Waterfowl Mounts

[hanson]

There have been a few folks asking questions about taxidermists and who to take there birds to. I finally got around to taking some photos of mounts my family has had done of various ducks. Maybe these photos can give you some ideas of ways to have your duck mounted. These were all done by Jack Hanson.

Flying Drake Bufflehead

Pair of Wood Ducks

This mount was cool because my brother shot the drake one year and had it mounted. The next year he shot the hen and wanted them put together. Jack cut a board and mounted the 2 pieces of driftwood on the board and covered it in a swamp muck looking material. You'd never know they are 2 separate mounts that were joined together.

Drake Green-Wing Teal

Flying Pair of Goldeneyes!!

[Quackaddict9]

not too shabby, I like the Goldeneye mount, and the Buffie as well.

[ikeslayer]

hanson. do you guys ever do mounts on birds for yourselves and then use them as decoys. I talked to a guy who does it for geese and uses them in the field and swears by them. just wondering ike

[Nova]

Here are a few I had Jack do.

[Ray Esboldt]

Speaking of taxidermy - If any of you guys are ever out the Ortonville way, do yourself a favor and stop by the Big Stone County museum. They have an entire building dedicated to the taxidermy, artwork, and collections of Charles Hanson.

I can't describe to you how many mounts there are there or what is all mounted. It will blow you away. I've spent hours in the building. It's well worth your while.

[Quackaddict9]

Nova- I like the Redhead mount and maybe could clean off the dust of that big hog (walleye)

[Nova]

yeah, I could probably put a shine to all of them..... you think the old lady would have taken care of that during the Christmas cleaning. I'll let her know she is slackin off again

[hanson]

Its amazing how fast that dust collects. All the birds I photographed needed a good cleaning. The Bufflehead was especially bad. Hard to see the iridescent colors when there is a layer of gray on top.

Nova- Those are some dandy mounts you have there.

Jack has a crappie over his desk that my grandpa caught on Upper Red Lake. That was the 1 and only, honest-to-god 15+ inch 2 lb, Upper Red crappie that I have ever been witness to.

[Quackaddict9]

Hanson- Will you happen to have any pictures of the URL slab? I like looking at Crappie mounts and compare them to real life like, because some of the mounts on Crappies have looked totally fake and doesnt look like a crappie. If you have a picture that would be cool to see. I have thought about mounting 2-3 crappies in the past few years and hasnt happened yet. have a great night.

[hanson]

Quack-

I might be running up to his place tomorrow. I got the call that one of 'my' crappies is done. Its another URL slab, the biggest I got last winter at 14 3/4". I figured I might as well get one mounted while there are still a few fish left in the lake. Took a year to get it back but oh well.

I'll see if I can't snap a shot of a few others at his place.

The bummer is he keeps telling me he's about to retire so I'm not sure how long I'll have a family connection to a taxidermist.

[Quackaddict9]

Alright, cool... Look forward seeing the crappie mount pictures if you can. thanks

[hanson]

Here ya go man...

15 3/4" Upper Red Lake Crappie (Grandpa's a lucky man!!) with a nice fat bull gill.

And here's my fresh 14 3/4" Upper Red Lake Crappie. I'm going to try and add another 3 or 4 fish to this one this winter.

Enjoy!

[Mark Christianson]

Overall those are very nicely done.

The only thing I dont like is the white bottom.

A crappie doesnt have a white line that defined on its belly from head to tail.

Something that can easily be done different on future mounts or even changed on the existing ones. Thats just me though.

Very nice indeed.

[hanson]

BLB-

I know. I saw that right away as something that didn't look "right". Hopefully, I can get a few more of those elusive URL buggers this winter and have them done as well. I'll point that out and maybe get this mount touched up as well.

Other than that extra white, I think his painting is awesome.

While I'm thinking about it, Jack also told me he doesn't like to "repair" the fins too much. You can tell on my mount anyway that the fish's fins are a "tad" ragged, or should I say natural. I see a lot of mounts where the taxidermist does a lot of repairing on the fins to make them perfectly smooth & round and they just don't look right IMO. I should say they definitely look "fake" when that is done.

[buzzsaw]

Don't feel too bad Hanson, my 14# Walleye from last spring looks great, except for the paint job! The color is more brown than green... which I know is possible but mine was a light green river fish and I posted the picture before and a few people made comments... kinda stunk to hear the comments.... but in the end maybe it was for the better. I got a guys name from Corey Bechtold who can re-paint fish.... If you have interest let me know and I will forward it to you. I still have to call him myself.

P.S. Great fish though!!

[Sartell Angler]

here is a pic of my bro and I with some perch from a few weeks back...if you look on the wall behind us you will see my goldeneye mount from '04...couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I will try and get a few close-up pics posted soon as well.

[note from admin: Sorry sir. You need to crop out the dead fish]

SA/wdw

[Quackaddict9]

Thanks Hanson! I think the mounts look realistic but the white is I think a little too bright for the mount but overall its pretty good. But those crappies are pretty dark unless you caught them in the summer on URL because in the winter time they are more lighter than summer? well thanks for sharing. Oh yeah, I also like the fins more realistic not rounded, its just ridicilous when taxidermist round the fins (unless the owner likes it that way) Have a great week guys

[hanson]

While I'm at it...

1 more bird!

Drake Gadwall

We shot 2 of these that day that were both equally gorgeous. Only enough extra cash to do one.

[buzzsaw]

That is a beautiful bird!! I'm jealous! Awesome!

[Nova]

Hanson, Jack did a couple of those nice drake gaddys for us too and they are beautiful. Nice bird, congrats.

[Quackaddict9]

another nice mount you have there, Hanson. I better start picking out these nice drakes (mallards,redhead,cans, etc.) to mount or a dead game mount with drake mallard, drake woodie and another drake something , have a great week with the warm weather.

[Sartell Angler]

here is a pic of my goldeneye from '04...pretty special bird as it was on a solo hunt before class on the Mississippi river...bird was flying downriver, saw the dekes, banked and came right up the line and was rippin' right to the front of my diver set when I dropped him with one shot. My 10 yr. old golden made the retrieve and there was very minimal damage on the bird. The taxidermist is one of the premier guys in the tri-state area and specializes in waterfowl. If you want his name/ contact information, email me at indy500as at hotmail dot com.

SA/wdw

[Big Country]

Hanson, the crappie is "perfect" IMO except for the white. Most crapp's around here are less white and more yellowish-white. Other than that, I would be exceptionally pleased. They did a bang-up job BC

[wooduck26]

I hate to pee on everyones parade here but the first mountof the buffleheads is WRONG!!!! A Drake Bufflehead has PINK feet not grey..........might wanna reconsider who your taking your mounts to....

[Sartell Angler]

good call woods