I used to hate the forms that came with the two threaded rods sticking out. I found them very limiting and aggravating to get on and off. Especially for large mounts. I have tweaked my methods over the year’s and here’s my latest and most productive method so far.
I like to use square tubing. I went to a local steel supply company to figure out what sizes would slide down in the other. I use the smaller to go in the mount and the larger in the base.
I used to weld a couple pieces cross ways to the main shaft and trace it on the back of form and cut out with a reciprocating saw. And anchor it in with screws or threaded rod and bondo and foam the hole. My latest method now. I made an extra long drill bit. Mikey who works here welded an 1 3/8″ paddle bit in some 1/2″ square tubing. After making level marks on the form we turned it upside down leveling the marks up. And ran that mammoth size bit all the way through the bottom of the Cape Buffalo right out the top. Mikey welded a piece to one end and a brace as well. We then cut out for the steel to be countersunk in the foam. I ran several 5″ screws in around it to hold it in. I also ran some threaded rods across the top of it. I don’t worry a whole now about the tube being perfectly level as i can adjust that with the bottom piece. Then thinned some bondo so it would run down in around everything.
I also have some receivers made so I can stick them on my mounting stands.
This is by far not the only method but it’s the one I prefer. I love how they are so easily detachable.
Don’t forget to order with no rods!
Next i’ll talk about the base end.

Simplifying a Quick Money Maker

All businesses need cash flow, and quick cash flow is always there if you just look for it and not turn it away just because it is a small job. If you simplify these jobs where you can knock them out quickly but still give a professional product to your client, you can really capitalize on these small projects and keep the cash flowing. Simplifying is not the same as cutting corners. We are not going to cut corners just to get work out the door and money in the bank. This will always come back to haunt you down the road.

One of these quick money makers are deer hooves for gun, coat and hat racks. A very simple job, but so many times I hear taxidermist say I don’t like doing them. Or even worse I DON’T do them because they are too much trouble to skin out, or they are a pain to sew up. Well, get over it, you are a taxidermist and this is easy money you are passing up. In this article, I am going to show you how to simplify and streamline your system to turn these out quick and efficiently.

Here we go! Start the skinning process by beginning just below the dew claws with a #11 scalpel blade and cutting all the way up the back side of the leg.

Then start separating the skin from the tendons, muscles and bone with your scalpel. Once down to the dew claws carefully cut around and through the knuckle until it is free from the skin. Continue to skin down towards the hooves as far as possible. Then cut through the ankle joint removing the lower leg bone from the knuckles. Now separate the two sets (inner and outer) of knuckles so that they are free from one another. Next using a bench vise as a third hand, place the end of the knuckle into the vise tightening down to hold it firmly. Now both of your hands are free to hold the skin and cut the knuckles loose down inside the hooves. Make sure you get all the way down to the quick of the hooves, leaving no bones.

Once you have all your hooves skinned out, you can tan/preserve them using your method of choice. I tanned these in this article using the methods in my Tanning 101 Video Series.

Okay, let’s move onto putting them back together. I prefer the deer hoof mannikins from Van Dykes for this process. 1, they are not over sculpted which makes them inexpensive. 2, they are made from light weight softer foam, making them easier to cut. 3, the threaded rod is actually bent and goes up into the hoof area, leaving a much stronger and rigid support for a heavy gun or jacket to hang on and doesn’t just stop at the bend like some on the market do.

Here is where a lot of people have problems, they can’t figure out how to get the skin to meet, let alone sew the skin up at the bend of the ankle. So let’s “SIMPLIFY” the process. First, using a band saw cut through the bend of the ankle at an angle. Roll the form as you cut making a complete circle, DO NOT CUT THROUGH THE THREADED ROD.

Discard the foam cut from the form, it will not be needed. Next go ahead and sew the leg skins up just past the dew claws. Do a quick test fit; the form should slide in effortlessly.

Now once you are satisfied with the fit, start replacing the knuckles with critter clay, building it all the way out to the dew claws because you are going to need to replace the foam you removed from the mannikin.

