Great site! Just starting out and in your opinions what animal should someone start with. Deer, squriel, pigeons? I have a deer, racoon, badger, and bobcat in my freezer but really do not want to practice on these. I know I will make many mistakes and cut some unwanted holes but would like to some what understand what I am doing. I also realized being a taxidermist is repetition, repetition, repetition. I have read where starting out you should skin all the pigeons you can get. Their seems to be a wealth of knowledge here and I would like to absorb some and learn from the mistakes of others. Living in SW Oregon their are no Taxidermy shcools here. For those of you that have studios if a person would come to you and inquired to work in your shop for free to help and learn what would you say. I ask because their are 4 or 5 taxidermy shops here and have been cotemplating doing just that.
Thanks for your time and advice
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NEVER NEVER NEVER start with animals they are tougher than you and you will get your @ss kicked! HAHA Just kidding. I would never start with anything you are planning on cherishing! Your fist year's work will be bad at best then it keeps getting better. Use a lot of reference material and read and learn as much as you can. I started with a deer shoulder mount. WOW what a good laugh I get when I look at that crooked eyed poor bugger. I would start there if it were I would save full body mounts for later.
easy for beginers which I am they are cheep and kinda easy.
And my first was a feed store mouse, Tha dosent look half bad, I like mice,annd rats because they are inexpensive,easy to obtain(cant always shoot a squirrel once you scare them all off) and fun to practice on.
Best advise i could give to someone starting out ,would be to stay with small stuff for a while . Squirels Rabbits, or mayby Racoons.They are easier to obtain and less intensive/ expensive.Biteing off a larger project ,such as deer ,ect. can be frustrateing as a beginner.
This is a labor intensive job requiring talent that's God given and experience which only time brings. Most of us had no "formal" (whatever that means) training and we're eking out a living producing work with our names attached to it. We aren't in business to teach, no matter inexpensive it might be. I've taught a few dozen people this way, but I was the one who decided that they had talent enough to join in the shop, not from their solicitation. If you want to work towards such an opportunity, I'd suggest you first join your state organization. Once you're established as someone serious about taxidermy, it's easier to convince someone to let you come in and learn.
BTW, since you're new, I'm assuming you're new to this site. Your "first animal" can be found by clicking the orange SEARCH icon in the left margin. I just did and I'm not sure the numbers are correct, however. It says that there are 33 MILLION similar questions with that wording already on file. Ken, say it ain't so. LOL
a squirrel thats what i did. they have tougher skins and dont slip that easily. and their easy to get if you mess up.
My advice is too jump right in there...read everything you can this site..I would personally start out with pedestal/shoulder mounts...get the facial features down and then the rest is gravy...use good reference material, read up on skin prep, manikin prep...use good quality products..and most importantly---HAVE FUN...famous words from Bill Yox to me when I was first starting just a few years ago.....strive for excellence but don`t get down on yourself..you`ll feel yourself get better...enjoy
a chipmunk. And then I did a big rat. The pet store had a couple in their freezer and they were happy to pass them along. My next was a squirrel and after that a raccoon. I still enjoy doing rats when I have them and I've probably done 18 squirrels, each one better than the next. The only problem I see with doing the raccoon is they usually have a lot of fat and need more fleshing and cleaning than rats and squirrels and chipmunks. I still look at tht first chipmunk and laugh. Its done well but the pose is something out of Frankenstein -- arms extended and back way too straight - but then, I made the body myself with a wire frame inside. Have fun with it and start with whatever is cheapest to get because it'll take a few before you can feel you finally got the hang of it. Each one is another valuable lesson you can't afford to miss.
Speak for yourself when you say that the first years mounts will be bad. I actually had a guy buy my First practice mount for 200 bucks. He is an avid hunter and was very impressed with the mount. I did however study tons of reference and I have read as much material that I could find and most of the posts on here for beginners, deer, and tanning. It was very important to get a good handle on tanning first and then I moved to taxidermy. I have several very satisfied customers after just a very short time. I think that all taxidemists should know how to tan first and then start doing mounts. George has ripped me a few good times about being totally misunderstood on one subject or the other and that helped me out a bunch. I am not saying I am top notch nor never made any really bad mistakes but I have done good work from the very first mount because I am very serious about taxidermy and bull headed. I did my home work and studied for hundreds of hours. By the way, I am 41 not a youngster. I sometimes wish I had it to do all over again, I would be rubbing elbows with the veterans by now if I had started younger. I am envious of the people that managed to start doing taxidermy at a young age. Just my 2 pennies.
My mentor was a real SOB. He started me with fish, and a crappie to boot. I still have it. Nothing pretty but I won't be competing with it soon. The key words have already been spoken. REFERENCE,REFERENCE,REFERENCE! Also, take things SLOW. Scalpel blades don't discriminate. Liquid surgery(super-glue) is a handy thing to have around! And most of all, as Yoxy said, Have Fun! Peace- Jeff F.
I suspect the quality of your work is as much a product of your age as it is your talent. When we're younger, most of us have gasoline asses and don't take the time necessary to produce quality work. I'd suspect you'd be the same as the rest of us were and have skeletons in your closet you didn't want to think about. The ones that truly scare me are the Amy Ritchie's who started doing good work in their teens and she has a North American Championship under her belt before she's even close to 20. I hope she continues, but in 48 years, I've seen very gifted and talented people tire and burn out (hell, I burned out before I even got talent). Good luck and continued success.
who have shared their wisdom. Their is a wealth of information in the above replies and I look foward to getting started and incorporating your suggestions. Being new I am sure as the day is long I will be returning to this form for valuable advice.
Thanks to all.......
Bill