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April 23, 2015
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1a. I was looking at a post about competitions by the honey bee guy, but it kinda died off. I plan on going to competitions with my mounts for the criticism and learning experience. In general, im really competitive, so something like this, going to comps. would make me want to get better, so i can win next time… Lol. So kinda ego related, kinda for the experience. 😛 However, would you think that if i did win ribbons, that it would make my customers more comfortable bringing me their business vs someone who has the same amount of experience or more, but with no ribbons. IMO i would feel that way, but im not really sure if thats the mind set i should have with competitions. I want someone to choose me as their taxidermist because i do great work. And being new, im afraid people wont take me seriously.
I would start with the amateur, and move up with more experience i would get… I think…
1b. With competitions, Is it basically bring what ever you want, enter in that category, (WT vs Coyote vs Bird etc) and have what ever position? Or if my WT is in full sneak, and the other guys is in a different pose, does that change how the judge gives points. How hard is it to compete… I was reading about everything being symmetrical, and such. Yes, i understand there will be politics, and criticism etc…. That wont bother me… not one bit. But i dont want to go in expecting one thing, and walking into another.. (Yes i do plan on visiting competitions before i get involved.. But im just wondering about it for now.)
2. Because im just starting out, im still working my way through the pages on here, and I saw an amazing statement that i didnt think about..
WBH – “Most new guys or gals that get into this, buy a few videos, some tools, then start charging for deer heads. The problem is, that when they get a few years under there belt and get to turn out good stuff, they have already ruined their name and end up going out of business.”
I want to prevent something like this.. Yes, i dont want to give away my work, and i know i wont be worth XXXXX$$$$ off the bat… How does one starting off find this happy medium. I was thinking of asking my buddies, if they get a deer, or bird and they dont plan on mounting it, (to small or whatever the reason) that they would donate the cape to me, and i would mount it on my own time for practice.. If they liked my work i would sell it to them at the cost of materials, and maybe like 50$ for my time…? Would that be safe to do?
3. I see a bunch of people asking about where to get photos for reference… Would it be a bad idea to use google images… Like im being serious.. I dont wanna pay a bunch of money for a book of pictures, that i can get off of google.. Or are these books or whatever really something special… O_o
4. Once i own my own shop. (im in WI) Do you guys work “under the table” for cash, or do you report to taxes. I bartend and work for cash, tips and wage. Never reported that to taxes.. (not sure why but you really dont have to… like they know we do it, but they never audit the bars or me for it… not sure why… guess they have other larger companies to worry about) ANYWAYS…. But I never owned my owned my own business… so i really dont understand how the reporting to taxes thing work… Usually its just taken out of my check. (i also work at a Vets office) I know i can write off a bunch of stuff to lower the taxes to pay in to… but even then that’s fuzzy for me.. What do you guys do… I know i will need a license, and such.
5. Has anyone written a start up list and cost for getting into this. lol. I want to know how much i’m gonna need to invest for my own stuff. I thought i found one but i lost the site. I think that i would do it out of my garage, until we move into a place where i can build a shop for it. (does that seem lame. working out of my garage? Should i find a place to rent until i can do it on my own property?)
6. Is it worth joining the NTA.. I tried looking at the membership and maybe its my computer, but it wasnt showing anything and tried clicking on links, wouldnt take me anywhere.. Whats it all about.. Benefits?
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
My opinions for whatever it is worth (keep in mind, I am not in the taxidermy business as I am only a hobbyist but I did have a business for a number of year so I do have business knowledge)
Question #2) Doing work for buddies at a discount will come back to haunt you later. Do it once and they will expect it always. Keep business with business and friendship with friendship. If you need critters to mount, buy them until you get good enough to start charging.
Question #3) Google images is OK but if you are really serious you need serious reference. I get most of mine from Alaska North. Phil has some really great CD’s. Some have 150 plus photos on them. They are about $15.00 per CD. If you catch them on sale they are only $10.00 per CD. I have over 15 of his CD’s. You can put them on your computer. You can print them out if you want, any or all. Lots of great up close shots of the eyes, nose etc. I have zoomed in on them and they are still very good quality. You will not see photos of this quality on google.
http://www.Alaskanorthtaxidermy.com
Question #4) Probably not a good idea, and then to be admitting you do it on a public forum? Income is income and is taxable…period. Your best bet is to have an accountant (CPA) take care of your tax stuff. They will know a lot more about deductions, depreciation and these kinds of things. I took my years activities to my accountant with a summary in January for the previous year and she took care of it along with the estimated tax I had to pay in each quarter. It isn’t worth the headache to try to do it yourself. Most likely you will either end up in trouble or pay too much tax. Your the taxidermist, the CPA is the tax specialist. You do your job and they will do theirs!
