Fur Handling Forum


No Profanity *** No Flaming *** No Advertising *** No Anti Trappers *** No Politics
No Non-Target Catches *** No Links to Anti-trapping Sites *** No Avoiding Profanity Filter


Home~Trap Talk~ADC Forum~Trap Shed~Wilderness Trapping~International Trappers~Fur Handling

Auction Forum~Trapper Tips~Links~Gallery~Basic Sets~Convention Calendar~Chat~ Trap Collecting Forum

Trapper's Humor~Strictly Trapping~Fur Buyers Directory~Mugshots~Fur Sale Directory~Wildcrafting

Trapper's Tales~Words From The Past~Legends~Archives~Kids Forum~Lure Formulators Forum


~Dobbins' Catalog~

>
pcsoutdoors
(Please support PCS Outdoors, our sponsor for the Fur Handling Forum Page)


Print Thread
Hop To
Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly #6870887
05/12/20 10:45 PM
05/12/20 10:45 PM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
A
AJE Offline OP
trapper
AJE  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
I was at the fishing pond the other day and the guy next to me was telling me how he got a 500 lb bear and when it came back from the taxidermist the full body mount looked like a 350 pounder. It made me wonder if that's very common with full body mounts of furbearers. I guess there are good taxidermists, and there's bad ones. Something to think about I guess if one gets a full body mount...

Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6870956
05/13/20 02:08 AM
05/13/20 02:08 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
W
wissmiss Offline
trapper
wissmiss  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
Not sure the quality of the taxidermy job should be in question.

Often times pelts/hides that are mounted don’t actually shrink is size. What does change is the owners recollection of how big the animal was to begin with. Hunters often think there prized trophy animal is bigger than it really was.

Just saying.........


www.usedtraps.com

Please check out my updated inventory of Native American books.

Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6871128
05/13/20 09:40 AM
05/13/20 09:40 AM
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,364
east central WI
K
k snow Online content
trapper
k snow  Online Content
trapper
K

Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,364
east central WI
"Ground shrinkage."

Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6871171
05/13/20 10:34 AM
05/13/20 10:34 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
T
The Beav Offline
trapper
The Beav  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
Not sure about shrinkage but If you a have beaver nailed to your broad In the drying stages and It measures 70 " It will not measure 70" when It comes back from the tannery.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6871189
05/13/20 10:51 AM
05/13/20 10:51 AM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 610
Wyoming
T
thedude055 Offline
trapper
thedude055  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 610
Wyoming
I am wondering if they used a smaller mold and made the hide fit that mold. I have seen big necked bucks put up on narrow younger buck molds and make the deer look completely different. Can be poor taxidermy or lack of proper mold sizes as well. Just a thought.


Owner Wind River Trapping Supplies
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: thedude055] #6871243
05/13/20 11:33 AM
05/13/20 11:33 AM
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 4,925
Aliceville, Kansas 43
Yukon John Offline
trapper
Yukon John  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 4,925
Aliceville, Kansas 43
Originally Posted by thedude055
I am wondering if they used a smaller mold and made the hide fit that mold. I have seen big necked bucks put up on narrow younger buck molds and make the deer look completely different. Can be poor taxidermy or lack of proper mold sizes as well. Just a thought.


I would contend that both situations are poor taxi.


Act like a blank, get treated like a blank. Insert your own blank!
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6871942
05/14/20 12:03 AM
05/14/20 12:03 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
A
AJE Offline OP
trapper
AJE  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
I've never had any mounts done.

Good feedback so far, thanks.

I thought it was kind of an interesting comment when the guy brought it up to me at the trout pond.

Last edited by AJE; 05/14/20 12:03 AM.
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6872076
05/14/20 07:58 AM
05/14/20 07:58 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 1,022
East Central Wi.
coyote addict Offline
trapper
coyote addict  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 1,022
East Central Wi.
Im a part time taxidermist , over the years I have found out that a lot of bears weights are guessed by the hunters and not actually weighed. Hides wont shrink that much from tanning .


Member -W.T.A. N.T.A. - N.R. A.
A Shotgun. A Rifle and a 4 Wheel Drive.. A Country Boy. Will Survive
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6876129
05/18/20 05:53 PM
05/18/20 05:53 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,459
Montana
Taximan Offline
trapper
Taximan  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,459
Montana
Guides exaggerate,newbie bear hunters get excited and exaggerate.The only person that doesn't get to stretch things out of proportion is the taxidermist.He has to mount what is he is handed.You do not stretch taxidermy hides,nor do you need to.I have been a taxidermist for 50 years and the majority of my work is large lifesize.I know for a fact,from bears that I have killed and personally measured,that I can easily mount it back to it's original size,sometimes 5 % bigger.

It is not possible to mount a 500 lb bear on a 350 lb manikin.The legs would look like accordians.You can't hide that.There are too many other details to get into.More commonly,newbie bear hunters are told what a bear weighs,even though it never saw a scale.They are hard,even for an experienced person to judge.Carcass measurements tell the tale but they are never taken,by hunter or guide.I would bet money the hunter in question,had not killed many bears.

I have seen this happen a lot,only with bears and usually involving inexperienced bear hunters.I have never seen the issue with lifesize deer,mountain sheep,so or moose.Only bears.I was even asked to write an article about this for North American Hunters web site.

I just don't have that problem as my bear customers are very experienced and realistic with their expectations.They also take measurements that I can use.

Here is a black bear that had no taxidermist shrinkage.Believe it or not,the hunter killed 2,that size.That is a bear.Very few are killed like that.
[Linked Image]

Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6876330
05/18/20 09:28 PM
05/18/20 09:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,261
james bay frontierOnt.
B
Boco Offline
trapper
Boco  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,261
james bay frontierOnt.
Thats a monster black bear.


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6886269
05/31/20 01:06 AM
05/31/20 01:06 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
A
AJE Offline OP
trapper
AJE  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
Good info. Thanks. I'm not a bear hunter, nor a taxidermist, so I appreciate your insight.

Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: AJE] #6898981
06/14/20 12:29 AM
06/14/20 12:29 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
A
AJE Offline OP
trapper
AJE  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
That's a big bear Taximan.

What's the heaviest black bear any of you have mounted?

I agree that guessing bear weight is hard. When I see a bear, I don't even try to guess the weight. I'm sure some people are knowledgeable enough to get a fairly accurate guess, but I bet it's a small % of people that have that talent.

Last edited by AJE; 06/14/20 12:30 AM.
Re: Taxidermists not stretching & drying fur properly [Re: k snow] #6956962
08/07/20 08:34 AM
08/07/20 08:34 AM
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,897
Wisconsin
E
Eagleye Offline
trapper
Eagleye  Offline
trapper
E

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 3,897
Wisconsin


I'm in for ground shrinkage, tough to judge size if you haven't seen a lot of bears in the wild. As a result, I've seen a lot of Black Lab rugs hanging in cabins... If a black bear looks like he has no ears and no legs- he has my attention

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1