Insert the cut end of the form into the clay and push it up into the hoof. Work the clay to make a smooth transition from the clay to the foam.

Now you can lay the hoof out flat and finish sewing it up, don’t forget to add some hide glue. Be sure to leave a little over hang of skin at the end to allow for shrinkage.

Once the skin is sewn and hair patterns are aligned bend the hooves up into the desired position. Make sure the skin stays aligned and the clay to foam transition is nice and smooth. With a piece of thread, tie the hooves to the threaded rod to hold it all in place as they dry.

Once everything has dried, trim off the excess skin that was left for shrinkage purposes. Also make sure the threads of the rod are clean from glue and clay so the Tee Nut spins on smoothly. On this particular project I used solid wood panels from Walnut Creek Hardwood. Whichever panels you decide to use, mark your desired location. Drill a hole to receive the Tee Nut and hammer it into the backside of the panel.

I prefer to use ferrules to dress up the ends of the legs, the ones I am using in this article are simulated wood ferrules from Van Dykes. Again they are inexpensive but really make the final product pop. Slide the ferrules over the threaded rod and screw the rod through the front side of the panel into the Tee Nut. Be very careful not to over tighten.  Always make sure to use heavy duty hangers. The last thing you want is for a client’s gun to fall off the wall due to a cheap hanger. Also, do your client a favor and place the hangers to align with two studs, 16” on center is the national standard for most residential walls.

This concludes this article; I hope you can take something away that will help you in your everyday work.

DP

Here is a short tutorial on molding a catfish. Due to the oily nature and skin of catfish, molding and casting is a good way to go.
The pictures will do much of the talking.

Our fine specimen -A 13″ bullhead. As you can see, the fish is slightly dried out and shrunken in. This is common for catfish that have been frozen.

First step is to spray the fish off. If it has been frozen, this is all you need to do to prep for molding.

The biggest obstacle when molding catfish is to bring the fish back to a natural shape—in other words fill out the wrinkles and shrunken gut. Here is my method:

There are a number of methods you can use to plump or fill the gut back out. We will be using latex caulk. I have three main tools I use to inject the caulk into the shrunken cavities of the fish.

To start, I need to make a small incision under the gill cover to access the stomach cavity. I use a scalpel to make the cut and push it into the cavity and move it around a bit so I have a clear shot

Through this hole, I can now inject my caulking. I start with this set up

I push the tube end into the farthest reaches of the cavity. I am not trying to completely fill it at this point, just plump out the edges of the cavity.

After this is done, I insert the caulk gun into the cavity and fill it until the skin is smooth. Do not overfill .

Take a small amount of cotton and push it into the hole we made under the gill cover—this will contain the caulk so it doesn’t leak out .

I use this set up

To inject a small amount of caulking up the vent.

Now for the wrinkles near the tail and on the face. I use a needle and syringe to inject water under the skin. Always do this from the seam line.

I “swish” the needle back and forth under the skin with steady pressure until the wrinkle area is restored. Catfish have some natural muscle detail that looks like wrinkles—use reference when injecting.

Time to lay the fish up for molding. We will start by making a dam out of high fiber—–mix it thick, and make a ring bigger than the fish

Mix up a batch of “soupy” high fiber and fill the inside of the dam. You want the fish to fall into place—-you do not want to put s lot of pressure on it to get it bedded half way down. This is the KEY to molding catfish. Smooth the fiber out and add mold keys.

Do the same with the fins

Dry the fish with a hair dryer. You want it dry to the touch.

The next step is to add pva mold release. I brushed it on in this case.

Safety first. Be sure you are working in a well ventilated area and you have on eye and respiratory protection. Were gloves when handling chemicals.

After the pva has dried, mix up a batch of auto body filler mixed with resin. The mix should be like pancake batter. From a foot above the fish, pour a stream of the the mix onto the center of the fish, working from head to tail. Let it roll off from the center until covered.

After it has cured,Reinforce it with fiberglass.

Do the same with the fins.

After your glass has cured, flip the mold and clean off the high fiber. Re inject if necessary.

