Taxidermy School?

[Doe Eyes]

I am very interested in learning the art of Taxidermy.
Does anyone know if there is a school or a course that can get someone started? How about a free apprentice???

[jml11]

There is the Penn school of Taxidermy, I believe it's in Calgary.

A good spot to learn some tricks is http://www.taxidermy.net/

It is a pretty useful forum and has many links to useful resources, suppliers and taxidermists all willing to help you out.

Unless you are wanting to go into business as a taxidermist, I would recommened just doing some reading and watch some videos if you are going to do your own stuff. After the tanning process, taxidermy really isn't that hard. You can produce pretty decent mounts with only a little bit of experience. I've done a few myslef which have turned out ok but still use a pro for the real trophies...Looking forward to getting my Stoner back soon!

[David Heitsman]

My taxidermist, Frank Gilbert at Fur and Feathers in Surrey is short a man right now. You should go see him.

[Wild Images]

Go to www.linogrifone.com and look under instruction on his web site.
If you want to learn from one of the best Lino puts on great coarses and teaches quality workmanship rather than using you as a slave and hiding secrets.

[Wild Images]

Look under website donations and support auctions and click on the deer shoulder mount auction, this is going way to cheap and would give you a great intro to taxidermy

[kaptkannon]

Doe Eyes
http://www.americantaxidermy.com/ offers an on-line course but it appears to be fairly expensive. I did a course by correspondence several years ago from The Northwest School of Taxidermy in Omaha Nebraska but they seem to have closed down.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/ is an excellent company to deal with for supplies. I have dealt with them. Hawkins Taxidermy in Winnipeg used to carry supplies but I am not sure if they still do or not. If you do not have any luck and would prefer to learn on your own, I still have the lesson booklets from my course. PM me and let me know.

[IslandBC]

X2 on van dykes ! I've ordered from them and had my supplies in a week from the states. There products come with pretty informative instruction for first timers as well.

[IslandBC]

Didn't realize I was on a 7 year old thread! Wtf happened ? Well while I've dug this one up, anyone know how one could get to learning taxidermy? Is there courses one can take or is it more of a 'taken under the wing' kind of trade?

[S.W.A.T.]

Has anyone heard of any other taxidermy schools?

[Rackmastr]

Has anyone heard of any other taxidermy schools?

There are several down in the USA if you're willing to travel and Lino is still teaching in BC (as posted above).

One piece of advice I'd use is decide what you WANT to learn from a school, and then find the school that can accommodate that. Dont look at 'packages' and mount a bird or a fish if you're not interested in those, or vice versa. I personally was taught by a taxidermist who doesnt teach people and paid him equivalent or a bit more as I got exactly what I wanted to learn. From there, I continued to pick up as many opportunities to work with good taxidermists as I could and learn from them. I continue to do the same by seeking opportunity to grow.

Some great resources at www.taxidermy.net and also on Facebook on Taxidermy 101 with several guys posting about their instruction/schools.