artisticwhitetails

Re: She said in a week she hopes Well, once you get it back late May, early June, please post pic's then. Two weeks time taxidermy laungage translates to two months time for non taxidermists. That was the case with taxi's I delt with prior to me learning the trade anyway. Maybe you will get lucky though. Good luck.

Re: Getting a bird to my taxidermist If I were you, I would do as RTF said except skip the gutting part. As long as you keep it cold it should be fine guts and all. Or, call whoever will be doing the mount and ask how he or she wants it. I dont do birds, but when somebody brings me a critter to mount and the pose they want works best dorsal cut, I get a little steamed if it's already been cut from it's arse to it's chin. It's best to let the taxi man do the cutting if possible. Just my opinion. AW

Re: Marks on skull? "I aint into scraping skulls. The meat just peels and falls off when I remove it from the water. The longer it boils the easier it is. YES boiling may make the bone weaker and brittle. There is no doubt. But I am not about to invest in a colony of beetles just to do a couple of skull mounts per year or will I ever send anything out. This taxidermy forum is basically a do it yourselfer type of room. We try to steer non-taxidermists to an easier and less costly way of doing taxidermy for themselves , while getting acceptable results" Im not into scraping skulls either. The point I was trying to make is this: profit wise, Euro's are better than shoulder mounts when taking turnaround time into consideration. I have about 3 hours labor total in a skull mount. I charge $110 for a flat panel, $135 for a pedistal type mount. Less than $10 in materials {excluding panel}, and paying myself $20 an hour labor, that's almost 40 bucks profit and less than 2 weeks turnaround. If the customer didnt damage the cape, that's another $30 or more in my pocket after I sale it. Im all about helping others learn too, but at the end of the day Im working to make money. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

Re: Marks on skull? [ QUOTE ] Heres a little test to try if anyone thinks im wrong about how Boiling COOKS the bone. The next time your wife is going to put a chicken in the crauk pot cut off one of the raw legs and try to snap the leg bone with your fingers. Then try it again when you take it out at the end of the day.You will see what I mean. The hot water cooks the bone and makes its soft and also breaks down the cartlige. This is why you see all the euro mounts with a big crack up the Bridge of the nose. Thats because when you cook the skull it starts to seperate. Once again just trying to help everyone learn the right way to do there euro mount. Here is a euro mount I just did. You will notice how white it is and there no excess cracking of the bridge of the nose or skull cap. Good Luck Taxidermy Man " Taxi Man, I was just wondering if you have a dermestid colony, or do you wholesale your skulls out?? If you wholesale them, how much do they charge you?? Im only asking because you can probably make 3 times more on Euro's if you do them in shop by cooking them. I average around 20 Euro mounts a year and Ive never had a problem with any kind of damage using the simmer and scrape method. Now, I only have about 1 hour total in the water and would never consider cooking one all day like RTF, if it works for him though thats great. I saw your mount on your other post and I agree you need to raise your prices on shoulder mounts. Don't worry about what others in your area charge. If the quality is there you will get quality customers regardless of price. Those customers who bargain shop are the main ones that give you problems anyway.

