Advanced whitetail training with pic!!

[4txdrm]

I am going to offer something a little different.  I want to offer as little as 1 day training on whitetail deer. I love to teach and just have not had the time and I decided to make the time..  You will be welcome to train as long as you want. Cost will be by the day.  I am throwing around maybe doing some kind of a  apprenticeship as well..  I live in the Great state of ILLINOIS.  Pike county IL to be exact. Home of some of the biggest whitetails in the world..  I have been in business since 1989  at one time I had Two full time employes mounting 300 whitetail a year I have attached a picture of some customer work take a look, If interested shot me a email and we can discuss details.  Thank you for your time and have a great day.   
                                                   http://web.mac.com/taxidermy/Smith_Taxidermy_/Welcome.html

[Dwayne P.]

I'm in--can't wait--will be there 

[4txdrm]

ave had some question on what is the extent of training?   I should of given more detail sorry!!

I charge by the  day and the extent of training would be from the beginner status to competition. What would you like to learn? I have had some people interested in tanning I have had some interested in finishing.  My main goal was to mount a deer and go through my process while answering any questions at the same time showing how and why I do it the way i do. In my eye i am trying to target the average run of the mill guy that want to sharpen his skills.  The pics i posted are customer deer the only thing I change for competition  is I put a nose septum in. If you are strictly wanting a competition class, thats not really what i had in mind. I charge 250.00 a day for what ever you want to learn, I am not going to try to sell you knowledge you don't need or want, I want to provide you with what you want to learn. So shoot me a email and or some pics and i will tell you weather I would be a benefit to you. If you look at my customer work and you say he is not doing anything I don't already know than I would suggest I might be wasting your time and money but if you say boy he does a really clean above average customer mount and you see something that would be of interest than I bet I can help you take that step you might be lacking in.  Without seeing what you are doing right now it would be unfair for me to say i can improve your skills..  Although I have paid for advanced training several times in the last 20 years and I have never felt like I didn't get my money's worth. I have even given my trainer some tips and or ideas that they might of overlooked .  It is good to reach out and get different tips or ideas. Keeps you thinking. I will be the first to admit I am not the best and I am always open for ideas.  That attitude will make you excel in whatever you do in life.. If you think there's no room for improvement you are one of two people.  #1 you are actually the best or #2 you think you are and it will take you longer to improve because you don't see the need.  Every good taxidermist I have ever met is always looking to better him or her self.  Thanks for your interest, if I can assist you in any way feel free to shot me an email and or pics.. I have attached pic of customer deer eye detail that was actually taken outside in better light.   Thank Again!!!  have a good day!!

Smith Taxidermy
taxidermy111@verizon.net

[Nina]

You do very nice work, and I would definitely be interested if you weren't so far away.

[buckslayer]

now dont lie that is a real deers eye just kidding thatis some really nice work i would be interested but you are to far away

[4txdrm]

All bull aside, taking pics outside in the right light will do wonders for you work. The eye detail is the same on all my deer, I have a hard time showing good detail inside, all of my good pics are taken outside up close on a cloudy day or when the sun is behind something. I will post a pic of the same deer same time but inside further back and you will see what i am talking about.. You can short change yourself on pictures if you are non equipped with knowledge of taking good pics.  I mess around with a good camera but I am far from a photographer. Thanks


Smith Taxidermy

[bigbuck28]

damit another awesome teacher half the country away!!

[Adam Wright]

man i wish i lived in illinois!!!

[bzb_1]

Is there any certain time period that you are looking for when you are offering this?  Like when you get busy your not having any classes...I may be in Illinois late November/early Dec and might be able to get away for a couple days or extend the trip.

[4txdrm]

During Rut---Which typically starts picking up OCT. 31  and extends through  NOV. 25 and then slows down a little.. I start my day a  Four AM and never get in the house before 10 PM and lots of nights it's after midnight. So to answer your question between the two dates would be a really bad time for me to try to teach. Pittsfield is a town of 5000 that turns into a town of 10000 for about 2 months of the year. I get most of my deer between those dates, I have caped as high as twenty deer a day..  Not just off the face I mean total cape job. I prefer to do all the skinning. I have had some meat lockers and unexperienced hunters destroy some awesome capes. 

Keep in mind the deer im capeing are not all deer im going to mount. I offer a capeing service for all of the out of state hunters that want to take there deer to there home town taxidermist. So I have all of my stuff to try to get put away and the stuff that I have to drop everything and do so the hunter don't have to wait around.. 

