Please allow me to begin by saying that I personally have made the majority of these mistakes and poor judgments that will be discussed in this article. The points made herein do not come from a point of condescension, but from a point of self-reflection. The opinions here are mine and I think they are something that should help others, the realization of each certainly helped me. In general, I feel the taxidermy industry has developed the stigma of being a part-time or hobby industry. Even some professionals who have long been employed in taxidermy strongly believe we cannot earn higher wages. The two major root causes are the lack of professionalism and the amount of time in which we are “clocked out.” First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room, pun intended. Professionalism is possibly our industry’s biggest weakness and that, coupled with actual hours spent producing a tangible product, are factors affecting our pay scale. The sections below will visit different factors affecting a typical studio; I will discuss our shortcomings and some solutions.

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Four years  ago a good friend and client, Davey Hughes, asked me if I wanted to mount a life-size moose for him. Davey partly owns Swazi Apparel, an outdoor and hunting clothing brand where everything is made in a factory here in New Zealand. He told me that he was about to go on a moose hunt in the Yukon and had the idea of having a life-size moose mount in his shop at his Swazi Apparel factory. The idea was that a moose mount would be a great draw-card for people driving past to call into the shop. I was keen to take on the project and we talked over a few ideas and how I wanted it skinned, etc. Once I received the cape and lay it out on the floor to rehydrate, I first started to realize just what a big job I had taken on! I had mounted lifesize grizzly bears, fallow and sika deer, and a lion, etc., but this was just huge, and I knew that although the basic principles apply for any mount when it comes to alterations, antler setting, and eye placement, etc., the logistics of mounting such a big animal had to be thought through.

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THE HIGHEST AWARD AN ENTRY CAN receive is Judges’ Choice Best of Show. Breakthrough is honoring this top achievement with the Breakthrough Award for Judges’ Choice Best of Show. Each winner receives a handsome plaque and a gift certificate from Breakthrough worth $50 in subscription renewals and merchandise. This is our way of thanking and perhaps giving additional motivation for the many artists of our profession. Here are the remaining winners from 2019.

PART 1, PREVIOUS ISSUE

• National Associations
• NTA       Clint Rickey
• New Zealand      Louise Pearson
• Australia      Ben Carillo
• Canada Georgie Elekes
• State/regional Associations
• Alabama      Ryan Searce
• Arizona Terry Johnson
• California     Seth Lane
• Colorado      Doug Barnes
• Florida   Mike Mizelle
• Illinois   Bruce Owens
• Indiana  Chip Wendt
• Kansas  Cory Foth
• Kentucky      Butch Irwin
• &

In this article I will be demonstrating how we at Dakota Taxidermy build a drying stand. For us, this stand is a multi-purpose stand. It is first a drying stand; second, it becomes a foundation platform for our artificial hoof installations; third, it becomes a blueprint for our habitat department; and lastly, it is a shipping stand if the mammal is not shipped on its habitat. For starters we will go back a bit prior to installation of leg rods. This takes place with our initial test-fit of the hide.

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During my 32 years as a full-time commercial taxidermist I had a lot of fondness with a little disdain for caribous when they were received from customers. They are unique and beautiful animals with lustrous thick hair coats and great color along with attractive antlers for a trophy room. Their facial features were about as easy to replicate as any gamehead you could receive, the ears are heavily haired yet much like those of whitetails, there is no nose pad to re-texture, and the eyes have somewhat bold, not refined details that are easy to shape with minimal effort. Finally, the nostril openings are narrow with lots of hair, making them very easy to finish. The lips, both upper and lower, are fairly prominent with texture, but easy to position and shape. There are a lot of forms available so there is seldom need for size or position alteration. With these features considered, caribous are easy and fun gameheads to mount.

To subscribe or renew, call us at 800-783-7266 or visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com.