Re: Link to Euro mount? This is going to be long but here goes. Remove as much meat as possible first. Go to the store and buy some Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda. Same exact thing the Taxi Supply places sell as "Sal Soda". Use a pot large enough to submerge the entire skull, but wrap those antler bases up to the brow tines. Rynelds wrap and duct tape works well. I like to use a small camp stove to cook skulls on because I can control the heat better than the larger outdoor cookers. Notice I said cook and not "boil". If you "boil" a skull to long it will become very brittle, chalky and it will damage. Add your "Sal Soda" to the water in the pot. 1 cup is usually enough. You can also add a small amount of degreaser if you like but its not necessary. Bring your water to a rolling boil and adjust your heat so it dont boil over and add your skull. Let it cook for 30 to 45 min and pull it out and check it. The remaining meat and tissue should roll up into jelly looking blobs. If it has not, put it back in for another 15 to 20 min and recheck it. Now scrape off all this mess you can. At this point you need to scramble and get rid of the brain. I would stay away from pressure washers because high water pressure could damage the delicate sinus bones. All you need to do this is a screwdriver {or something similar} and a garden hose. Turn the skull upside down and run the screwdriver in and out of the brain cavity. {Insert wise crack here!} Take the garden hose and flush out the brain cavity. Do this several times untill all the brain matter has been removed. You can also use the garden hose to flush out the sinus cavity. Now go and chage your water & "Sal Soda" and repeat. This should take care of the stubborn pieces of meat left on the back of the skull. There will still be a few nerves and tissue left in the brain cavity and you need to get all this out or it will stink! BAD! I just cut the back part off so I can get my finger inside and grab this crap. Usually if you can get a grip on it you can pull it out as one piece. To whiten a skull you will need peroxide. Go to a Beauty Supply store and pick up some 40 volume peroxide and some clairol basic white powder. 3% peroxide will work but it takes much longer. IF YOU USE THE 40% WEAR RUBBER GLOVES CAUSE THIS SCHITT WILL BURN YOU! Mix the peroxide and basic white in a small container into a mayonaise like consistency. {Dont use the whole bottle, just enough to cover the skull good} Use a small paint brush and spread the mixture on the entire skull. Be careful not to get any on the anltlers! Let this set for a few days and do it again if you need to. You can set the skull out in the sun to speed up the process. To attach a skull to a panel, use 3" long 1/8" bolts that have the little collapseable wing nuts on the end. Drill a hole just below the brain cavity big enough to allow the collapsed wing nut to pass through and drill a 1/4" hole through the panel. Be sure to countersink it on the backside of the panel. Run you bolt through the panel, put on the wing nut, compress it and shove it through the hole you drilled in the skull. Thighten it down snug and hang er up. Or you could avoid all this hassle and take it to a taxidermist! Good luck, AW

Re: Marks on skull? I agree with huntin'sonovagun. However, if your deer is big enough for P&Y or B&C and you plan to enter it, then have it beetle cleaned like taxi man suggested. Otherwise, simmer and scrape is my preferred method.

Re: Euro style This is going to be long but here goes. Remove as much meat as possible first. Go to the store and buy some Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda. Same exact thing the Taxi Supply places sell as "Sal Soda". Use a pot large enough to submerge the entire skull, but wrap those antler bases up to the brow tines. Rynelds wrap and duct tape works well. I like to use a small camp stove to cook skulls on because I can control the heat better than the larger outdoor cookers. Notice I said cook and not "boil". If you "boil" a skull to long it will become very brittle, chalky and it will damage. Add your "Sal Soda" to the water in the pot. 1 cup is usually enough. You can also add a small amount of degreaser if you like but its not necessary. Bring your water to a rolling boil and adjust your heat so it dont boil over and add your skull. Let it cook for 30 to 45 min and pull it out and check it. The remaining meat and tissue should roll up into jelly looking blobs. If it has not, put it back in for another 15 to 20 min and recheck it. Now scrape off all this mess you can. At this point you need to scramble and get rid of the brain. I would stay away from pressure washers because high water pressure could damage the delicate sinus bones. All you need to do this is a screwdriver {or something similar} and a garden hose. Turn the skull upside down and run the screwdriver in and out of the brain cavity. {Insert wise crack here!} Take the garden hose and flush out the brain cavity. Do this several times untill all the brain matter has been removed. You can also use the garden hose to flush out the sinus cavity. Now go and chage your water & "Sal Soda" and repeat. This should take care of the stubborn pieces of meat left on the back of the skull. There will still be a few nerves and tissue left in the brain cavity and you need to get all this out or it will stink! BAD! I just cut the back part off so I can get my finger inside and grab this crap. Usually if you can get a grip on it you can pull it out as one piece. To whiten a skull you will need peroxide. Go to a Beauty Supply store and pick up some 40 volume peroxide and some clairol basic white powder. 3% peroxide will work but it takes much longer. IF YOU USE THE 40% WEAR RUBBER GLOVES CAUSE THIS SCHITT WILL BURN YOU! Mix the peroxide and basic white in a small container into a mayonaise like consistency. {Dont use the whole bottle, just enough to cover the skull good} Use a small paint brush and spread the mixture on the entire skull. Be careful not to get any on the anltlers! Let this set for a few days and do it again if you need to. You can set the skull out in the sun to speed up the process. To attach a skull to a panel, use 3" long 1/8" bolts that have the little collapseable wing nuts on the end. Drill a hole just below the brain cavity big enough to allow the collapsed wing nut to pass through and drill a 1/4" hole through the panel. Be sure to countersink it on the backside of the panel. Run you bolt through the panel, put on the wing nut, compress it and shove it through the hole you drilled in the skull. Thighten it down snug and hang er up. Or you could avoid all this hassle and take it to a taxidermist! Good luck, AW

