what makes good taxidermy?

[NEEHAMA]

what should i be looking for? i finally shot my first large 4 pt mulie. i'm going to get a full shoulder mount done. i know that you all will have opinions of who to go to for the work, but what i'm curious about is what makes a good mount from a poor mount? what makes a piece exceptional? if it were tattoo work i would know what to look for, but taxidermy no idea? any feedback would be great.

[Kirby]

Lots of things, position of the head, ears, eyes, lips, the color of the cape, matching the hide up where it was split. Facial expressions, I've seen some great looking bucks that taxidermist ruined the mount. Best thing to do is to talk to some local taxidermists, check out the shops, and show rooms. Although I would look at who people on here recomend, and go from there, some taxidermists can do great work if they care about the mount, but when its somebody elses they just slap it together.

Kirby

[oldtimer]

Agree 100 % with Kirby. It will be the small details that will make the difference like around the eyes, position of ears on the mount and how they are positioned, tightness of skin and evidence of seams. Research into all prospective shops work, not just what is in their showroom. A good shop will supply you with a list of customers. Cheapest and quickest is not always the best. Mike

[NEEHAMA]

what should i look for in the lips and eyes? ears matching the head position i.e. alert etc ..?

[Seabass]

One that has a good reputation. Go find people that have had work done by the taxidermist and ask them how well they were treated (time it took and cost) and the quality of work produced. Some taxidermists can be real shyters so be careful. Looking at the guys work will show how good he can be, talking to past customers will tell you how consistant he is at it.

Cheers Seabass

[tmarschall]

I have heard what makes a big difference in the out years is how the cape is tanned. Apparently there is a "quick" method and a "good" method. Something about the "good" method including a full tanning of the hide, makes the hide last longer and keep its natural look. The quick method is just some kind of pickling that some taxidermist use. Both methods give the same appearance when the mount is fresh, the difference shows up in the later years. You might ask what tanning process they use wherever you take yours to be mounted... good luck!!! Tom

[Canuck2]

This is a subject that is often overlooked until a person needs to suddenly get some work done. I have taxied a fair number of deer and hopefully these suggestions wil help:

As mentioned, proper tanning is important. Use a taxidermist who sends his capes out to a reputable tanning firm and have it wet tanned.
Familiarize yourself with natural expressions of live animals. Search the net or use whatever other sources are available to see closeups from different angles. Note that the ears don't always have to be pointed straight ahead nor both be at the same angle. When fleshing out the cape, all excess fat needs to be removed so the the area around the mouth (especially, but elsewhere too) doesn't look like he's been punched. He shouldn't be smiling.

The eyes must be open wide enough rather than squinting and need to have the proper shape. The glass eyes used should be good quality and oriented so that the pupil is horizontal.

Ear butts must be built up (plastic liners or proper sculpting clay) to show that there is, indeed, muscles at the base of the ears that move them around. You shouldn't be able to fit more than about the width of one of your fingers between the ear butt and the antler. This is probably the most common error made in taxidermy work.

The facial orifices shouldn't be jammed with filler. Nostrils should show appropriate indentations and the preorbital glands in the corners of the eyes should show realistic contouring. Likewise, the ears should be open.

Fitting the cape is important. Watch that the taxidermist doesn't add globs of filler to the manequin such that it looks unnatural. The form should also be the right size so that the cape isn't sewn together to look like a Rhodesian Ridgeback.

These suggenstions will get you started but there is a lot to doing anatomically correct and long-lasting taxidermy work. Best of luck.

[Fred]

Welcome back Jack! How has your season been going? Fred

[NEEHAMA]

great!! and thanks for the info. canuk2 you answered my inquiry . now i'm armed with some fine points. this hunting bc thing really has some great benifits.

[Canuck2]

Neehama, you're most welcome. Glad that helps some. I hope your mulie turns out great and you've got to let us see it when it's done.

Hey Fred, I've been busy as a one armed wallpaper hanger and on the net only sparingly. Haven't even been hunting much, although I did get a week north for moose. Came up empty but had a fine time.

[Fred]

Jack, Ex and I had a similar experience up north.:roll: Fred

[huntersdad]

Hey
One thing I look for in a taxi. job is the attention to the little things like the whiskers being present and chin hair not cut off. Also eyelashes should be present. I dont think time should be a question as most good Taxidermists are quite busy and it may take some time to get your mount back.
Taxidermists can make a good head look great but they cant make a bad skinning job look great. They can only try to hide mistakes.

[youngbuck]

but they cant make a bad skinning job look great

This begs another question.

Let's assume you've just tagged a trophy animal and you want it mounted but you are not confident enough to attemp the skinning.

What should one do or where could one take the animal to get it skinned well enough for taxi?

[NEEHAMA]

if you shoot a deer you want to mount you just draw i line around the deer behind the shoulders. almost if you were going to cut it in half.then just skin and roll it up toward the head. when you get up the neck cut the head off and you will have the head on a cape. let the taxidermist skin out the rest.


oh ya as per the front legs, i just cut them off at the knees and pull the body/legs out of the hide backwards.

don't try to skin out the head and face !!:shock:

e