Put one coat of part all paste mold release on the mold edges. Put a coat of pva on the fish and mold edges. Let dry and repeat step your auto body /resin pour. After it cures, strengthen with more glass.

Do the same with the fins.

Time to demold the fish.

You may have to use a jig saw to cut around the edges of your mold. I use a screw driver, and work it under the edges and carefully pry up. Go slow on this step and don’t use to much horse power. Wash your mold out , and clean up an imperfections with a dremel and apoxie.

You can now cast your blank. I normally give the mold three coats of part all paste ( buffing between coats) and one coat of pva. I use white gelcoat first, and laminate fiberglass with resin to strengthen the gelcoat. Mix cabosil with resin to form a paste. Apply the paste to the seams of the blank and clamp shut.

The finished bullhead

A catfish molded and cast using the same method

Most people have an animal mounted to look at on the wall. But why, what is the reason for Taxidermy? I believe its to recreate and exact moment in time while hunting or fishing. To save a trophy and make a memory out of it.

With that being said my daughter Delaney at the age of 13 harvested her first turkey. I roosted the bird the night before and on the opening morning we were in place at the base of our tree. When the sun began to rise the birds started gobbling. It was a beautiful morning to say the least. At fly down time one bird flew just over our heads and landed mere feet behind us. To my surprise there were two birds roosted together. The second bird then flew down right in front of us about twenty yards away,  Delaney had her gun up, in position, and made the shot. It was a fast but great hunt that will be cherished forever.

To honor her hunt I decided to do a full fan mount. However she didn’t want the standard turkey feet hanging on the plaque. So I came up with an alternative idea that she really liked. I just took the spurs and added a couple feathers to each side. She loved the way it turned out and so did I. It made it a little more pleasing to the eye and I have had several other customers that liked it as well…

When we relaunched our taxidermy business website recently, we decided to add a ” History” page. I wanted to talk about the growth and changes of Stehling’s Taxidermy over the last 40 years. When I started looking into our families history more in depth , what I found was almost shocking.

The catalyst for much of my research actually started at the Taxidermy Insider ® Super Seminar day this past June. One of the taxidermists attending the seminars revealed that he thought he was related to us and gave me some information on a tannery that was ran under the Stehling’s name in the early 1900’s in Milwaukee.

Doing some research, I found that the Stehling’s  ran the Chas. H. Stehling Co . in Milwaukee.

The Chas. H Stehling Co was one of the largest and most successful outfitters of tanneries in the country. They not only designed and manufactured their own extensive line of tanning equipment, they also set up and advised some of the most successful tanneries. In the process they revolutionized tanning and ushered in the modern methods used today.

Equipment designed and manufactured by the Stehling Co, 1914

The Stehling tannery logo .

Looking back further, I found records of the Stehling’s operating tanneries as early as the 1860’s with indications that it went back to the 1700’s in Germany ( Prussia) !

The surprises did not end there. On the Kemmeter side of my family there are records of taxidermy being done in the early 1900’s .

With all that information in mind, it made sense that Greg Stehling ( my father) started Stehling’s Taxidermy( Greg’s Taxidermy at the time) back in 1978.

Founding locations of Stehling’s Taxidermy in 1970’s

Greg’s Sons, Aaron & Austin, eventually took over operations and purchased the company.

Aaron & Austin Stehling

Founding locations of Stehling’s Taxidermy in 1978

Rivers Edge park opened in 2015 to commemorate the business’s founded at that location, including Stehling’s Taxidermy & the Kemmeter Co. A permanent memorial is set up detailing the history of the location.

There is no doubt that the entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family, and that the art of animal preservation goes hand in hand with the Stehling name.

My early days  in the shop !( 1985) Always happy to see new orders come in, even back then !

Current location of Stehling’s Taxidermy, 2016

It has often been said that catfish do not make good skin mounts, and that it is almost impossible to get a quality product doing them this way.  I am never one to back down from the so called impossible. When my client asked for a skin mount for his prized catfish, I agreed to take it on.