Re: Which Camcorder? Cannon GL2

Re: Huge disappointement wtnhunt, I have several tanned capes I kept as extras I will let go cheap. Don't look like I will need them. These were all tanned by Carolina Fur. Kansas cape: blond with black highlights. 7 1/4x21 Nice big cape but it's cut short, neck mount only $35 Alabama cape: Late Nov. harvest 7x19 most prep work already done on this cape. $40 Alabama cape: Late December harvest 6 3/4 x 17 cut a little short, has some bald spots in the pits, may not show on a full sneak mount. $35 Alabama cape: Late Jan. harvest. 7x18 1/2 NOT TANNED; SPLIT, TURNED & SALTED DRY. $40 I also have 3 tanned doe capes that would be good for practice. these were tanned by Carolina Fur. 1. 6X12 & 2. 6 1/4 X 13'S I would like to get $35 each for these. [email protected]

Re: Huge disappointement I would just toss it and get another cape. Yes, it might be able to be repaired, but it would be a ton of work and still may be noticeable on the mount. Besides, a deer cape that will match your buck shouldnt be hard to find during the season. Just go hang out at a local processor and you will see what I mean.

Re: Skull mount pedestal plans? I buy my skull pedestals from Ben Mears in Mississippi. I can buy em cheaper than I could make it. Well, not really but Im a lazy arse. Anywho, the shape is kinda hard to describe without you looking at it. I will post the measuements of the panel if you want????

Re: Stop Rot ? I use it on every cape that comes in. Ive had problems in the past with slippage, especially in the arm pits, lower brisket areas, and epidurmal slippage around the eyes. The warm Bama temps makes it tough to avoid. I apply the stoprot to the problem areas as the speciman is thawing out. After thawing and caping, I invert the skin and and give the whole cape a heavy brushing of stoprot. Remove the big chunks of meat, then salt for 12 hours. I then do a final fleshing with draw knife and beam, re-salt for another 12 hours. By using fans and a dehumidifier, I can have a cape almost rock hard within 36 hours. I have had zero slippage since using the stop rot. AW

Re: Cuddeback 3 megapixel + 64mb memory card If you will take 300 shipped shoot me an e-mail. [email protected] Thanks, C.Brown, AWT

Re: Fleshing Slow down mike, your trying to hard. Just remove the big chunks of meat, split and turn everything and do your first salting. Let it drain for 12+ hours and shake off the salt. Now use a draw knife and beam to remove what's left, it will come off fairly easy. Re-salt and let dry or go to the pickle.

Re: A few mounts from last season {maybe} This one sweeps way up!

Re: Velvet mount???? The mounting process for a deer in velvet is no different than any deer except the way the rack is handled. Velvet racks must be preserved properly to maintain their appearence or they will rot, leaving you with a bleached out looking rack. In my opinion the best way to preserve a velvet rack is to have it freeze dryed. If you are lucky enough to harvest a velvet clad buck you need to be very careful with the rack. Try to handle the rack as little as possible to avoid damaging the velvet and get it into a freezer asap. If proper field care and a good taxidermist is used, velvet mounts can be beautiful and unique pieces.

http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/en/menuitem.cf15d697bf3b1c5deb4703e3aac4f0a0 A girl I work with gave me this to sell on FeeBay, thought someone here may have a use for it. Model: HTS424030M9AT00 4200RPM, 30GB, OCT-04 see attached link for specs. $40.00 obo. [email protected]

Re: MY First Deer Mount From the looks of things you need to be doing some mounts for the "area taxidermist" as well. That is a very clean mount for a "first" attempt.

