at what point do you tell a customer that their bird is too shot up to mount well? I got in a Black Duck and it has 16 holes in its head and neck, one wing all the bone is destroyed along with feathers, and the other wing has missing primary feathers. I could mount it but it won't look good so I am going to tell the guy to wait for a better bird. If I mount it and it doesn't look good it could reflect poorly on my business even if I do a good job with what I have. Any thoughts
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You did the right thing. The only thing I would have added to the customer is that maybe you could find him a good replacement bird. He might go for it? Give it a try.
Out west we don't get many blue wing teals, so when I shot a drake at about 10 yards I tore him up pretty good but I still wanted to mount him. He looks great as a dead mount on an old plank of barnwood together with a G.W.teal and a Cinn.teal.
I'm with Joe. That would have never made it through my door if it was the last passenger pigeon. Ducks are a low profit item to begin with and to spend 3 or 4 times more time in mounting it that I would on a good bird is just plain silly to me. Neck shots, wrung necks, legs destroyed or wings destroyed gets the hunter something to breast out and eat, but damned sure not taxidermy work.
Does anyone know a breeder that might sell Black Ducks?
I turn down the majority of the Minnesota ducks because they are junk. Juvinile or molting birds, either way are full of pin feathers. Not to mention the blown apart ones. Even at $400 birds are low profit items like it was mentioned above. Even with a prime bird. I have better things to do to make money than to try to make something out of junk. They will aprerciate honesty by telling them it isn't worth your time or investing thier money into something that can't look good no matter how good they are. If you take in everthing that comes in the door just to get work in the shop, than stop. It will bite you in the butt and make you look bad. Your reputation is on the line with every piece that goes out the door. Show them what to look for in a good specimen. To give them something goo you have to start with something good. Have them try again next year. There is no such thing as a Boone and Crocket bird
are you nuts get him a replacement bird you want to go to jail do you idots know what the lacy act is
I don't know what you guys put into your birds, but I find birds are my most profitable items that come into my shop. Although I agree that if to many feathers are missing its hard to pull off a good mount, but for as broken wings or legs or small tears in the skin, its an easy fix and quick. I wrap my own body,s and my cost to do a mallard size duck is $ 5.00, at 195.00 a duck and 3 hours to mount, that is 190.00 profit for 3 hours, not bad. I get 325.00 for deer, cost is 80.00 and 245.00 for 8 hours work, I wish I could get all birds to do, I would let the deer go.
I can mount alot more birds in a day than deer and costs are less than a third in birds than deer.
I am sure he was talking about a pen-raised bird! so knock off the name calling"idiot"
Lacey is for interstate travel with unregistered or improperly registered wild game.
We have some real winners here buddy!
Who gives a damn about boone and crokett, Birds are just as much a trophy as a buck...Canvasbacks, Harlequins, King Eiders they have all the glory of ture trophys! Not all trophys are big game buddy.
Jim you did the right thing, he will appriciate the honesty.
-Corey
Dean were you saying that you charge $400 to mount a duck or would like to charge $400 to mount a duck? Since you believe that there is very little profit in a $400 duck I would be happy to mount your ducks for say $350 a bird. You can net $50 a bird with basically no work involved. Unless it takes you 32 hours to mount a duck, you must have been a Wall street broker in a past life! LMAO
Chris
ducks are by far the most profitable specimen that comes through my shop. i get my bodies from the sculptor for $4, pour my own heads for maybe $1, eyes are $3.25, misc materials (thread, wire, mastersblend etc. about $2, panel $10. That totals $20.25.
Lets round that up to $25 to cover some overhead. I get $225 for a duck.......that leaves me $200. Now Im no speed freak, but I can get a duck pretty well done in about 7 hours. That amounts to over $28 an hour.
I work from home so my overhead is low. But my profit is high.
take time and read the lacy act i have been a professional wild life artist for thirty years .Been checked by the feds nine times fought with them in court of law and won Hate the word taxidermist but this shop mounts over four hundred migartory birds a year so I should know what Im talking about belive it or not last season out of all our birds only two where trash immature woodie and a woodcock their is a postion for every bird if the client will leave it to the wildlife artist but on the other hand if your just a taxidermist throw it out better yet have the client pick it up so he can get it to a professional PS what are you taxidermist' going to do when you take in african birds with know leg bones or wing bones or body leg bones are removed to each toe nail answer leave it to the PRO
take time and read the lacy act i have been a professional wild life artist for thirty years .Been checked by the feds nine times fought with them in court of law and won Hate the word taxidermist but this shop mounts over four hundred migartory birds a year so I should know what Im talking about belive it or not last season out of all our birds only two where trash immature woodie and a woodcock their is a postion for every bird if the client will leave it to the wildlife artist but on the other hand if your just a taxidermist throw it out better yet have the client pick it up so he can get it to a professional PS what are you taxidermist' going to do when you take in african birds with know leg bones or wing bones or body leg bones are removed to each toe nail answer leave it to the PRO
I suspect that the guys who say that birds are unprofitable are actually poor bird taxidermist and turn their noses up in the air at birds as if they have no time for such things when in reality the have no talent for birds and are afraid to do them.
For those of you who can rattle out a bird out in 3 hours? I can see where birds would be very profitable? I wish I was that quick. All I do is birds and I guess, I'm very anal when it comes to putting my birds together because I've got 8-12 hours at least into every bird. Now, I don't get $400 a bird either...I charge $250 for a standard duck mount...which is on the high end from most web sites I've looked at here...So, I do okay, but every full service taxidermist I know of in my area says, Deer heads are by far more profitable than birds!
I know I am slow, but I don't even see how it is possible to mount a duck in 3 hours. I assume they can't possibly be talking about injecting and finishing too. When figuring your porfit you have to figure all your time. Wish I could do a quality bird in 3 hours.
Did you ever get your black duck?
email me if you still need one.
Ken
You can mount a quality duck in 3 hours, I use the real head and wrap body from excelsior,wire wings and rebuild muscle with cotton and twine, I personally don,t see the need to use artificial heads in commercial work, properly done the real heads will last as long as the rest of the bird, I inject feet with methanol and lanolin. Skin , flesh and wheel skin 45 minutes, wash , tumble, dry and build body 45 minutes, wire mount and position 45 minutes, groom and inject feet 30 minutes, paint bill and feet 15 minutes, time for me is about 3 hours give or take 20 minutes, quickness is in developing a system, the man that I learned from was Dave Luke, he is a lot faster than that and he does some of the best commercial work around, I'm speaking of commercial work only on time, " competition is a whole new game. "
I need to go learn from someone else. I could see how you could make some money if you can do them in 3 hours. I haven't heard of using methanol and lanolin before. Does that keep the feet plump and looking natural?
I learned using formaldehyde, glyceryne and water, found out about methanol and lanolin from the local funeral parlor while looking for formaldehyde. The mortician said to try methanol that it was safer than formaldehyde and that they used lanolin to keep the tissue soft instead of glycerine, that they rarely use formaldehyde anymore and if you want something to last an eternity to use methanol and lanolin thats how they mummify mummies. Yes the feet stay nice if you pin the hole when you remove the syringe, can I say they stay absolutly perfect like artificial feet or being pumped up with plastic, No, but try it and see if it appeals to you, I think it is all that is needed for commercial work, I understand that we are all trying to take taxidermy to better standards, but at the same time we are also running a buisness that has to be as profitable as can be. I think the feet look fine and so do my clients, outside of trying to win a world title how perfect does something have to be, I think that is an answer individual to each taxidermist.
Jewell I have never tried methanol and Lanolin, could
you explain how you use it, mix and inject etc.
Thank you