Taxidermists anyone

[bigdog]

If you are willing to drive down to Savage I have all of my stuff done at Mid-America.

[Insp Gadget]

Eric, Check out the Deer-Bear forums there is a Taxidermy thread there. Also seeing your locale, I'll throw out Ed's taxidermy in Coon Rapids.

Gadget

[Guest]

I am new to the area(St. Michael)MN and am looking for a local taxidermist. If anyone knows any good taxidermists please let me know, as I have a new set of antlers I would like to have done.

Thanks,
Eric Peterson

[Johnny B]

Eric,
Are you looking to have the head mounted, a European mount or just the antlers mounted?

[Guest]

Just the antlers. So far I have heard 60-100 dollars and 6-12 months. I may just bring it to Hipp Tax. in Duluth. He has done 2 fish for me and is a great guy.
Thanks All

[Coach Dog]

Rick Simonson @ North Country Taxidermy in Coon Rapids does a helluva job! Anyone notice all the taxidermists located in Coon Rapids? Is this a coincidence or is Coon Rapids the "Mecca", if you will, of stuffing dead animals?

[Mark Christianson]

Holy cats. A hundred bucks to mount antlers on a board. Wow.
Last winter I mounted all the antlers my dad and I had.
My total investment was a couple bucks per mount.(Thats excluding my time obviously)
I used cedar, and cut out a pattern. Used a router to give it some more look on the edges.
Then I used some felt that was 60 cents a sheet, and played around until I got a pattern that wrapped the skull plates to my liking. Finished up with some border stuff that was literally pennies a foot, and I hot glued that on.
They turned out very nice, and talk about cheap!!

Now, for taxidermists. Rick Simonson in Coon Rapids is awesome on birds. Thats all I have had him do for me, but I have been in his showroom, and he is a perfectionist.
Not the cheapest by any means, but great work.

[Johnny B]

Coon Rapids sure does have their fare share of taxidermists! I have gone to Jack Hanson for a few fish and a shoulder mount: excellent work.
As for antler mounts even a novice taxidermist can certainly do these at home. I have done several myself and am very happy that I did. They are relatively easy, cheap and somewhat extends my deer season. I like to use leather as a wrap instead of velvet and router an oak plaque to compliment the size of the rack. (Not all of them are of the jumbos but oh-well)
Last year was my first attempt at a European mount and aside from the unsightly task of cleaning the skull cavity it is even simpler than antler mounts and less time consuming. I have to admit: mine turned out better than some that I have seen that were professionally done! In fact, I am planning on doing the buck I shot this year the in the same manner.
There are a few tricks along the way but here are the basics:
Remove the skin and eyes
Boil the skull for a few hours
Remove any loose soft tissue
Soak in peroxide for about a week (taking care not to submerge the antlers or they will discolor!)
Remove any remaining connected or loose soft tissue and re-submerge in fresh peroxide for a few more days

[adam246]

Mark's Taxidermy in Maple PLain

[hanson]

As I started going down this thread, I started linking things together. Taxidermy, all the taxidermists are in Coon Rapids, and I was hoping to see someones name. Yep, there it was. I'm glad someone had something good to say about Jack Hanson. As you can tell from my username, Jacks a close relative of mine. He's been doing all of our family's work for a heck of along time. I just wish I could bring him in some more stuff of mine. A big northern one year, a couple ducks the next, I haven't got a big deer yet. Oh well, just got to keep after it I guess.

[Guest]

Try out Nature's Eye Taxidermy in Rogers, I have a walleye there righ now that should be done next month. Guy does it out of his basement, good pricing. Here is the number.

763-428-4251