Re: Here we go...Problems with Parker Phoenix I would pay very close attention to that string! I had a bowtech do that several years back after a pro shop replaced the string. I noticed the wear and took it back where they replaced the string again. 5 shots later I was in the emergency room with my forearm swelled the size of a football, the bow pretty much exploded at full draw. Turns out when they put the string on they got the cam out of wack and it was cutting into the string. Hutchies, I would not shoot that thing untill the shop proves to me it was fixed. tyshe17 sounds as if he's taking a chance also.

Re: skull bleaching Adjam5, save yourself some money and skip the Basic White and just use plain ole regular talc powder to mix your peroxide with. The 40 volume peroxide does the work {whiten}, the Basic White only holds it in place. Talc will do the same, smell better and cost alot less. Good luck, AW.

Re: I have a new respect for Taxidermists shunter, let me tell you about a product that may help you greatly in the future. You are a newbie at this so naturally you will be slow at fleshing. This is one area of taxidermy where it pays to be quick as you want to get that hide salted asap. Whitetail Designer Systems makes a product called STOP ROT that should buy you some time untill you get faster. Heck, Im pretty quick and I still use it on every skin I take in. Its a wonderful product! Very easy to use. All you do is apply it to the flesh side of your skin with a paint brush. I actually start applying it during the skinning process and continue untill the whole flesh side is covered. Once you have your animal skinned, only remove the big chunks of fat and red meat. Turn the ears, lips, eyes and nose if your mounting the animal. Reapply the STOP ROT to these new exposed areas. Now you can apply your first round of salt. After 12 hours or so you can shake off the salt and do a more thorough fleshing job using a beam and knife of your choosing. At this point the salt and STOP ROT will have made the remaining flesh and membrane easy to remove. After fleshing you can now re-salt and allow your skin to harden. Stop Rot can be purchased at many taxidermy supply companies or directly from Whitetail Designer Systems. www.whitetailsystems.com Good luck, AW.

Re: Question about a mount I wouldnt put it out there. Your right on track about the heat and humidity. After a while your mount will more than likely start to pull and you will get major shrinkage around the eyes and nose from the constant changes. It may even start to drum badly all over. Your also offering bugs like dermestids and certain moths easy pickins.

3} freeze the head asap and take it to a taxidermist who has a freeze dryer. Freeze dry the rack and your good to go. Its real, last forever and looks good.

Re: Name One Thing 1. Taxidermists cant take a cape thats cut too short, had its throat cut, then rode around for days in a pick-up and make you a good looking mount. Good taxidermy begins with proper field care by the customer. 2. Completion dates givin to customers by most taxis are at best an educated guess. Dates givin can be off as much as a month or even a year, so be prepared. 3. Calling a taxidermist every week for weeks on end asking " is my mount finished" wont get your mount done any faster. See # 2 on dates. 4. Plumbers, electricians, mechanics and other professional type laber wont work for minimum wage and neither will I! You spend thousands of dollars yearly on 4wd trucks, atv's, the finest bows, guns, scopes and leases, yet expect a discount when you finally get your trophy. If you can afford to kill it, you can afford to pay me a fair price to preserve it for a lifetime. 5. Price shopping for a taxidermist is not a good idea unless you care very little about how your trophy will look. 6. Taxidermist cant make any money giving advice out over the phone on how to do skull mounts, antler mounts and tanning deer skins. Dont be offended when you get the cold shoulder after asking such a silly request. 7. Tanning is better than dry preserved & Ear liners are better than bondo. LOL.