Every year I try to write as much as possible about taxidermy, which is a very important industry to me. I have been a taxidermist for over 20 years and I don’t think there is a more important service to hunters and trappers than the art and craft of taxidermy.
Taxidermy not only provides a venue to utilize as much as an animal as possible and to prevent waste, but it also is the greatest way to preserve precious memories for hunters and to honor the very existence of harvested animals. So, how do you chose a taxidermist?
This might seem like an easy question to answer but I guarantee you that the process for selecting a good taxidermist is a very personal and complex one, and entails many criteria. For example, do you want a mount completed quickly no matter what? Would you prefer a high quality mount that takes longer to produce? Is cost the main factor? These questions will need to be answered and your taxidermist will need to be selected accordingly.
If time is your highest priority, you need to know that a good taxidermist is hard to keep hidden. This means that if you find a new or fresh taxidermist who seems gifted with the skills of an artisan, it is only a matter of time before he or she is too busy and has too long of a waiting list of clients lined up. Just like a good mechanic, a good taxidermist stays busy. So, if you are wanting a fast return on your trophy without feeling like you are competing with hundreds of other hunters, you might want to look for that gem of a taxidermist who is new and just starting out.
If quality is your highest priority, then you are my kind of potential taxidermy client. Quality is a standard that benefits everyone. First off, a high quality mount will not only look great and realistic, but it will be prepared and assembled in a manner that will last a hunter a lifetime. A high quality tan is the keystone to a great taxidermy mount and a good taxidermist will only work with such skins. High quality takes time. Poor quality does not.
If cost is your main factor, I would submit that you are indeed in for a disappointment. The only kind of taxidermy mounts that involve low costs are ones that coincidentally involve poor quality. The formula for low cost mounts always involves corners being cut during the taxidermist process. This is a fact and unfortunately, there are too many poor quality mounts out there which prove this point. Saving a buck is a worthy endeavor, but not when it comes to taxidermy. So, choose your taxidermist accordingly.
