I have a simple question. After reading through some of the archives and seeing some of the question's i am guessing alot of people dont have a license todo taxidermy. Which would be sweet in a way since it;s the customer that makes you or breaks you in taxidermy. Eaither you do good work or you dont the customer will deffenetly let you know. I am from Pennsylvania. and just learning the trade and am a little scared to even do any more taxidermy work, because of all the restrictions i would love to have my license but can;t afford to set in on the classes for 4 days a week while working a full time job. let alone for 7mnths and the expense? wow. i would like to knopw also
is it ok, for my self to continue to do mounts as long as the people wanting the mounts pay for all the material. and let me do the mount for them? at no charge/ but unless they wanna give me a few bucks to say thanks ? any info is greatly appreciated. Sam
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Obviously I am not in PA, but I think that you will find this to be a general rule. If any money changs hands, even if it is just for the materials, you are considered in the business(or at least "doing" business). You really need to contact the proper "authorities" in PA and ask them. If you prefer not to make yourself know to the local authorities, then I would avoid doing what you are asking about. Sorry, this is probably not what you wanted to hear.
Not sure about Pennsylvania, but in Indiana, all the license means is that you can legally possess game for the pourpose of taxidermy. It's up to your customers to decide if you know enough about Taxidermy to mount thier trophy. Also, in Indiana, it doesn't matter if you get paid for the labor, if the customer pays for the materials, it's still considered "For Consideration" and is not legal without a license (or at least that's what I've been told. Good Luck!
Within the state of Pennsylvania you will need to have a licence to do taxidermy for another - even a blood relative, believe it or not. They cannot give you the money for the parts if you give them the finished mount, even if you don't charge for labor. Someone can give you a dozen deer heads for you to practice on but you are now the owner of all dozen deer heads. Be careful with ducks though, you should not have more than 2 days limit in your freezer if they are not tagged. Also, without a taxidermy licence or fur dealer licence it is illegal to purchase hides or whole animals within the state for practice. I am not sure about the restrictions on purchasing specimens from outside the state, as this would infringe on interstate commerce. Contact the Pennsylvania Taxidermy Association within the associations listed at the top of this page - they have a forum where you can post direct questions pertaining to Pennsylvania.
There is no need to spend 7 months at a school to learn taxidermy, especially if you wish to learn only one phase in taxidermy. Penna. lets you get specially licenced for birds, or mammals, or fish, or the general licence. If you only were interested in fish, you could take a few person-to-person weekend cources, buy a few books, buy some videos, attend a meeting or two, and if you have talent get a licence without quitting your day job, which I would recommend that you never do.