Any Taxidermist here?
Whitetail Deer
Anyone here a taxidermist?
i have been learning the trade over the last year and just recently completed my first two shoulder mounts - and i have 6 more to work on.
just curious if anyone else on this page mounts there own trophies...
I am not a taxidermist. But now I am hungry for a dilley bar from Dairy Queen...
Post photos of your work. That is not any easy skill to learn
Plan on attending your state's taxidermy competitions and build a network of the top notch taxidermists in your area to peer review. It will help your work immensely and you'll never stop improving.
Offer to help them with obtaining extra capes, habitat stuff etc.... so it's a give and take relationship and they don't feel used.
Good luck!
Here is my first one.
I killed on October 4th - you can see the exit hole of the Iron will broad head - gotta get better on my sewing. i still need to work on the ears and finish the nose pad....
Here is my second one.
my Brother took this deer on our farm in Nov.
Dang, if my first one looked like that I might give it a shot myself! I for one wish I could see more entry/exit wounds. They just usually aren't on the shoulder mount being behind the front leg. But if I had a frontal mounted I wouldn't mind seeing that cut. That's how it happened.
Damn nice work olebuck! You have some talent for sure!
You certainly appear to have some talent! Nicely done!
Wow. You’ll be teaching at this rate
I’m sure some of us have seen worse from long time taxis. Nice work!
Nice work...looks great!
I've dabbled in it a little bit but having a hard time collecting payment from my clients!
LOL! Those bucks look great.
Nick, if your GF asks you to "hide the weasel", believe me she is talking about your taxidermy! LOL
Great work, especially for first time out!!
Nick mounts ALL my stuff.....can't understand why my wife doesn't want the lion in our living room...
Great job especially for just starting! I am sure if I tried my mounts would look like a cross between the ones posted by Nick and this one.
I do my own to one of the biggest thing I can tell you is fleshing nice and even face is critical remove ear Cartledge For the best ear look. Keep it up your doing a great job mine never looked that good when I started reference reference reference pics
Nice job on the deer mounts. If those other critters looked like that before they were shot, I'd say they weren't so much hunts, but mercy-killings. Lol
Customer gave me two geese and asked to have them mounted as Dead mounts and use my imagination and do something original. Well I have a whole lotta that. This is definitely original.
I had midwest to this one for me awhile back. Turned out pretty good, considering he was only on step 3 at AA!
Seriously, you definitely look like you have a knack for it, olebuck! Some guys are taxidermists and some guys are artists. Keep at it!
Was in a place in Juneau called the wolly mamonth. They had a sika deer mount with coyote teeth exposed and the rest of the people in the place did not know what I was laughing about. So I guess there is a place for stupidity.
olebuck, those look good !
Brotsky for the win ! LMAO !!!
Great job olebuck! Way to jump in there,I'd have you mount anything for me.....
I started as a hobby 5 years ago when I retired. I enjoy it and it keeps me busy. Ed F
For 37 years. These are 2 of my favorites.
Some very nice mounts guys....as good as full timers.
I agree with the point about reference photos....get a catalog going of reference pictures and use them religiously. Another tip....use a quality tanned cape when starting out and focus on your taxidermy prepping and mounting skills. You can learn how to tan later....focus on your mounts.
My Fleshing, thinning, and tanning are downfall right now. i'm getting by - but next year i may use a tannery....
Recent mount: my own Sable on Pedestal
Recent mount: my own Sable on Pedestal
Olebuck, Looks like you are off to a good start with your first two deer. I dabbled for many years with it as a hobby, doing occasional birds, and assisting my taxidermist friend on my own mounts. I learned many methods from him. Then I got serious after bringing back several African trophies about 14 yrs ago and really wanted to (a) be able to mount them all without breaking the bank and (b) acquire the finer points an artist will go through to make a mount stand out. Since then and retirement, I took on a few select clients and started my own business specializing in African game, plus some NA game. African can be more challenging for several reasons. All I can say is keep analyzing everything you do and make it a goal to improve in some way with every one you do. Each mount will inevitably present some unique challenge so continue to learn from them. Forget the shortcuts as striving for perfection will always take more time and attention to details. You should be your own biggest critic and strive for finishing each trophy as if it was your own. It will not make you much money. With my income I simply use it to pay for my bad habits, like of bow hunting Africa.
They are a beautiful animals Rich.
You are obviously getting some great mentoring which is something I did not have when I began. Keep up the good work.
Olebuck....... Excellent work. I have been mounting my animals and fish since I was 15 yrs. old and that was a long time ago. I would be careful in selecting a tannery or Tanner as I have been been burned in the past (especially when dealing with bear hides). If you want to search Bowsite for the best that I have seen try looking at Dennis Razza's work. I see that he posted above. Best of luck to you.........Badbull
This is my deer and my son's raccoon. I have been doing it as a hobby for years. My son mounted his Coon this is the first mount he did on his own. We went to the Kansas Association of Taxidermy convention this year and had a blast.
olebuck, if you want to strive for perfection, search some of Dennis Razza's threads on here.
olebuck, if you want to strive for perfection, search some of Dennis Razza's threads on here.
A buddy and I started on our own watching videos and have mounted around a 100 deer together.
We pretty much sucked until we bought a tanned cape to mount. That was an eye opener for us. Cape prep / Tan was our problem. Get this down and your half way imo. We also found that some forms require less experience than others to give pro results.
I'd definitely recommend going to taxidermy school or atleast getting help from a good mentor. Trial and error takes forever to learn.
What I did was find some of the best in different categories such as birds, deer heads and full body mounts. Spend a week with them. It costs but the things you learn are amazing. The world Taxidermy show and competition is ending today. When you think you are doing pretty well go to a state or national competition. Many of the pieces are more lifelike than live animals. The reason I say that is in competition you start with a flawless specimen and then when it’s complete not a hair or feather is out of place. People that have natural artistic ability do well in Taxidermy. Women do exceptionally well. Their brain is wired different than men’s. I started competing a few years back but I’m a hack when I look at true artists work. I just haven’t been able to get to that next blue ribbon level. Fun to try though.
Im with you DL... some very talented people out there! I think the reason most hunters try taxidermy is for justification, total DIY.
I mounted this one for a friend of my Father, with terminal cancer. This was a rush job! The mount was still wet and drying on his wall the week he died.
TD I paid to get training on their methods of Taxidermy. The last one I went to was Ken Walker in Alberta. He’s known world wide. He was in China last year to train people their on Taxidermy. He got to mount Pandas and other animals from there. Those are my mounts I’ve done. I’ll post one of Ken’s. The Panda in the picture is a recreation. There’s nothing there that’s from a real panda. He created the form and used different bear skins to create this. You won’t find a better taxidermist. He’s also a great guy, a friend and sheep guide. I have an open invitation to come up anytime. He has polar bears and walrus in his shop. Crazy to be next to some real giant animals like those.
The mounts look great.
Go to all the taxidermy shows you can and sit in on the seminars. DL is spot on... After you have your basic skills down and if you want to up your game and get serious, Take advanced classes with world class taxidermist that specialize in areas . The school's usually give you the basic skills to start. The cost to do this will out way the years of trying to figure it out. Good luck!
I do my own and for a select few friends. This was my fourth ever, currently at 7 or 8 I believe. I actually took the time to take nice pics of this one. My favorite so far is my sika stag I mounted. Beautiful mount from a super unique animal, taken on a DIY public land trip while in college
