I've been doing taxidermy for about six years now and have become pretty proficient with gameheads.
On numerous occasions, I've seen where folks have come here and asked questions
about using "kits" for doing their buck of a lifetime. In the past three years, thanks to professional taxidermists who have given of their time and experience to help my improve my skills, as well as
this site and other places like it, I've come to the realization that doing acceptable work
demands a working knowledge of the fine details, tricks of the trade, and so forth - things that cannot be found in any kit. How in the heck
do these guys mount deer heads on these kits? And how could they be happy with them when done? last night, i was checking in a buck for a guy and he wanted a detailed description of what goes
into mounting a deer from start to end. I got about ten minutes and a third of the way through it when he says, "Whoa, there. Sounds like its a lot more complicated than I figgered. Must be why you charge what you do."
I assured him it was. Anyone out there start with a kit and what are/ were your feelings on the results?
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Lance,
How did you start?
In my contacts with members of my state assoc, many of whom are both
state and national champons, I have found a large majority are/were
self-taught. Now when they started kits were not the marketing ploy
that they are today. I think today's kits offer a better beginning than most
of the self-taught champs began with.
Yes, seven years ago, I started back into taxidermy,with a kit. It was easier
than the mail order books, I started with 28 years ago.
I never saw a deathrow inmate who wasn't a Christian or a ex-smoker who didn't rail about the hazards of smoking. Taxidermist bad mouthing kits seldom realize where they came from. I assure you that 45 years ago, there WERE no kits unless a 2x4 and a box of borax can be considered that.
I'll wax philosophical in repeating a phrase by Rabutin. "Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It kindles the big and extinguishes the small."
Lance, that's just what kits do. For someone just thinking we were trying to rip him off, a kit will teach him a lesson not soon to be forgotten. For someone with that burning desire to learn what we do, it's just the first step in a long journey we all have to make.
Now, guys, don't get me wrong. I don't hold anything against anyone
that opts to wet their toes in taxidermy by ordering a kit. And I certainly
admire anyone who can take what they receive, add their limited knowledge
and ingenuity to produce something they're proud of, regardless of what I,
you or anyone else might think about it. I guess I was more toward
expressing my amazement of just how many little things go into producing a nice
"stick built" gamehead mount. FYI- I started by trial and error. Through
the generosity of another tax, she taught me a few steps in exchange for bobcats from
my trapline. What she taught me, she learned in school and it was all outdated. But, by
learning what she had to teach, I established a foundation upon which
I now operate. Three years ago, I found this site, took to heart the advice of so many
of you seasoned vets and subscribed to all the trade magazines. One of you guys offered to bend
over backwards and get me standing on both feet and the improvement in my work is the reward I reaped.
I don't regard the kits as a threat to my business' success. More power to anyone who produce a nice mount from
one. But, going off what I knew about taxidermy on day one ( and I must presume that this is the point where kit
folks are at), I could never produce anything even close to what I put out now. And the main reason for that is simply the innumerable
little details that I've learned over time.
Lance,
You are kinda stating the obvious, which is that we all get better with experience.
everybody has to start somewhere, and a kit with good instructions(i.e. video tape) is as gooda place as any.
The kits available today give newbies a head start over what most of us started with even 10 years ago. but still, there is nothing as valuable as experience.
Cya
Dave
I ordered a kit from van dykes last year and tried to mount a duck.the kit did give good instructions but it also gave two sets both were different. this was confuing but the kit gave me a great feekfor what taxidermy was all about. there weren't enough chemicals and materials however. If you get all the right materials and some tips from experts the kit could work. I didn't and so that is were I aam stuck right now if you get any tips especially on ducks e-mail them to me at boo_baloo@yahoo.com I know how you feel being a beginner myself