Taxidermy is something that has always interested me. It is something that i would like to know how to learn, but do not know how to go about that. My great great grandfather was a taxidermist at the turn of the century and i have a few of his mounts, but they are falling apart. He also has a lot mounts at the pioneer village at minden. Taxidermy has alway interested me, but i want to know how to learn. So how did you taxidermists on here learn?

Back in the "old days", I sent away for a set of lessons from an ad in the back of a magazine....Northwestern School of Taxidermy, Omaha, Ne. It was $11. This was in 1969. I retired from my taxidermy career in January of 2017.

Nowadays there are zillions of dvd's, tapes, YouTube videos, etc. to watch. Also several taxidermy schools.

I have that course - my Uncle passed them on to me along with his guns.

Good luck with becoming a Taxidermist. All the ones I have known of were always busy.

Go to YouTube and learn from there. Seriously. A wealth of knowledge on YouTube.

Go to Taxidermynet.com. it is a forum site somewhat like this, full of info. I studied books, & videos, and just started playing around with it and found I really liked doing it so then I attended North Western Pa school of taxidermy W/ Marc Jordan, he is a very talented taxidermist and teacher with numerous awards, it's in Punxatauny Pa.(I know I spelled that wrong but it's where the groundhog see's his shadow, or not.)

Keep your first mount so you can look back on it. And use good reference photos,too many cross eyed junkers out there.

Wow.I did too, as a kid in like 9th.grade. I read and read them books as the came in. did a blue jay and raccoon mount for a science project that year and won. I went on to do deer heads and others but didn't hold on as long as you did.Congrats!
Gosh, I Loved them books.

Pick something fairly easy like a pheasant or maybe a raccoon shoulder mount to start with. Do a couple and see if you enjoy it. My kids did both of those as their first mounts in 4H. I would NOT invest in a taxidermy school until you know if you really enjoy it. A very high percentage of those that go to taxidermy school never become taxidermists (simply because they dont enjoy it or realized that there is a lot more to running a business than just mounting critters).

I sent for mine back in the early 60s.

Dan

Thanks guys! I decided this is something that i want to give a shot, but dont know how to go about it. I appreciate all the info from everybody

Possumcatcher, your post reminded me of a story I heard growing up in Colorado. I was able to find it and funny that the "Northwestern School of Taxidermy" is even mentioned.

http://greeleymuseums.com/a-girl-and-her-snakes-the-story-of-kate-mchale-slaughterback/

I sent for mine in the early 70’s

I would suggest joining your states taxidermy association. You can look them up on taxidermy.net Join the association and get involved. There is most likely years and years of experienced people who can point you in the right direction.

If you go to a taxidermy convention they will have people putting on demos. I gained a lot of my experience from them. You can also buy a DVD on how to mount about any animal you want. That is how I learned before youtube.

Nebraska has a very good taxidermy association. The Nebraska Fur Harvesters sponsor a couple awards at their banquet every year. Great bunch of guys.

Eric

I'm still reading mine and learning something new everyday.

I think the very best way is to find someone that will let you hang out in their shop or let you skin for them,ect. Back in high school my grandpas friend showed me the ropes and would help me out when i ran into a problem. The videos you can/could buy help too. There is a wealth of knowledge on Youtube but that can be a little intimidating. Hands on doing it or seeing someone do it is a little easier for me.

There are also classes all over the country that do week long classes that are great.

Thanks everybody! I talked to my pops and we talked to the taxidermist that does all our mounts. He offers some classes and i am going to do them

Also while learning the trade make sure to look into marketing your work and realize your personality and attitude is very important when dealing with serving the public! Customer communication and being honest with folks will go along way in being successful! Set your mind to it and go for it!