# waterfowl taxidermy questions



## rnelson5 (Jan 23, 2014)

I have been saying for years that i want to learn how to mount birds. I do not want to try to make a living at it by any means, i just want to learn for myself. If i ever got decent enough maybe do a few to support my duck hunting addiction. I want something to keep me into ducks year round and i think that would be it. I care nothing about learning fur or scales. I know what a duck is supposed to look like and have the passion for it but no one local is willing to help in fear of competition. If anyone out there has done it and can give advice i am all ears!!


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## shotgun (Jan 23, 2014)

Save your vacation and go to a taxidermy school that specializes in birds. That is what trey did.


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## rnelson5 (Jan 23, 2014)

Trey from Southland? Who is this by the way?


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## thompsonsz71 (Jan 23, 2014)

Robbie I got a redhead in the freezer...


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## tradhunter98 (Jan 23, 2014)

I am getting into it right after duck season. My dad used to do taxidermy work, but never did birds, so I am getting some DVDs called taxidermy classes! The man that is doing them really knows how to teach and he dose really good work. Look those up, you might could start there.


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## shotgun (Jan 23, 2014)

Yes Trey from Southland. He worked at Columbia Nitrogen when he got started.


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## ChristopherA.King (Jan 23, 2014)

I done a search on youtube and it looks really hard but it would be awesome to mount your own trophy.


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## rnelson5 (Jan 23, 2014)

ChristopherA.King said:


> I done a search on youtube and it looks really hard but it would be awesome to mount your own trophy.



I have been around taxidermist enough to have seen most of the steps at one point or another but seeing it and doing are two different things!!


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## Drexal (Feb 1, 2014)

Unless you invest in a bird fleshing machine (or make something similar), you're gonna add hours of work.  Fleshing is probably the most tedious part of waterfowl taxidermy.  So, what kinda questions do you have?


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

Drexal said:


> Unless you invest in a bird fleshing machine (or make something similar), you're gonna add hours of work.  Fleshing is probably the most tedious part of waterfowl taxidermy.  So, what kinda questions do you have?



Pm sent


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## gsubo (Feb 2, 2014)

I started doing it about 3 years ago.  It was really difficult to learn but I've gotten to the point that my birds look better than most of the taxidermists in my area.  I've mounted maybe 30 to 40 of mine and my buddies birds I would say( haven't done much in the past year).  Like Drexal said.. The fleshing wil make or break your work.  I've gotten pretty good at it.  The really fatty birds are the worst..if you don't flesh them out and degrease properly..the mount won't last and that oil and grease will show and he mount will be ruined.


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## T-N-T (Feb 2, 2014)

Sounds like you found that hobby you were talking about Rnelson...  Good luck on your quest.


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

gsubo said:


> I started doing it about 3 years ago.  It was really difficult to learn but I've gotten to the point that my birds look better than most of the taxidermists in my area.  I've mounted maybe 30 to 40 of mine and my buddies birds I would say( haven't done much in the past year).  Like Drexal said.. The fleshing wil make or break your work.  I've gotten pretty good at it.  The really fatty birds are the worst..if you don't flesh them out and degrease properly..the mount won't last and that oil and grease will show and he mount will be ruined.



Yes i know this first hand. I have a pair of cans and a wood duck from a local taxi that is well known for his waterfowl that are trash because they were not properlly fleshed out. The fat breaks down to oil and leaks through the feathers, which can temporarily be fixed with acetone, but will continue to leak through..... Not only is it a waste of $750 but a waste of some trophy cans..... With that being said i want to learn. Did you watch videos, have someone teach you, or how did you start?


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## gsubo (Feb 2, 2014)

I started watching videos and reading through the forums over on taxidermy.net and pretty much self learned that way.  They have awesome tutorials and taxidermists that visit that site daily and will tell you how it is.  Your gonna screw up a few..but eventually they get to the point that youll be proud to hang em on the wall.  That was my goal..I wanted to start doing my own birds because the local guys that did taxidermy and were good at game heads were not so good at birds.  I started getting to the point that I felt like mine were solid 200- $250 dollar mounts.  I have about 40 bucks in material in and about 7 hours in labor in each one.  Problem now for me is..w my full time job and a toddler its hard to find the time.  I still have a couple in the freezer my wife wants me to do for our new house but I still cant seem to get around to em.

Heres a couple I did. The snow goose was done for capt stan and believe it or not was probably the tenth one I did and one of my best.  The greenhead was my first(and only mallard to this point)  and is hanging in my living room. Probably number 25 or so.


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

Thanks for the advice. I will go over and visit that site!!


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## T-N-T (Feb 2, 2014)

Looking good gsubo!


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

I got in touch with one of the guys on that forum today and he told me to call him during his business hours tomorrow and he would try to help me out. That is atleast a start.


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## Larry Young Jr (Feb 2, 2014)

Hey rnelson5, I am retired and don't have the time to learn and do another hobby. You must have a lot of down time.....
Good luck 
Larry


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

Larry Young Jr said:


> Hey rnelson5, I am retired and don't have the time to learn and do another hobby. You must have a lot of down time.....
> Good luck
> Larry



Ha i wouldn't say that. I all but quit fishing and i am not much of a turkey hunter. I have no other hobbies other than duck and deer hunting besides this new addiction i just got this weekend called rabbit hunting, so i want to learn taxidermy to keep me in it during the off season. I have a passion for waterfowl and 60 days just isn't enough!!!


