, but I do not take in alot of fish. Maybe 10-20 a year. Replicas are usually done sooner than that. Some taxidermists ( IMO) take in way too many specimens, and then have trouble filling them in a timely manner. I try to make sure I take in only enough mounts to do a quality mount and get them back to the customer in a timely manner. I do turn down work from time to time, so I can accomplish this. I think 2 years is entirely too long to wait for any mount, in my opinion.

[amteurhntr]

that is what i figured and yah the guy is a award winning taxadermist but i dont think i will go with him again

[BuckO]

I have an 9-point whitetail shoulder mount that hangs in my stairway at home. Shot him in 1994 so the mount is getting up there in years... recently I'm noticing that inner white area of one of the ears has separated from the backing and is curling downward... any idea on how I could repair it myself?

[taxidermist44]

This is called " Drumming", and was probably there all along, but maybe not as bad as it is now. It is either from the earliner not being properly sanded to hold the adhesive, or not enough adhesive or both. It is kind of hard to fix in an older mount, as everything is so dry, with no stretch left in the skin. You may try wetting a paper towel, wring out the excess water and shove into the ear opening for a couple of days to try and loosen up the skin a little. Then I would suggest injecting super glue with a syringe ( you can get one at TSC or other farm supply store), through the ear skin to the liner thoroughly, work all the skin back in place with your fingers, the putting some stiff clamps ( as used on tent canopies) on the ear to hold the skin in place until it dries.

[BuckO]

Thanks... I'll give it a try. Too nice a deer to have a lop-earred looking mount.

[Bushie Jackman]

For a while now I have been trying my luck at some minor taxidermy.
I have been looking at doing the front legs of a deer to use as a gun/bow rack. Easier said than done.
Here's how I proceeded to do it, but I'm sure it wasn't the correct way.
I took the deer legs from the knee joint down, and proceeded to skin out the leg. It was a tedious process but i managed to do ok. Problem is when I got to the hoofs I wasn't sure what to do. Do you skin out around the hoofs, remove the hide/tan and then re-sew the hide to a new leg mold? What is the best way to skin out the deer legs for this process.

[Brow Tine]

Addl Post: http://www.deerhuntingchat.com/viewtopic.php?t=4982

This is the way that I did it.
It seemed to me that its was a waste of time to skin the whole leg out.. or I was just being lazy

I made clean cuts 7-8" from the knee. There are 3 tendons that run along the underside of the leg I kept them a little longer, took a wire tie and pulled and locked the tendons in place so that the leg and hoof were in the postion i liked. I drilled a small hole at the bottom of the leg bone, carfule not to tear the hair up...then took high pressure air an blew out all of the marrow (HINT: Wear a plastic garbage bag, ball cap and keep your mouth closed )
Then to preserve I soaked it in water and pickeling salt for about 3-4 days in a cool place. Then let dry for a while.... I let them sit for about 2 weeks.
When dry I vacumed the crystalized salt off. Filled the small hole with wood putty, packed the inside bone with saw dust and a wood plug,
I mounted them with a screw to a pine board and strated to do a design with a wood burner...il try and post an image later.

[Bushie Jackman]

Thank you sir, that was extremely helpfull!

[eweingarden]

This question is more about preparing the animal for taxidermy, than the process itself. If I take a whitetail buck this year, what do I need to do after I field dress it, in order to make it ready for a shoulder mount? Thanks.

Ed

[taxidermist44]

Hello,
Visit my website, www.PLEASEREADTHERULES.org, where I have complete caping instructions for shoulder mount deer.
Thanks, Rob

[eweingarden]

Rob:
Thanks for the link; that's the info I was looking for.

Ed

[taxidermist44]

Sure, anytime.