As for when I am going to start the training I am going to pick a guy up at the airport the 28th of July, so far thats it, I have had lots of interest though and I really appreciate it. Thanks to all.  I really admire Rick Crane and his abilities and what he is doing. I don't want to be a copy cat but I will try to do some of the great things he's doing as far as lots of pics and keeping everyone informed on some of the things we do while student are here. My goal is to build a friendship that will open lots of doors in life, For my students and myself.  I  used to be very closed mouth because I thought it would hurt my business  I have found over the last few years, that attitude got me nowhere. I have met more good people on this site than you will ever imagine.  If it wasn't for this site and all the good people I would still be sitting here wishing I had the time to teach. With all the emails and interested people, I took a step forward that might of never been taken..  Thanks Again to all!!!


I do have a ton of work to do and will have some upset customers. At this time my focus is on both. I will try to work with anyone who want's my service..

After I get established I might even consider traveling to the student, Just a thought?  Not prepared yet to take that step.


Smith Taxidermy
Pittsfield IL 62363

[Josh K]

You do very nice work, and I would definitely be interested if you weren't so far away.

Amen I would love to be there to but......

[4txdrm]

First of all I have had a lot of people that interested and have answered a ton of questions.  I want to thank everyone!!  The biggest question is how many deer can we mount in x amount of days??? This not part of what i am offering,   In this post it clearly states what my intentions are.  (Quote from previous post)---My main goal was to mount a deer and go through (my) process while answering any questions at the same time showing how and why I do it the way i do. In my eye i am trying to target the average run of the mill guy that wants to sharpen his or her skills. End of quote.      My previous post should of been a little more detailed,  I assume that everyone that will contact me already knows how to mount a deer..... regardless there level, the only way I can offer as little as a one day class would be you come in watch me go through my mounting process with every detail  and ask questions take notes and be given more info than you could imagine and getting some hands on as well. This will be no eight hour day, more like 12 hours. Lots better if it were 2 days.  By the emails i have been getting a lot of people are wanting to mount one of there own deer.  In my opinion I should be booked 365 days of the year if i do this because,  If everyone  wanting to learn brought a deer with them, they would  actually make money having me help them do it while learning and actually get paid for learning. You should be getting paid more for customer deer than what i charge a day for training.. I don't have a problem doing that but you will not be able to see exactly what i do if you are doing the mounting  and all I was doing is advising you.  If that makes sense.   If I was offering a complete whitetail course I would want people to bring there own stuff but the cost wouldn't be by the day as little as one day because it would be impossible to do this in a short time frame. At this point we would both be mounting a deer taking things a lot slower, I would explain  and you would try to duplicate and if you didn't get it we would do it again, until you got it. Not something you could do in a couple of days it might take a day just re-prepping your hide and explaining that process,    It is hard for me to explain this but i will give it a shot. 

I am to assume if you are interested in what i have to offer you want it to look like the pictures posted.  Right!!!   I can not show you how to do what i do without starting with a skin i prepared.   Form I am use to using,  Workability of a skin that I tanned, thickness of the skin on and on and on, Etc,Etc,   The work i  do reflects   EVERY   step in the process. From the time I capped the deer to the last grooming hair.   So if you roll in with a hide , form, and eyes and want to duplicate what i am doing thats fine but it will not be a day or two process.  I can say this because i was there once, My skins did not look the way they do now and my deer didn't look like they do now.  I take preparation to the next level to produce what I do.   My main goal is for you to watch me go through every process not leaving out one single step so you will be able to see exactly what goes into creating the look I achieve.  You already know how to mount a deer you only need to see  steps you might be missing, I can assure you that you will not be unhappy by doing this.. You will be able to sit back relax- have time to ask question take notes, video, Etc. You then go home and apply everything you learn..  From the pics i have received I will guarantee that your deer will look 25% better only by learning the finishing process, I plan to have deer ready to finish so every student can learn this. Only have time for this if you plan on being here for two days. Finishing is a major part of whitetail taxidermy and cant be overlooked.  Remember I want you to happy so if that means bringing your deer and doing it the same time, than thats what we will do, but don't plan on one day class. Although if it were possible for you to bring a head ready to finish I could go over it and we would actually finish it.  (highly suggest this)  you could also bring a skin so i could go over it as well. I could point out first hand Plus--minuses.  Sorry so lengthly but I have had a ton of .  Hope this has explained my thoughts, Please don't be discouraged if you are serious about taking the next step you won't be unhappy. As always thanks to all.


Smith Taxidermy

[Manny]

cant send e-mail but can recieve
Im very interested E-mail me at  Msal463033@aol.com