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## king killer delete (Feb 2, 2014)

If I had yalls money i would burn mine


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)

killer elite said:


> If I had yalls money i would burn mine



Says the man that has bought three shotguns in the last 6 months


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## king killer delete (Feb 2, 2014)

yea but already had 7 12 gauge shotguns. I just traded one for 3006


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## king killer delete (Feb 2, 2014)

Going back to Disney world next month


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## rnelson5 (Feb 2, 2014)




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## rnelson5 (Feb 4, 2014)

After talking to several taxidermists i have a supply list and ordered some videos. If i can get the basics down without pulling my hair out i plan on going to spend a few days in NC training. We will see how it goes.


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## thompsonsz71 (Feb 4, 2014)

Robbie I've always wanted to learn as well.... Let me know how it goes!


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## madrabbit (Feb 5, 2014)

If you can, post up progress pics when you get started!!


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## Gaducker (Feb 5, 2014)

I built me a fancy tumbler about 15 years ago when my first kid was just a newborn, I saved me up a few birds and when the season went out I went to work, Didnt take long to figure out that with a newborn it was not a good time to take up taxi work.   

Fastfoward to this past dec.  My second child is now 12 yo and he decides he wants to mount some birds he has in the freezer so we order some supplies and get on it. 

Yall all know what kind of attention span a 12 yo has, after that first session he was through for a while and when I got to it it had began to dry so I did a dead hang, And let me tell ya it sure looks dead..............  It was a success in my book but we learned alot together and we have a few more to work on.


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## The Fever (Feb 5, 2014)

gsubo said:


> I started doing it about 3 years ago.  It was really difficult to learn but I've gotten to the point that my birds look better than most of the taxidermists in my area.  I've mounted maybe 30 to 40 of mine and my buddies birds I would say( haven't done much in the past year).  Like Drexal said.. The fleshing wil make or break your work.  I've gotten pretty good at it.  The really fatty birds are the worst..if you don't flesh them out and degrease properly..the mount won't last and that oil and grease will show and he mount will be ruined.



Seen your work...looks good


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## rnelson5 (Feb 5, 2014)

Drexal said:


> Unless you invest in a bird fleshing machine (or make something similar), you're gonna add hours of work.  Fleshing is probably the most tedious part of waterfowl taxidermy.  So, what kinda questions do you have?



I got lucky and through seeing my posts on different forums i was approached about buying a never before used fleshing wheel and tumbler. I sent the info with pics to a taxidermist i trust and he told me to jump on it. I am going to pick them up on Saturday. I also ordered some basic tools needed from Mckenzies yesterday and am going to sit down with a taxidermist on Sunday to skin my first bird out.


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## across the river (Feb 5, 2014)

rnelson5 said:


> I have been saying for years that i want to learn how to mount birds. I do not want to try to make a living at it by any means, i just want to learn for myself. If i ever got decent enough maybe do a few to support my duck hunting addiction. I want something to keep me into ducks year round and i think that would be it. I care nothing about learning fur or scales. I know what a duck is supposed to look like and have the passion for it but no one local is willing to help in fear of competition. If anyone out there has done it and can give advice i am all ears!!



It isn't hard if you have some patience.  I've done a few hear and there overs the years.  You can learn to do just about anything on youtube, so that is a good place to start.    Let me know if I can help.


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## jmsmitty (Feb 11, 2014)

Keep in mind starting out your first bird should only be a practice bird, you will have a lot of holes in it due to skinning and fleshing. When you get done with it you will have to throw it away. Until you get to about the 20th duck you will have a lot of mistakes. Make sure you learn the anatomy of ducks. If you keep at it you will constantly improve and get better and better. When I first started out I made several mistakes but was able to learn from a well known taxidermist. I now am mounting about 100 ducks a year and looking back at your first work you will see a big difference. If there is anything I can help you out on just let me know. good luck to you.


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## rnelson5 (Feb 11, 2014)

jmsmitty said:


> Keep in mind starting out your first bird should only be a practice bird, you will have a lot of holes in it due to skinning and fleshing. When you get done with it you will have to throw it away. Until you get to about the 20th duck you will have a lot of mistakes. Make sure you learn the anatomy of ducks. If you keep at it you will constantly improve and get better and better. When I first started out I made several mistakes but was able to learn from a well known taxidermist. I now am mounting about 100 ducks a year and looking back at your first work you will see a big difference. If there is anything I can help you out on just let me know. good luck to you.



Thanks and yes my first duck i skinned and fleshed was a bluebill. He was a good one but i already have two mounted so i would not have done anything with him otherwise. My good birds are at the taxidermist. Momma didn't raise no fool


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## Blindside (Feb 11, 2014)

rnelson5 said:


> He was a good one but i already have  mounted so i would not have done anything with him otherwise.


So you basically "practiced" on the bird, then threw it away?


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## rnelson5 (Feb 11, 2014)

Blindside said:


> So you basically "practiced" on the bird, then threw it away?



Not quite. I froze him to thaw out at a later point to show someone who knows better than me that way i can learn from my mistakes and build on what i did right................ Now for your arrogance i will say this. If you have a problem with someone "practicing" on a bird then you have a problem with every taxidermists alive. You are not gonna get it right on the first try and the only way to learn is to practice....... Even Shane Smith had to start somewhere.........


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