I've had about 1/2 a dozen folks E-mail me asking: What I used to mount animals?, How I learned to do Taxidermy?, What got me interested in Taxidermy?, Are their any Taxidermy Schools and how long were they, etc, etc. So I'm making a post so you can ask your questions on.

As for the questions I was asked via E-mail. Well..... I learned Taxidermy through videos I ordered from Taxidermy supply company. I also have a freind that does taxidermy and I ask him questions every now and again. Yes their are taxidermy schools out their but I have not herd of more than a dozen or so, but their are more I'm sure. As for their length, that would depend on the school.

As for what I use to mount an animal. Let's use a Deer Head for example. We order compressed foam forms. They give the deer most of the muscle detail after they are mounted and facial expression. We also use glass eye's, clay, staples, brads, Hide past (glue), bondo (yes I'm talking bout car filler, LOL) or ear linners, T-pins, and needles and thread.

That doesn't seem like a lot of stuff to be charging $300 - $600 for a shoulder mount? Well, those are just all of the supplies we buy for a deer head. It take about10 to15 hours all together to mount a deer from start to finnish. When you bring us a deer to mount. We have to skin it off of the skull, turn the ears inside out, and turn the lips, eyes, and nose skin so we will have something to tuck into the slots we have pre dremaled into the manikin. We also have to flesh all of the meat and membrane off of the hide befor we can even begin to mount the deer.

After all of that is complete we can either tan it or Dry Preserve it. If you are going to Dry Preserve (DP) it than we apply the DP and begin mounting. If we are going to tan it we have to salt the hide down and after 24 hours change and reaply new salt then we have to put it in a pick solution for atleast 4 days. This will make the hide swell up so after 3 days we will pull it out of the pickle and shave the skin down to make it thinner and then put it back in the pickle for 24 hours. Than we pull the cape out and neutralize it and put it in the tanning solution for 24 hours. Once it's been 24 hours we pull it out dry it with a towel and add tanning oil to it, roll it up and let it set over night. Now we can begin to mount the tanned cape.

The mounting process takes about 3 to 4 hours. Once the mount is dry we start doing the finninshing work. Filling in voids with epoxy, painting, and grooming. It takes a deer head atleast10daysto dry properly.

You get what you pay for when it comes to taxidermy. I'm not, by any means, saying take your deer head to the most expensive Taxidermist out their! I've seen work come from Taxidermists who charge more than I do and I would have been ashamed to claim it, if it were mine .

The price range varies from one location to the next. In my area (Albany and Leesburg, Ga) the average here is between $300 and $400 dollars for a basic shoulder mount. Up in Atlanta It will run you anywhere from $300 to $450 dollars. Up in New York state I have herd of Taxidermist charging any where from $400 to $700 dollars .

My advise to the hunters is don't wait til you shoot a trophy buck befor you start shopping around for a taxidermist. Finding a good taxidermist requires some pre-season scouting. Just like hunting. You don't go into your hunting area the day befor the hunt and expect to know where the deer are moving and where you are going to put up a stand.

Once you shoot a deer that you want to get mounted you don't want to be driving around with it in the back of your truck while looking for a taxidermist. This can cause bacteria to set in the hide and cause your cape to slip (hair falling out). If that happens you will need a replacement cape. You want to be able to get your Trophy to a taxidermist as soon as posible. To help the taxidermist out record the time you shot your deer and let him know once you take it to him.

When you go to a Taxidermy Shop too look for a potential taxidermist always ask to see his "CUSTOMER MOUNTS"....."NOT his COMPETITION MOUNTS". Their is a world of difference between the 2. A competition Piece is one that he is trying to win awards with and he will spend anywhere between 30 and 40 hours on just a deer head.....customer mounts will only get between10 and15 hours worth of work. Competition work is usually what ends up in the show rooms...Customer pieces are usually hung on the wall in the shop. Unless it is a specialty mount for a customer....than it usually goes into the show room because those usually get a lot more time put into them.

The times and prices are just averages. Taxidermists have their own way of doing things. Some take longer and a lot more care on their mounts others it is an assembly line process. Some may take up to 20 hours on a customer mount. It all depends. Hope this answers some of your questions and helps you out a little...Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have and I will answere them the best I can![/align]

I say your info is worth $500 LOL

Yep, except for that stuff about commercial display work vs competition...I took exception to that last time she posted it, too. If a guy is doing his job right, there shouldnt be all that much difference in the two, plus not all of us put that kinda time into a show mount. The other info sounded ok, though.

I will second Bill.

There are somecommunity colleges that offer classes in taxidermy that are quite reasonable. I personally don't do alot of things different between commercial and competition but I've heard some do. I placed a 3rd at our state show with an open mouth yote that was a customers. Missed second by 2 pts and had 4 pts deducted because of the hide not being prime. It was worth it to see where my quality was.

I know of a few taxidermists in my area that put their competition mounts in their show room and in my opinion their is a world of difference between the two. One Taxi in my area that pops into mind does awsome work when it comes to competition but when it comes to his customer mounts they are a rush job. One of the main things he says when I ask him why he did this on his show mounts and not on his customer mounts is " The customerwill never notice all they care about is those horns on it's head".

Their is another taxidermist in my area that the only work I have seen on display is his award winning competition work. He likes to show off his ribbons. I have never seen any of his customer work on display.

Their are taxidermists that will and do put all their competition work in their show rooms and keep the customer work in the back. I have seen it first hand in my are down here. You personaly might put customer mounts in your show room but some don't. I am just giving advise in the post above. I feel it is all good advice. Better be safe than sorry.

good info......lets the guys that dont know whats involved know what they are paying for...and what takes a while....im luckyto have found a taxidermist that treats EVERY piece as if it were going in a competition......he now became a friend of mine...met him on another message board....very modest guy......he wont post much about his work or anything...hes just there to talk like the rest of us......but someone started a thread of brook trout pics...he showed his he did..my goodness are they nice.....i caught a wild brown that died and i wanted to mount him...forgot about him...but the baitshop i went to to ask about a good fish taxidermist gave me his card.....talked to him..said he could do it after looking at the pics i took...and went to his shop......he showed me all his work and explained how he does his work....he really does put in alot of work into his mounts.....he actually has guys bringing him BAD mounts done by other guys to fix now......i cant wait to get my fish back......i asked him if he could have it at an S bend like it was striking my lure with the lure that killed him in his mouth....no problem...hes going to hand carve a form for it anyways.....said he loves carving out bodies...and would make a head for it anyways because the head was bigger then the body because of it being wild...nicest guy ive ever met.....cant wait to go out there and shoot the breeze with him when i get the fish back!..i think im lucky to have found such a good taxidermist.....he said my fish will be show quality when its done and look like my pics.....i told him if he ever wants to put it in a contest ill be glad to let him! i think it would be neat to have a fish i caught in a contest lol

Thats the going rate at my Taxidermist. Plenty in the area as well. Tucson,az. I would not say he is starving for work either. Hes a year out on his work. aNd has numerous top ten mounts in the Boone and Crockett.

Lippert/Doyle Taxidermy