if you were a beginner and were willing to invest some money into this hobby , What would you buy to get you started? Im asking this because I saved up a little money to get me into this hobby and just cant decide wqhat route I should take and there are so many diffrent tolls of the trade that I dont kow where to begin. I know someone that has a Dakota detail IV for sale and I am thinking of buying it. It very reasonably priced and was used just a couple times. But what else would some of you Vets buy today that would be the biggest help in the learning stages. Thanks for the help.
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Since I have only been doing taxidermy full time for a year and a half now, I am still very much a beginner. The first thing on my list- an auto tanner. That thing is a life saver! I can have 3 deer capes tanned in 24 hours. No waiting to have capes come back from the tannery. And, if your capes have holes in them, you can't blame anyone but yourself! Next on the list, you NEED a flesher. You can't tan items in your auto tanner without it, unless you are into fleshing with crude tools. And last, but certianly not least, get as many reference pictures as you can get your hands on. Get pictures of everything, even animals that you think you will never do.
Good luck! -Jeanette
You really need all of them, plus the Jonas books to, so much to learn and those are the books that will teach you.
Jay, You called it a hobby so I'm assuming you have no plan to make real income from taxidermy. Nothing wrong with that but if indeed it is to be a hobby I would not rush in to buy the big money items yet. If you get into it and it's not for you then you are invested in things that you might lose a good bit of money in reselling. Taxidermy in it's simplest form requires very little in the way of equipment or special tools. For learning aids good books and videos will get you started. After learning how to mount a deer from a video you can sell the tape on this site to recoup half your money- not a bad return for the knowlege you gain. Be aware there are many ways to approach this taxidermy thing and you will serve yourself well to try different methods. Watch out for "gimicks" as this proffesion has seen many offerings of things "no taxidermist should be without..." Check out seminars offered by your state taxidermists' association. Cost will be resanable and you get a chance to meet others in your state that can help you with problems. Whatever you do don't drop a lot of money into this "hobby" till you know you really like it. Some of the best taxidermists opperate in very basic shops I would get a mounting kit for a deer head or racoon from WASCO and using the instructions put it together. After you do a mount or two you will have a better idea of what it's all about. Good luck and enjoy, Aaron H.
Books and videos are a good foundation, but the start you will get by joining a state association is much more valuable in my opinion. By attending your state convention you will be exposed to seminars, suppliers and many talented people who are happy to help you out. I'm not sure where you live butI know of a great association in CT. If you are interested send me an email. We welcome new members from any state.
Fred Barilla
President
Connecticut Association of Taxidermists (CAT)
The last thing you need is expensive equipment. Learn to mount first. I've been doing this over 40 years, one of the first things I learned was that I wanted to be a taxidermist not a tanner. I let the people who do that, do it for me. If you don't have the patience to wait for the capes to come back from the tanner, you probably don't have the patience to learn taxidermy.
I pretty much learned everything right here..Bill Yox helped me out through e-mails and phone calls..I`ve ordered a few videos but not many..Figure out what ya want to start with(mammals,birds,fish,ect) then go from there...read everything ya can---spend your money on specimens and get your hands dirty...learn to tan, get some reference photos, and get to work..There is so much information here in the archives that will give ya a head start...I work with mostly small mammals..bobcats,coyotes,coon,fox, and deer...The most critical too I have is a mini flesher. In 3.5 years I`ve only used 2 blades and have tanned over 150 bobcats, several yotes,fox ect...My deer are sent out to the tannery...My suggestion is start out with a small mammal and just do some shoulder mounts, pedestal mounts---get the facial features down first, then move onto the full body...Most of the Breakthrough mags are outdated in my opinion--in other words there are better processes and pruducts available today than there was when the manuals were made...air compressor, mini flesher...don`t go dropping a bunch of money into this before ya know if your going to enjoy it, or be good at it...just my 2 cents---keep it simple..
www.travistaxidermy.net
When I first started doing taxidermy I didn't have a flesher.. didn't have one until just several months ago when I got the Dakota IV. Don't get me wrong, it's a FANTASTIC piece of equipment and has made life alot easier. BUT, if you are just getting started, there are alot of other things that are more important than a flesher. Hides CAN be fleshed well with simply a scalpel; trust me, I did it for quite a while. Or you could simply send your stuff to tannery.
Best thing to do would be to get the basic tools. Knives, scalpels, a lip tucker, etc. etc... one tool I must mention is an ear openener. For a while I didn't have one (didn't think it was really necessary).. then I finally bought one, and WOW. What a time saver.
And like others have mentioned, books are a great investment too. Especially the Breakthrough manuals!
But if you do want to buy some expensive equipment.. next to the flesher, I'd have to say my airbrush and dremel tool are very helpful. I can't remember how I did taxidermy without them.. but I did! ;)
Amy Ritchie
www.AmysTaxidermy.com