To all you Taxi's, what manikin brand is most using? Im gonna give it my first stab this year on a whitetail shoulder mount. Is it best to stay away from the kits ? im thinking it is. If you were to recomend a Good DVD on this what one would you recomend. Be prepared for alot of questions from me during the course of me doing this i would appreciate some good insite. I will be starting around the first of the year.

I could comment about your fingers......BAM!

yeah, but fear and common sense are holding you back BAM!!!

Tuco fears no man my friend! BAM!

blood - I prefer McKenzie's 6500 series, semi-sneak form. Everyone has a preference but that is mine. If you pay shipping, I will send you a video (VHS).

I prefer the Joe Meder forms for most Midwest and Northern deer, McKenzie or Buckeye for smaller built. thinner faced deer.

I will take you up on that, pm me with how much and where!!

My taxidermist seems to like McKenzie forms he admits simply because they have such a wide range of sizes it's very easy to find a fit to a customer's animal........I went against the grain and chose a Joe Coomb's full wall pedestal form for my 07 buck (I think its a 94-7222R.) The Coomb's forms came highly recommended by some midwest taxidermists and the couple deer I've seen on them have been outstanding.

Believe me I've been kicking the idea around for quite some time getting into taxidermy. I have a wildlife art background and always felt like I'd be pretty good at it.........don't encourage me. LOL

Good luck with the project!

Matt - what kind of wildlife art??

Pencil, colored pencil, charcoal ,photo quality reproduction type stuff as well as portraits.....I also used to freelance a bit illustrating for a few different catalogs in the flyfishing industry and some "country collectibles" of all things!

I often considered tying the 2 together and starting some sort of deal where I would create a "Hero" portrait from quality harvest photographs as an alternative to just framing a picture.

Oh I had big ideas when I was a trout bum......now I am using the college education and there never seems to be enough time for much of anything.