I am becoming intrigued with taxidermy more and more by the day and was wondering what would be a list of basic must haves to do deer shoulder mounts as a hobby?
Also do you have to have a fleshing machine to shave the hide or is there a way to do it by hand? Fleshing machines cost quite a bit to do a handful of mounts with. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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a mounting stand,,a pair of ear openers,,a scalpel ,,and a good sharp knife,,,,at least one of the Breakthrough deer manuals,,and maybe a few videos,,,,,you can get by with a mini flesher and a skife knife for fleshing,,,and a little patience,,,if you go the tanning route,,,,i prefer rittles ,,,,,but when you buy the tanning supplies make sure you buy PH strips as i dont think they come with the kit,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,jim
to avoid the cost of a fleshing machine, you can send the deer capes to a tannery that has a fleshing service, and get them tanned there as well.
You only need a beam and a good curriers knife. The beam you can make yourself from two by four lumber for braces and two by ten for the beam. You want the beam to reach the floor and build the legs and brace from two by fours.
I rented a belt sander from the tool store to round the edges and sand the taper to a point on the beam.
Jonas Taxidermy sells a Curriers knife, its pricey but made by Sheffield in England. You can beam a deer cape in ten minutes or faster with practice.
I use a Super Skife knife from Leather Supply Co. (Tandy Leather) and a much smaller fleshing beam for the face. Its much better than the ones sold by taxidermy supply companies (no offense intended) and can be used with either hand #67T3025.
It will take about one hour to fleshout the face, thinning the eyes, nose, lips with a scalpel.
Mr. Gene Smith makes a stainless steel mounting stand, that is perfect, it is the best. You want stainless steel! as the acid and salt from tanning will rust normal steel and eat the paint off normal steel.
Sarah