When do I know Im good enough to start doing work for other people and to charge them a fair price?
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Its sort of up to you. Do alot of mounts for practice though before hand. Its a great idea to attend some conventions- no need to compete at them if you don't feel comfortable with it, just go for the seminars and to chitchat with other taxidermists. If you do have a mount you think is really good, enter it in the amateur division and see how it does. Also be sure to take the time to talk to the judge, they will point out the flaws and tell you how to improve upon your mistakes. When you first start out doing other peoples animals, keep your head up, you may not get much in, best to start with friends and family and see what they think of it. Oh yeah and charge what you think your worth, not what the other taxidermists in your area are charging.
You have to enter the competition to learn. No matter how good or bad always enter
the Professional division, Most judges don't take the novice work seriously, and don't
judge it as closely, you will learn more if they judge it seriously. Just leave your
ego home and try to learn. One of the finest bird taxidermists that I know showed up at
the NTA with a duck sitting on wires for support, no base. Of course they ripped him,
but he asked anyone who would talk to him for advise on how to improve. A couple years
years later he won Best of Show at the NTA.
As far as what you should charge, get exactly what the other taxidermists in your area
are getting. If you start out cheap you will have a customer base that is look for nothing
but the lowest price and as soon as someone cheaper comes along they will be gone. I
learned that the hard way. Taxidermy customers treat the higher priced taxidermists with
more respect and assume that you are better that the competition because you get more for
your work. A lot of my new customers tell me that they came to me because I was higher and
they thought they would get a better job because of the higher price. Besides if you are
getting a good price for your work, you will be motivated to give your customers their money's
worth and produce the best mount possible. Good luck.
deer woman and old fart are both right, but I realize that going to shows isn't always a practical or desired activity.
Concerning your work-------
You aren't ready if you've only done 5 or 6 mounts, you need a good variety of mounts under your belt, and you need repetition also.
If you are a weekend taxidermist, and you have studied modern
taxidermy methods through publications like the Breakthrough manuals, Breakthrough magazine, Taxidermy Today, and video tapes, then you COULD be ready after 6 months to a year of weekend work.
Here's a good indicator---look at your first 5 or 6 mounts that you thought were good---do they still look good to you? if they do, then you need more practice. If they now look like crap, then you've probably improved a good bit.
Concerning your pricing----Deer Woman said "charge what you think you are worth" that's true, but only if you think you are worth at least as much as the other taxidermists in your area. If you aren't as good as them, then you aren't ready for business.
When you can achieve an attitude and confidence level where you know that you can compete with the competition's quality, then take that next step.
until then, keep working on it.
Good Luck
Dave
Be very critical of yourself. Pay attention to details and compair
your work to other taxidermy work you see displayed anywhere. Compare
them to reference material and competition work you see on the internet. It won't be that good, but strive for it. Ask yourself if
the animal looks real and natural. Then you're ready. Don't just take friends friendly remarks.
Rookie,
I am a long time hunter who has had a lot of trophies mounted in my time. I've seen some stuff that the taxidermist sould of paid the customer to mount, instead of charging them for it. Beleive me, If it took me ten years to draw a sheep tag, I sure in the hell ain't going to take it to some guy just because he's $50.00 cheaper than the other guy in the book. I want my trophy mounted right, and I will pay to have it done so. I've been to every taxidermy shop in the town I live in. Some do better on birds than others. Some do a better job on head mounts, some do better at the lifesize stuff. I'm sure you get the picture. Then there are some who just amaze me. There are those who when you walk into their place you just stand there and go wow!, this is good...this is really good. And then there are those, those so called taxidermy shops that you go into and go...go... go...wow!, what the hell could someone possibly do to make these things look this bad? There is a guy named [name withheld by forum administrator] here in Idaho that has been doing commercial work for quite some time. His work is some of the most rechet looking stuff I have ever seen. The guy has been told to his face that his work SUCKS! It's true. I feel bad for all the people who have taken their mounts to him. I've seen road kill that looks better than most of his work. The scarry part is, is that he thinks his work is good. He claims he is an award winning taxidermist. I wonder how much he paid for that award? At any rate, he charges people to basically destroy their mounts. It's sad but true.
I would recommend stoping by other taxidermist shops in your area and see if they wouldn't mind looking at your work and giving you some pointers (if your work looks better than theirs, don't worry about their opinion ). If they say Wow, this is pretty good, you are probably on the right track. If they are not too receptive, go to one of those competitions those other guys mentioned and see how you compare with other taxidermists. Be honest with yourself, if your work is not that good yet, keep trying til you get it right. In ol [name withheld]'s case, he will never get it right. Good luck, and may your animals come to life!
Wow, good thing you didnt use [name withheld]'s last name. If you are going to be ignorant enough to post crap like this on our forum, please have the balls to post your name. If you are lucky enough to be named Bob or Dick...at least use your last name too. [Name withheld] didn't have that choice with you. As long as you are dispensing this sound advice, albiet in hiding, why didnt YOU follow your advice? Better yet, instead of refraining from using a guys unique first name to slander in here or not having the balls to use your name, stay off this site. We dont need any more people here like you.
Thanks for pulling the poor guys name. He would have been recognized too easily with that unique first name...
This forum sure keeps you BUSY. Doing a great job too I might add!
Bill, you're a really good person (for a rich guy).
. . . you just mounted scares the hell out of you when you flip the lights on (and not after a night out drinking, mind you), you are probably ready. Just keep in mind, anyone of us who is giving advice in this forum is also reading pretty much every tip that we can lay our hands on too. For the first few years, stick with what you do best (deer, elk, etc.) much along the lines of Dave's advice - repetition and experience. And for heaven's sake charge enough to make a little money at the end when all is said and done; time is indeed money. As far as competition, I chose not to, but the advice above has merit.
Just be confident and honest with yourself and you will know when you are ready (darn, that sounded like a talk I had with my teenager the other day, and we weren't talking about taxidermy!). Life's rules can be applied in very broad strokes? eh?
Yeah, I know. I'll stop rambling.
Good luck, S.P.