Zubba, I just started mounting deer for a year now. I too am doing it for a hobby. When I first started I believe I spent over $400.00 just for the basics to mount whitetails, no fancy air brush, a good stand, but not the one I am getting now, etc. That was just for tools and materials such as clay, and apoxy, etc. that you'd use on several deer. I am now going to takle the challenge of mounting a turkey in full strut, and just order the addition materials to do that. I spent over $300 and keep in mind, that's just for tools and I still have to build my tumbler since I think I can build one for half the price they want. It can get expensive, but I do enjoy it and the challenges. The best thing I experienced with taxidermy is when a friend of ines son killed his first buck and he asked me to mount it and being able to! It was awesome to see his look when he walked in and saw it on the wall.

Good luck, hope this helps. I learned by watching several videos and thru a friend who's a taxi.... I like to watch more than one video, because some people have different ways of doing things and you can take different things from all the videos an apply it in your work! Again, good luck!