am doing a novelty mount for a longtime customer - deer with tusks - here is the ? - which would fit a deer mouth the best - javelina or boar
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Doing "novelty" work has a way of taking you out of the realm of serious professional taxidermy and can haunt you for some time. Next it's the swamp boogers or the squirrels playing cards. I did a boar with an arrow in it nearly 30 years ago and the thing still haunts me. I found out early on that I needed to perfect the techniques relating to real life specimen instead of making up novelty pieces. Just MY OPINION, however.
i asked for help -
When I first started taxidermy 4 years ago I had a heck of a time explaining what I do to my non hunting friends (which isn't many)At first it was not met with smiles and the (thats interesting) comments that I expected. You see, I didn't care who I told and where I told it that I was a part time taxidermist. This sometimes got me into opposing views with people. But when I asked if they have ever been to a natural history museum and saw fully mounted animals in dioramas and thought it was learning experience they all say YES! I walk away smiling. Sometime ago i had a customer bring in a 100lbs. blackie and wanted the most aggressive standing open mouth form they had. I almost didn't want to do it because I think the only thing this little bear cub could ever be arrgessive to was the bait bucket when it was empty! Just like George said (the realm of serious professional taxidermy)sometimes can be a fine line. Again though, if its your lively hood then its just my opinion.
I would use the boar med size ones with the matching whets. Just install before you taxi. I would notch out the upper part of the mouth, rebuild the rounded area around the whets with apoxie sculpt. You want to get that buched up look where the skin meets the whets.
I'm about to mount my first novelty piece. An axis deer with spanish goat horns and a hog nose. Oh yeah... and human doll eyes. I've got a sense of humor. If others don't that's their loss. They already know my "serious" work and can judge from that, so I don't see the harm. Just MY opinion.
What is wrong with novelty mounts. Yopu arethe one always touting taxidermy as an art form! I would think that if done properly, it takes more skill to do a novelty mount like a deer with tusks, unicorn deer, ect ect, than the standard species. If you take the time to pull it off correctly and do your homewrok, why is this less than serious taxidermy. Would you consider Ken walkers Irish Elk a novelty mount? It was an animal constructed out of other animals and made into a jumbo sized representation of an animal that no longer exists! That took an immense amount of skill! I would have more respect for a guy who can anatomically correctly install a jaw set from another species in a deer mount, and make it look real and correct, with a high degree of detail and such, than a guy who does the standard crap. Just my opinion though!
There is some sort of Asian water/ swamp deer that has canines.
When I looked at one someplace the exposed canines reminded me of Javelinas. Canines Not tusks I know this is still lacking info for you it was just an opinion and another lead to chase down
good luck
Mark
But that's OK, too, but when you can grovel up where I endorsed taxidermists as being "artists", I'd like to see it. I do believe that the WORK takes artistic talent, but to compare a reproduction of an extinct species, made from the skeleton and archival evidence of the period it existed with putting antlers on a bear, tusks in a deer, or having a human with his head [expletive deleted] is just a tad different in my viewpoint.
When's the last time any of you were in a QUALITY Taxidermy shop where they had such nonsense? Call Mike Boyce or Marcus Zimmerman, or even Ken Walker and see how much he'd charge you to do something like that. And before ANY OF YOU start with, "Well, there's a market for it", I know there's a market for fuzzy dice, and Confederate flags, and #3 decals, but I'm not looking for that kind of business. Your business is based on your clientele and if you're satisfied with the crowd that enjoys having velvet paintings of Elvis, go for it. Those are the same people who only call to price check and look for $250 whitetails. They aren't available in my shop.
Terry, I'll remember that comment and I'm glad I already passed over your request for help with buffalo nostrils. You only want what YOU want, right? Since my "caution" was taken as an admonishment instead of what it was intended, good luck. I've noticed you seem to have a LOT of questions on here and I'm sure you'll get the answers you deserve.
George wrote:
"if you're satisfied with the crowd that enjoys having velvet paintings of Elvis, go for it."
I just about hurt myself laughing so hard! That was classic, George!
Heck, even I offer to make deer rumps with garage door opener buttons "you-know-where," but that's all the novelty I would do since I'm a prisoner of my own twisted humor!
nice to know people can count on you to give your opinion but not give help when asked- i have noticed you give by far the 'top of the line' smart a$$ answers on this site - i ask a lot of questions because i need help on things i haven't done b4 - that is what this site is all about - i have seen you time and time again give insulting answers to beginners - when you do this why dont you thnink of answering your grandkids this way and say to yourself - is this the way i would want to be treated
You probably missed it somewhere along the line, but did you ever bother to think maybe I'd done some of the things you'd like answers to? Obviously not. You're just another snot nose who expects answers only to what you want. I attempt to NEVER insult beginners and I'd challenge you to show me where I did unless they got to be wise asses like you in their demands for what I worked hard to learn. If what I know isn't something you'd be interested in, as I said, I'll make damned sure I don't offend you further.
would he use a taser on you?
