Taxidermy.Net Forum - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia Taxidermy Lessons

I basically tailor the instruction to each student's individual needs. The typical beginner class is 2-3 days (~10 hrs per day) in my shop. For a 2 day class, the student will complete 1 mount and for a 3 day class they typically complete 2 mounts. All materials for the mounts are included as well as the use of all shop tools and equipment. All the students are required to bring are a couple birds and their own PPE (gloves, apron, whatever they want to wear, respirator if they use one, etc). An example of a 2 day class would start with specimen selection (what to look for in a good bird to mount). Then, we go into skinning, fleshing, carcass measuring, injecting feet, washing procedures, mannikin prep, setting eyes, etc. On day 2, we cover painting techniques. I have painting techniques that make even the worst airbrush artist do some nice waterfowl finish work. We move into gassing and drying birds, followed by the actual mounting of the specimen. I usually do both a standing and flying bird so that the student can see both techniques and then they complete their bird with a little assistance from me. We spend a little time in my reference aviary, but for a 2 day class we have to keep it moving for the student to be able to complete all the procedure from start to finish. I would prefer all beginners come for 3 days so that we can work at a little more relaxed pace and spend a little more time on studying and interpreting reference, but I know folks have work, family, etc to attend to. In a 3 day class, a beginner will mount both a flying and standing bird. If you do not consider your self a quick learner or want to make sure everything is covered in complete detail, you should plan on 3 days to maximize your investment.

For students who can mount a bird but are looking to start competing or take their commercial work to another level, I would recommend they come for 1-5 days depending on what it is they want to learn. I go more in-depth on skin alignment, symmetry, detailed anatomy, how to build speed, etc. Reference is heavily emphasized. We can do habitats, etc. It really all depends on what the student wants to learn. Depending on the number of days, this could be hands-on or observation only. I would consider this an intermediate level class.

As far as pricing goes, I would rather discuss that via phone, email, PM, etc as I know this page will be archived and I would like to make sure each prospective student is given accurate information. I am located just outside of Raleigh, NC approx 4 miles off of I-40. We have several nice, reasonable hotels (Super 8, Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn Express, etc) and lots of good restaurants (Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel, Mexican, Chinese, Pizza Inn, Fast Food Places, etc) at our exit off I-40. I also have 50-amp RV service (with water and sewer) located on my property for a small fee.

I think that pretty much covers the basics, Bill. If you have any questions, call, email, or PM.