newby taxidermy questions

[yoder519]

hey guys and gals how we doin? My names Tyler, and Im new to the forum. Been doin alot of searching on here, looking at the advice yall give to people on there first few mounts. Me and a buddy both went to school for our Associates in electricity(ill be done in May), but decided we want to do taxidermy on the side. So far we have 3 deer to mount, a doe that i killed, a buck that a guy gave us that dont have horns, must have lost them early? and a  6 pointer a friend killed. We not got the supplies yet, but we got a list of things we need, that total to about $600, that includes 2 shoulder molds, and the bigger buckets of tanning supplies from McKenzie. Well be doing the tax in his dads shop, I dont have a building, and my wife wont let me use the kitchen for some reason Now, my questions,

Ive watched videos online of step by step mounting, but how would we go about skinning the head of the doe since it has no horns? start at the neck and work up to the nose, then skin that part from the mouth back?


If we decide we enjoy it, and after we get fairly good, and we decide to advertise and be legit with it, I understand you have to pay taxes and its considered a small business etc etc, but i'm sure there is some kinda laws on disposing the chemicals used in the process, like the chemicals used in wet tanning etc. I figure there's bout got to be knowing the tree huggers  these days.


Another question to the guys out there that do taxidermy for more than just a hobby, whether its your only means of making money, or you do it on the side like we plan to do.. If your on the East Coast, about how many whitetails do you mount a year?

Any tool thats sorta, unusual that most dont think of that would come in handy?

Thanks a ton and looking forward to yall critiquing our work!!

[stargazer644]

Welcome to Taxinet. And I wish you well with your venture into taxidermy yoder519.  stargazer.

[yoder519]

Thanks buddy, im ready to get this money together, sweet talk the wife into lettin me get a couple freezers, and gettin some brutal and informative critique form all of yall!

[kendall1987]

Welcome.I do taxidermy part time.I took in 50 heads last year,50 this year and I do this alone.I could do more if I wanted this is just how Many I'll take per year.also,I ll send all my capes off to professional commercial tannery,so that saves me time and the pain with messing with it.(plus the looks great).it's a great part time job.the key is on hands practice.you ll need more than 3 to practice With before customers though !good luck


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[pir^2h]

Since it is a doe you can still do a short incision up the neck to near the back of the skull to relieve the pressure and allow the skin to turn over the head easier.  I have seen some taxidermist who make no cuts on a doe at all and turn it inside out.  But it is heck to get it onto a mannikin later for someone with little experience like me.  Best of luck and welcome to the taxi net.

I don't do any commercial work so I can't put in my two cents on how many heads a year to take in.

Vic

[yoder519]

Thanks for the replies. Yea we wont go advertising til we get good and confident in out work. We plan to buy bout half a dozen capes pre tanned to practice with along with these 3, and whatever we kill this huntin season

[yoder519]

Any input on the tools question? Ive made a list in the McKenzie catalog but is there any that are common tools that you use frequently that I nay be over looking? I got needles knives scafflesa stand  drill wrote down

[Keyda81]

I'm a beginner as well, actually have my first deer that I'm going to mount in the pickle right now.  It's the first deer I've ever shot, so I wanted to take a crack at mounting her myself.  The stuff I ordered from Van Dyke's was a form, eyes, ear liners, hide paste, degreaser, a stout ruffer, ear openers, a fleshing cone, and critter clay.  I ordered the Lutan-F kit previously to tan some tails.  I opted to use an engine stand to hold my form, have three of them laying around, lol.  Razor blades, scapels and such can be found at any craft supply store, along with a set of sculpting tools for prepping your form.  Hope this helps, and good luck!

[yoder519]

Thanks for the reply. Never thought about hitting the craft stores. Since you mentioned tanning, do you pickle the hide then tan it with whatever tan you choose? Thats what ive gathered from reading on here. I thought about trying the McKenzie tan. Seems like Rick carters DVD is the way to go from what ive read on here. Good luck to ya!

[Keyda81]

I just bought a Lutan F kit from Van Dyke's.  It's a bit of a long process, it must be salted for a minimum of 12hrs, then it's off to the pickle for a minimum of three days.  Then a neutralizing bath.  Some animals need to be degreased before going into the tan, then it's in the tan for a certain amount of hours depending on the animal.  The kit came with instructions, and it's been working well for me.  There are a lot of other things out there as well.  Some tans don't even require a pickle.  There are also some videos online that got me started.  Some on helpinghandhangers.com and http://www.wyomingtaxidermy.blogspot.com/  Lots of good info on both sites.

[Jdewitt27]

Welcome to the jungle!!  For tools I guess some essentials starting out are good skinning knives and a good knife for the details like turning lips and such.  More importantly a quality knife sharpener to keep right next to ya.  I use ear spreaders, and a specialty tool for tucking the lips.  Build yourself a good sturdy fleshing beam, and you will hear this alot on here but reference reference reference!  Have pictures in front of you when your mounting so you have something to go by.  I know your fired up and ready to go....but start out buying the tools you know you need.   I could go thru the McKenzie catalog and pick out $600 worth of tolls and supplies that I WANT....but know I could improvise with things I already have in the shop, or get at the local hardware store!  Enjoy yourself and post pictures when you get some done!

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

So you are going to skip formal training and go right into business? I know you said " once we get fairly good " . How do you plan to get fairly good with no training?

[yoder519]

yea im going straight to the pros....no thats not what i meant. reread it for a better understanding. We are going to start off by mounting the the deer we have, and plan to buy some capes to mount this spring. If we feel confident enough, we will mount some buddies deer, or my Dads if they allow, etc etc. And we will go from there. Personally, I believe we will learn better with hands on than going to school for it. Thats my experience, since im in college to do electrical work, and I work at a place that makes power centers. i learn more by doing it, then to listen to somebody about doing it. Im sure not every taxidermist went to school to do so. We plan to talk to a local taxidermist for pointers. But no, were not going to school for it.

[yoder519]

Keyda- i seen the Lutan F kit in my Van Dyke catalog. you talking about the small kit that comes with the pickling crystals and such? Thanks a ton fro the links! i found helpinghandhangers.com a few months back while looking for videos on youtube about taxidermy. haven't went to there site though, i had forgot about it to be honest.

Jdewitt- are you suggesting some of the tools in McKenzie aint going to be very useful? Or just the simple fact that it would be cheaper to get the stuff at a harware store than McKenzie? Hadn't thought about the fleshing beam, thanks for the info!

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

I didn't say to go to a school, but to get some training somewhere, there are plenty of guys that know what you should know, that will give you a weekend class for not a lot of money. You should look into it instead of guessing on your own.