Question #5) I started with a scalpel, pliers and few simple hand tools and added a little at a time.
Question #6) Personal choice as to joining the NTA. You would probably get much more out of it for your buck by joining you state association.
Vic
I started out 11 yrs ago , my competition right out of school I competed in the Pro division , better critique tougher judging than amateur ! Everything I compete with is my clients mounts with permission , never had one say no! My opinion there shouldn’t be a deer head out there less than $500, do the math from materials to overhead yes everyone has overhead to insurance , all adds up , you want to work for less than $20 hour ? No thanks ! Join your state association you will learn from your states best and ask questions! I know locally I’ve opened some eyes up from taxidermists doing $400 deer heads!
April 23, 2015
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lol all my buddies want everything for free anyways, no matter where i work. Lol. i see your point though. i’lll have to be careful about it then.. Maybe just ask for “donations”. If they arent gonna mount it professionally, i dont see a reason for them not to let me have the cape and such.
Now, whats the difference between looking at a pic from google, vs this guys picture he prolly found on google himself? No offence, i just want to make sure that im not wasting any time or money with it. Yes, i am serious about mounting great lifelike mounts, but i also dont want to be the newbie that buys everything that people “think” that people need.. Understand where im coming from? Plus i can get 5000+ angles for free, or pay 15$ for like X amount… *shrug* Lots of the pics are not that bad, but i get where your coming from with quality…
Maybe for competing i should start out in pro then. I want critiques and to get better at what im gonna do.
Im very nervous with all this because im kinda alone. Like i didnt have anyone to show me how to get started. This site has been such a GREAT help so far.
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
October 23, 2014
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There are some great reference materials available on the market from different supply companies, trade magazines etc. But I do find myself using google images and other photo sharing websites more and more over the traditional reference material sources .
One thing you could do is start a board on Pinterest and add google image reference pics to it as you find them .
A.J. Stehling Co LLC / Taxidermy Websites
~Working to advance the taxidermy industry one line of code at a time.~
April 23, 2015
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interesting. And your mounts turned out good?
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
Those photo’s Phil has are his. They are copyrighted. I am not trying to sell Phil’s CD’s for him. His motivation for taking the photos is obviously to make money the same as anyone else but he is taking them in great part for taxidermists. Go on his website and look at some of the samples and judge for yourself. He is a professional photographer. I understand about being skeptical of spending hard earned money on photos. And maybe today it is no big deal. But if you do make taxidermy your career, time is money. Having 150+ photos of a turkey with the click of a mouse to scan through them quickly to find what you need is nice. My internet is too slow for me!
I do use google sometimes to get photos, the CD’s are not the only thing I use. Ultimately it is your decision. I was merely replying to your post with an opinion on what I do.
s.iker said
lol all my buddies want everything for free anyways, no matter where i work. Lol. i see your point though. i’lll have to be careful about it then.. Maybe just ask for “donations”. If they arent gonna mount it professionally, i dont see a reason for them not to let me have the cape and such.
This is a good idea to get it as a donation. A lot of folks getting started do this. The problem is….this time of year you may not be able to get much of anything. You may have to put the word out to your buddies to help you in the fall, but I understand the anxiety that you want to start NOW! I have been there. Best of luck to you with your adventure in taxidermy.
Vic
April 23, 2015
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Yea, im kinda antsy… i Wanna start now.. But ya, i’ll put the word out for friends and family.
We are part of a pheasant club that raises them and such… once they are old enough to hunt, do you think that it would be a bad idea to start with birds? I know it wouldnt be during pheasant season, but because its a club the hunting season doesnt apply. I could have a few birds to work with in a few months… Or should i wait and just work with mammals first?
Im getting in touch with a taxidermist we had work done with, and seeing if the offer of me being mentored by him is still avaiable.. *crosses fingers*
Those photo’s Phil has are his. They are copyrighted. I am not trying to sell Phil’s CD’s for him. His motivation for taking the photos is obviously to make money the same as anyone else but he is taking them in great part for taxidermists. Go on his website and look at some of the samples and judge for yourself. He is a professional photographer. I understand about being skeptical of spending hard earned money on photos. And maybe today it is no big deal. But if you do make taxidermy your career, time is money. Having 150+ photos of a turkey with the click of a mouse to scan through them quickly to find what you need is nice. My internet is too slow for me!