I will say from the outset that using a replica blank or custom molding and casting is a better way to go on most catfish. From a time stand point and overall quality a replica is hard to beat. Catfish are also quite greasy fish, and this can effect the overall mount. There are ways to combat this however and produce a long lasting, quality catfish skin mount.

The subject of the article is a 28″ channel catfish from PA .

First step was to make a tracing or template of the fish so we could carve a form out of foam. You cannot buy catfish forms from the taxidermy suppliers.

After our tracing was made, we removed the head and set it aside for molding and casting. The catfish was skinned and fleshed like any other fish.We opted to use the natural fins.Molding and casting the fins is also an option . Doing this can help avoid shrinkage and grease bleeding…but this cat had fins that were not too greasy. The fleshed skin was soaked in a heavy solution of powdered borax and concentrated commercial Dawn® dish soap overnight.

On day two we molded and cast the head. The mold material we used was dental alginate. The head was cast out of a mix of bondo and polyester resin .

After our head was cast, we carved our form and made sure the head fit properly.

Next step was mounting. Use a smooth mache to help adhere the skin to the form, or better yet a clay mache mixed with dextrin. I like to mount my fish on a board for the first day. It really helps to get good junctures and work with the fins.

After the skin dried( about a week), we started the finishing process . We attached our cast head, did the fin repair work and apoxied the repair areas.The whiskers are the artificial ones from McKenzie supply. You can also use weed whacker line with the ends sanded . The fish is now ready for the paint booth .

Final step was painting. This fish was a darker color then most channel catfish we do.

Now the easy part–call the customer !

[avatar user=”D.Price” size=”thumbnail” align=”left” link=”d.price@outbacktaxidermy.net” target=”_blank” /]

After receiving a phone call one day this past fall I began thinking about writing this article and how I wanted to approach it. I didn’t want to make it about how and why to price your services a certain way. I think that dead horse has been pretty well beaten over the years. Besides from my past experiences, you are not going to change someone’s mind if they don’t want to change it and it just turns into an argument. Also, I didn’t want a full time vs. part time discussion. Frankly it doesn’t matter which you are because at the end of the day we all are taxidermist.

I get phone calls, emails and private messages per Social Media on a regular basis asking how I do this or what I use for that and so on. I rarely get any asked about the business end of things. Most likely this is due to folks not wanting to discuss their financial and personal business. I can respect that because I don’t do it either. With that said there are some simple things that can be done to make this industry more professional and less peered upon as a hobby.

So, back to the phone call that started all this. I answer the phone, and a fellow on the other end that was not a client of mine says: “How much ya’ll get for a deer head” (right then I knew he would never be a client of mine) I replied “$600”, he said, “WOW, what if I bring you 2 can I get a discount?”, in which I answered “no sir, sorry but that is twice the work and twice the materials and expenses, so I don’t and can’t offer volume discounts”……CLICK! He was gone.

Now this is not the first time I have been asked this question. For some reason that day as I continued working I was thinking to myself, someone is going to give that guy what he is looking for. A light bulb went off in my head. Some people let the customers run their business instead of them running it themselves.  So I started jotting down notes to things that I think make a taxidermy business operational on a long term basis. The following is what I came up with, listed from top to bottom in what I would consider highest priority.

CASH FLOW

Every successful business “MUST” have cash flow to stay afloat, if not you cannot order supplies, pay utilities, etc. How do you keep it rolling, you ask? You make it as easy as possible for your clientele to give you their money. Credit/debit cards, personal or business checks, cash and yep even rolled up pennies will work. That way when someone walks in with a job for you to do they can leave a deposit, and there will be no excuses for you to provide free storage.

Family or buddy discounts don’t create cash flow, remember it is a business.  Also, on the outgoing side you can’t use your deposits to fund a hunting trip or family vacation; this is where a lot of taxidermist get into trouble. You have to be able to manage your money, incoming as well spending. I could write an entire article on “Cash Flow” and may just do that in the future. This is in my opinion the number one thing that keeps your business going.

