All our prices are listed on our website and keep an eye on the prices as they are likely to change annually. If you want something mounted that is not listed on the website, please call us to provide you with a quote. Most everything is listed, but habitat and base work is all done custom.
We tell everyone that our turn-around time is about a year, but ideally we get everything turned around much quicker. Our goal is to keep everything under a year.
On all European mounts, tanning and shoulder mounts, we require a 50% deposit before work begins and the remaining 50% deposit at the time of pickup. On birds, we require 100% deposit at the time of drop off because they are most likely a migratory bird and if anything happens and you don’t pick up your mount, we cannot sell it legally.
We specialize in birds, tanning, European mounts, big game, and small game. At this time, we do not accept reptiles or fish, but we can provide recommendations for other taxidermists in the area.
Absolutely, people ship us birds all the time. If you choose to do this please call me beforehand so I can look out for the package. To prepare the birds, make sure they are 100% frozen and wrap them in a towel for insulation and make sure to do overnight or at minimum 2-day shipping. Always ship on a Monday or Tuesday.
A lot of taxidermy supply costs are going through the roof and shipping is an absolute killer, especially on big game forms. It also takes a tremendous amount of time to complete these mounts and in most cases you are getting what you paid for. A lot of customers don’t realize that there are basically two different kinds of mounts that can be offered. Your standard mount is called a commercial mount, and these pieces account for 99% of taxidermy done in all shops. The cost of these mounts is what is listed on our website. The other kind of taxidermy mount is called a competition mount. These are the types of mounts you see in catalogs, and they are stunning pieces of art. The major difference is the minor details and the amount of time dedicated to these mounts. For example, if a commercial mount takes 8 hours to complete a duck mount, a competition mount on the same bird might take 40 hours or more to complete. This prices a lot of clients out of competition mounts. Some taxidermists only do competition style mounts, and they charge a premium service for that as well.
At this time, we are not accepting students, but hopefully in the near future we will offer some classes.
I was always hunting growing up and I had experience skinning and loved getting stuff mounted by other taxidermists and always wanted to learn. I started by reading a lot of books, watching movies on how to mount birds, deer, elk, etc. I also sat in with other taxidermists that showed me the ropes and I continued to learn more and more things about the industry. I also started to compete with taxidermy at shows which have seminars/classes you can take to continuously improve your art.