I do use google sometimes to get photos, the CD’s are not the only thing I use. Ultimately it is your decision. I was merely replying to your post with an opinion on what I do.
No i really do appreciate your suggestion. I just want to learn and do everything right, or what ever is gonna be easiest. Im not saying that i against buy a CD or two, but for right now in my position, i dont think that investment would be right for me… Thats why i asked about google, just to feel out the opinions.
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
April 23, 2015
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Can i add a question..
I lookin on the tutorials page on here.. but is there any really good ones other than youtube to go watch free? I want to have a basic understanding of as much different kinds of mounts and such so i dont go to train and be completely un sure of what im doing..
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
I started out with birds myself almost a half century ago! It would be ok to use them for the practice for skinning but I don’t know about for mounting. You could mount them but this time of the year they are starting/going through molting so they are not the best specimens to use.
It really does not matter what you start with though, mammals, birds, or fish. Unless you plan to limit what you do or specialize in one category you will eventually have to master each one. I don’t do fish…at all. I have had taxidermist say I will be missing a great market if I ever decide to open. If I open and have a customer who really wants one done that bad, I will take it in and sub-contract it out. There are a lot of great fish guys out there that would be glad to do it. I just prefer not too!
Fifty years ago I would have been glad to have youtube! All I had was those Northwestern School of Taxidermy books, which were not all that great. It wasn’t until I started using filmstrips coupled with a audio cassette that my work was worth anything. And even at this it was mediocre! Instruction on video tape was a huge step for me. One day (when I can afford it) I hope to get professional one-on-one training. I have my instructors picked out already.
Until then, there is the DVD. I have a whole library of them (and VHS tapes) on many critters and birds. I didn’t buy them all at once! I got them one at a time over a period of many years. As a matter of fact, I just bought a couple about two months ago. To date I have four different Grey Fox videos by four different recognized professionals in the field of mammals. I take whatever information I can get off each and use it.
If you want to do quality work and you cannot afford professional training the next best thing is DVD instruction. Yeah, it cost money. It’s either that or years of trial and error! Which one is cheaper in the long run?!
Vic
April 7, 2013
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When I need a DVD, I go to Taxidermy Training Unlimited. My other goto place is RMI.com (Research Mannikins). I usually purchase more than one DVD for any un familiar project I start. I will already have 2 or more that I purchased long ago for all the familiar projects. I find myself reviewing them from time to time, almost like watching an old movie you really liked.
April 23, 2015
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Thank you for your replies.. The reason i asked besides youtube, is because i am utilizing it already. But Some videos really suck for quality, or what views they have.. (hands in the way of what they are doing for example) so i just wanted to see if anything better was out there.. I’ll get some dvds.
I start in beginning of july with a taxidermist!!!!! im soooooo excited!!! I just have to get my hands on a few specimens which is harder than i thought.. Im trying to find a euro mount or sheds. he says he has capes. so i’ll just pay him for the materials…. few of my friends say that i should contact the state or county patrol, and ask to be on a list when a deer gets hit? Never knew i could do that.. But its a good idea.
I’ll also go to the pheasant farm and pick a couple of nice birds too… We live about 30 mins from one, and are members in another… But the one we are members in, are small private club. So they dont get very many birds, or have any left over thru the winter… So they will be little babies..
But my interests for what i want to do with taxidermy are the mammals, birds, reptiles then fish… in that order with what i want to learn first…
Tanglewood: that RMI.com link sent me to an earthlink.net or whatever.. They must of changed their link, i searched the research mannikins and its now http://rmi-online.com/
Sooo added to my list are finding/buying good reference photos.. 😉
And getting some good instructional videos
and finding some specimens to work with of course…. 
Animals should be as beautiful in death as they were in life.
September 26, 2011
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# 6 You may want to consider joining the Pennsylvania Taxidermy Association. Even though your in WI, the PA assoc. has a very large show that pulls people in from all over the country.
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August 15, 2011
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Taxidermy Training Unlimited offers some great ” Step by step ” DVD’s for many different specimens. I have bought several from them, and all are top notch. You may also want to subscribe to Break Through Magazine or Taxidermy Today magazine as well. Many helpful articles, reference pictures and instruction in those as well.
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