PROFESSIONALISM

Greeting potential clientele, remember the first impression is very important. If you are stumbling through your words you will not be taken seriously. Whether on the telephone or in person make it clear that you are in control and know what you are doing and talking about. I know we have a dirty job, but some clients and their wives or children don’t want to see it. So have an area for drop-offs and pick-ups that are separate from your work space. Make sure it is clean and welcoming.

It doesn’t have to be Trump Palace, just inviting and comfortable. For example my showroom/entrance at Outback Taxidermy is only 18’ X 13’ or 234 Sq. Ft. But it is a totally separate space than where all the work is done.  Be sure to have examples of your work on display and photo albums. Remember for some clients this will be the first time they have ever interacted with a taxidermist. Have catalogs available for them to browse through to make them feel at ease and not overwhelmed, remember many times their adrenaline is still pumping from the hunt they were on.

Your attire, dress professionally and clean as possible. You don’t have to wear an Armani suit, but you also can do better than ragged t-shirts and jeans filled with holes and covered in blood or paint. Wear an apron while working on projects it can easily be removed when you need to meet with a client.

INTEGRITY

Integrity is very important when operating a business, especially a small business, be honest and up front with yourself, your vendors and most of all your clientele.

You must believe in yourself to be successful. If there is something you do not think you can handle, educate yourself on how to handle it.

You must have vendors to operate and to produce your services, so pay your bills in a timely manner. I know for a fact that some of the larger supply companies used to ship out on open accounts. Now due to lack of “Integrity” in many of their customers, they no longer offer this because they couldn’t collect their “Cash Flow”.  See how that works?

Be honest with your clients; for instance try to give them as close to a completion time as possible. I know things happen beyond our control so I like to give them a range based on my work load at the time, such as 8-12 months. This works pretty well for me.

Always answer your phone and return any messages left from a current client ASAP. If you try to avoid folks it will come back and bite you. People start getting a little paranoid if they can’t get in touch with someone that they are in the middle of a business transaction with. This could cause things to turn south quickly. All that most folks want is the truth, whether it be cost or turnaround time or whatever the question maybe. Be as honest as you can, and don’t give a list of excuses. They don’t care and it makes you look unprofessional.

RESIDUALS 

This is what I consider the smaller things that need to be thought about. For instance, you should have set business hours, whether you are full or part time. Also, this holds true whether your shop is located at your home or a store front location. Remember you run the business not the clients and set business hours help to lay down the guidelines in which you will operate.

Advertising is important, to a certain extent, especially with the internet and Social Media all the buzz. A lot of your taxidermy business will come from word of mouth. However, you still need to let people know you are there to serve them. You will find that someone doesn’t call the local taxidermist until they need you; it’s almost like calling 911. Websites and Social Media pages have pretty much taken the place of the phone book and signs which lead into my next topic.

I have never had a sign out front and never will, and here is why.  A sign is an invitation for folks to stop in; If Joe Hunter happens to ride by and sees your sign he may swing in just to see what is going on. Being the professional that I mentioned above, you must entertain him and answer all his questions before you can run him out politely.

So I have a “NO” rule; “NO” sign, “NO” community coffee pot and “NO” where for someone to sit down and make themselves to comfortable. These rules will help to cut down on non productive time by you and/or your employees. Remember this is your business, not the local gossip hangout. As stated, most people will not call you until you are needed. No one is riding down the road and says let me drop this deer head off. In my opinion a sign is useless to a taxidermist.

Education is next, you may think you know everything there is to know about whatever you are specialized in. Well, you don’t. In fact nobody does. Join your state association and go to their annual show and sit in on the seminars. You may be surprised what you will pick up from someone who is willing to share their techniques.

Lastly, I do want to touch on pricing just a bit. I’m not going to tell you what I think you should charge for whatever it is you do. To be quite honest with you I don’t give a damn what you charge. Your money doesn’t support me and my family, which leads me to my last point I would like to make. You are the only one who knows how much money it takes to operate your business and to support the life style you choose to live. My point is don’t set your prices by what the guy ten miles down the road is charging. Sit down and do the math yourself and figure out what to charge for your services.

I hope this article has something everyone can take and use in their own shop to make life a little easier and successful.

DP