Just so you know I heard George stick up for you many many times when people were critiquing your work in a not so good way.
Just thought you would like to know that.
Is already out of the "realm of serious professional taxidermy". A while back there was a link to items he had on Ebay and they were, say we say, not well done. He obviously needs to ask lots of questions and needs to practice and observe professional taxidermy more, perhaps at state or national meetings.
I agree with the position of George on novelty taxidermy, a truely serious taxidermists would not prostitute themselves and make an umbrella stand out of a black bear. Anyone with a sence of dignity would not insult the animal that was harvested to spend eternity as a laughable ornament. The time of novelty animals was 100 years ago, and novelty items will not help the quest to "professionalize" the field of Taxidermy. Ebay in itself is not a detriment, in my eyes though, just selling recent taxidermy that was done to the standards of 30 years ago. Wildlife Artist, Travis and a few others do much more good towards the general public than one might think - by having their stuff on ebay, it illustrates how good taxidermy can be done. It also elevates the price for those taxidermists who can produce items of that quality.
Ken Walkers' Irish Elk was not a novelty mount, it was a re-creation. The skill to make an accurate archaeopteryx or smilodon or the Megaloceros giganteus is totally different than a novelty mount. The scultor HAS the skeleton in each of these cases, and has to flesh out the animal based on the anatomy of the individual specimen. Without intimate knowledge of current living animals and an eye to interpret the differences comparing anatomy, there cannot be a convincing replica created.
I have seen poor archaeopteryx and good archaeopteryx both in plumage chosen and body form. Without access to one of the 7 skeleton fossils of this species, or a cast, combined with intimate knowledge of bird anatomy, the final product is limited even before the outside is put on. For example, the hump on Ken Walkers' Megaloceros was much smaller than the one we have on exhibit, but I am sure it matches up to measurments taken at whatever Natural History Museum his model specimen resided in. I would not have chose the light color pelage because of the ground color in its' natural habitat, but to my knowledge no frozen elk have been found as in mammoth where hair is exactly known. The outside color is up to the speculation of the re-creator if there is no known reference material. Cources in Evolutionary Theory or Mammalogy or Ice Age Paleontology can offer a basis for an arguement of base color.
For some reason, people on this site love to pick on George - heck, I even bait him from time to time to try an keep his blood vessels from depositing plaque. But in reality George gave a GREAT answer to begin this post - go back and read it again without a preconceived belief of how it was said by reading the byline. If it was said by any of a hundred other taxidermists of note who visit this site, it would not have touched off the reaction it got. If George left, who would the complainers aim their barbs at?
You are correct in the fact that there was no actual hair available for Ken's re-creation, but he did manage to find some exceptional reference pictures. He obtained a portfolio of cave sketching and cave paintings from the original hunters and had it on the mount for the judges to see. The cave people actually were quite gifted and you have to wonder how the artists could be so detailed and yet be so primitive. The best drawings he found were in color and showed light color with a dark color variation that almost looked like stripes. I was privileged to see it in several stages and the BBC captured it all on film for their upcoming documentary. Still, as you said, at best it's a re-creation based on one artist's interpretation of another artist's drawings. (By the way, the hump was smaller because of the posture of the bull running down hill according to Ken. Skeletal anamoly.)
I thought George gave great advice (opinion). I am glad I wasn't the one to point it out, but I thought terryr's work was already novelty work to say the least. I haven't seen a serious piece he has done yet.
ps: Thats my story and I'm stickin to it!
HAHA!
George is exactly right on how a business is perceived. Imagine yourself as a customer who is looking for quality taxidermy services and has the following choices:
"Bubbas Taxidermy,bushoging, and light weilding"
"Joes Taxidermy, and crafts"
"Taxidermy"
Who you gonna call?
As for the question--Either hog tusks or javalina teeth should work fine for the deer/dracula mount, just go with the look you prefer. As for doing the "strange request" or novelty work- a few years ago a guy brought in 2 nice large mouth bass and wanted me to mount them on 1 big flat panel face to face with their mouths touching with a plate beneath saying "The Kissing Fish". I didn't want to do the work as I figured it would just look stupid and I don't like doing stupid stuff(though history would indicate I have done much stupid stuff in my past). After a lot of discussion he was willing to have the fish mounted in a more natural way with 1 fish rising to the top and the other below with a reversed body turn- both on one large piece of river wood. I completed the job and the guy never picked up the mounts even though he had left a good deposit. I sold the 2 fish. If I had it to do over I still would not do that dumb idea of a mount but I'm ok with whatever anyone else does. I'm ok with what George does and even if he gets on my toes he can stand where he chooses. All enjoy, Aaron H.
thats right a real deer, with real deer tusks, ever here of the munjac? anyway concentrate on quality work, quality prices and quality customers, cabelas sells talking deer heads and swamp boogers for less than the cheapest item i do
My uncle hunts out west every year and one year he shot a buck that had two small "tusk" they were more like two little looking teeth things.I didn't see them when he first got the deer home but after he did a skull mount only then did he even see them but there they were plain as day two little "tusk".