I am going to try taxidermy for the first time, but am not sure what would be the best and easiest for a beginner to start out on. Should I start with a bird or a small mammal? I also have never done any tanning, so I am starting from scratch. So a push in the right direction would be alot of help.
Thanks.
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I am a beginner too. I started about 5 months ago. My 1st mount was a squirrel. I bought a video from WASCO (mounting a fox squirrel) and it helped a lot. I also got a kit that had everything I needed (besides the mannikin) to mount my squirrel. Since then I have done 3 more squirrels and now Im starting 1st deer head. My first mount didnt turn out very well but each one since has improved a lot. So whatever you decide to mount,dont give up after first time. You will learn from it and your 2nd will go smoother. Tanning is something I havent done yet either. I have used dry preservative on my mounts and it seems to work good (on squirrels anyway). I havent done any other animals yet so I cant really tell you what would be easiest to learn. Just thought Id tell you what I started out on. Good luck.
I just started about two months ago. My first mount was a standing duck, since then i have done 2 geese 5 ducks 1 deer fixin to start on my 2nd deer today.one thing I have learned is no matter what you do it not as easy as it looks. And to take your TIME and do the best you can. Tapes help, but the tapes I got left out some steps.Ask around on for who puts out good tapes. Hope this helps
If you don't have any experience or tanning supplies,try a fish. If you can get a hold of a yellow perch go for it. The skin is very tough the body is fairly easy to carve or buy a small one.Finishing is simple -not much to resculpt later and painting very few colors.Birds don't require too much tanning really,just pick out the meat thoroughly ,wash,dry and borax.What ever you decide,take your time,refer to your references often and if you have questions come back here and check archives or feel free to ask a few folks what they suggest.We all started out the same way as you .We just help each other improve.
don't give up! it's a lot of fun.
Zeppie,
I started taxidermy as a hobby a couple of months ago. I read this forum for 2-3 months before I did anything. I read every post and as much in the archives as I could. My first mount was a WT doe pedestal (I just posted it for critiquing by forum members- prilev.home.insightbb.com) Since I completed the deer, I've done a grey fox pedestal mount and am about to start on a coyote pedestal. I'll be doing the finish work on the fox in a couple of days. The fox was much quicker and easier than the deer. I tan my skins- Rittell's EZ100 tanning chemicals are good for this and they're easy, too. All the experts here will tell you to have plenty of reference photos on hand for whatever you decide to mount. This is gospel- follow it! Mark Haineault has generously started a web page at www.TaxidermyReference.com and has numerous photos for you to use as reference.
Hang in there and don't get discouraged. This can be a fun hobby. The people are here to help you. I will suggest that before you post a question, just think first. Quite often questions get posted that could have been answered if the person just thought about it for a few minutes. Don't forget the archives. Almost any technical question can be answered with a simple search. The answer may not be in the first post under the search return, but it's almost always there somewhere. Just keep looking. Have fun and good luck! Patrick
Any answer you get on this one is an opinion for sure but for me racoons are easier than squirrels any day. Most people choose a squirrel probably, they're easy to get and seem simple, but short hair and small features are problems that will almost guarantee that your 1st mount will look like a 1st mount. The racoon being larger is easier to work with and long hair makes small defects less noticable. I would suggest tanning the coon and mounting on a slightly smaller form than the measurements ask for and choosing a simple pose maybe a coon standing on 3 feet. Good luck- Aaron Honeycutt
wich ever is the easest to get or catch...
Start with squirrel. About 10 months ago was when I started. I used a video, but you don't necessarily need one, unless you don't know how to skin it. I would recommend it.
I skinned it out and split the lips, then prepared the mannikin, which took all of 5 minutes, and then put borax on it for a preservative. We injected latex caulking in the legs, and stapled up the belly. (It was a climbing down mount) We set the legs on the log, wired it on with a clothes hanger as a "nail", and set in the eyes with clay and then pinned it in a few places, and it was done except for drying time. Easy!
I then did two pheasants, and I helped my boyfriend with some of his stuff, I have done skulls, and am currently working on a deer head. I love it! I just came back from the PA Taxidermy Convention and it was wonderful. If you ever get a chance to go to your state's convention, by all means, go!
~Liz~