Waterfowl Taxidermist

[YoungGun]

I've got a couple of waterfowl I'm looking to have mounted as a "cabin warming" gift for a friend here in Montana. This guy would give you the shirt off his back and has a bit of a sentimental bone to him, so I thought mounting a couple ducks from our first duck hunt out at his family's property would be a cool way to christen their new place they're having built. The ducks (2 of them) are wrapped in newspaper and in my freezer- both in great shape.

I haven't had any birds mounted before- so I was hoping someone on here had a suggestion for a good waterfowl taxidermist. Local is great, but I'm not opposed to shipping them out if the juice is worth the squeeze. I'm in the Bozeman area for reference. If you have other tips or things to look for with a waterfowl mount, fire away please.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Tru-life in laurel is great. She's done about 10 birds for me. Have been very happy with her work.

 

[Drake4]

Tru-life in laurel is great. She's done about 10 birds for me. Have been very happy with her work.

I've had 2 geese done there as well. Great work...highly recommend them.

 

[glass eye]

As a waterfowl taxidermist I recommend that you DON'T wrap birds in newspaper because it draws out the moisture and will accelerate freezer burn.
Other No-No's are using vacuum sealers because they draw out blood and body fluids and most of all because they imprint into feathers and soft tissue the tiny square pattern of the bag.
And finally, NO PANTYHOSE because they do major damage to the plumage.
Ps. I just finished this Cinnamon/Bluewing hybrid today.

 

[YoungGun]

Tru-life in laurel is great. She's done about 10 birds for me. Have been very happy with her work.

I've had 2 geese done there as well. Great work...highly recommend them.

Either of you willing to post a photo or PM it my way? It looks like the Facebook page is currently down, so I can't view their work. Reviews are all strong though.

 

[andrew11]

Yep she does good work. Very happy with what she has done for me.

 

[YoungGun]

As a waterfowl taxidermist I recommend that you DON'T wrap birds in newspaper because it draws out the moisture and will accelerate freezer burn.
Other No-No's are using vacuum sealers because they draw out good and body fluids and most of all because they imprint into feathers and soft tissue the tiny square pattern of the bag.
And finally, NO PANTYHOSE because they do major damage to the plumage.

Good to know! What care instructions would you provide? I read to tuck the heads under the wing and wrap them- clearly my first go around with trying to preserve birds.

 

[YoungGun]

Beautiful work, by the way!

 

[andrew11]

Just sent ya over a couple pics

 

[glass eye]

Good to know! What care instructions would you provide? I read to tuck the heads under the wing and wrap them- clearly my first go around with trying to preserve birds.

Head against body, not necessarily under the wing, is recommended because it prevents the neck from snapping in half like a twig because you froze it with the neck outstretched and then dropped the frozen bird.
Wrap in plastic like cellophane. I wrap it in multiple layers and squeezing the air out as I wrap it like a mummy.
Also good to wrap a small amount of wet tissue around the feet before wrapping in plastic.

 

[Nick87]

As a waterfowl taxidermist I recommend that you DON'T wrap birds in newspaper because it draws out the moisture and will accelerate freezer burn.
Other No-No's are using vacuum sealers because they draw out blood and body fluids and most of all because they imprint into feathers and soft tissue the tiny square pattern of the bag.
And finally, NO PANTYHOSE because they do major damage to the plumage.
Ps. I just finished this Cinnamon/Bluewing hybrid today.View attachment 187161

Man, that's a cool bird. Are those metal reeds?

 

[YoungGun]

Head against body, not necessarily under the wing, is recommended because it prevents the neck from snapping in half like a twig because you froze it with the neck outstretched and then dropped the frozen bird.
Wrap in plastic like cellophane. I wrap it in multiple layers and squeezing the air out as I wrap it like a mummy.
Also good to wrap a small amount of wet tissue around the feet before wrapping in plastic.

Great info- thank you! Waterfowl mounts are certainly something I need to explore with more frequency. I only have one animal that I didn't mount that I regret, and that was a Northern Pintail Drake I got here in Montana. I only hit him with one pellet, and he was in perfect condition. Being young, dumb, and broke while in college, I opted to make bacon-wrapped duck poppers with him instead of mounting him. Waterfowl never cease to amaze me with their natural beauty, and that was my prettiest bird to date.

 

[glass eye]

Man, that's a cool bird. Are those metal reeds?

Not metal. Some are real cattails dyed green and some are artificial.

 

[Nick87]

Not metal. Some are real cattails dyed green and some are artificial.

They look good!

 

[Hunting Wife]

We had Birdman Studios in Colorado do some sea ducks for us and are very happy with them. He does great work.

 

[YoungGun]

We had Birdman Studios in Colorado do some sea ducks for us and are very happy with them. He does great work.

Thank you for the recommendation!