I was drew a wolf tag in my home state of Minnesota this past fall. On my 5th day of hunting I was lucky enough to call in and shoot this 117 pound male.
I originally was going to just do a rug as money is pretty tight right now. I was contacted by a taxidermist who wanted to do the wolf for me at a discounted price for advertising purposes. A deal was struck up where I would buy all of the materials, have them shipped to him, and he would charge me a minimal fee for his labor. The pelt was done about a month ago but he has not started on it yet. I'm facebook friends with him and from what I can tell he is an aspiring photographer so has been out snowshoeing and taking pictures almost every day and doesn't seem too interested in doing any taxidermy right now. I'm not upset be this, but during this time it got me thinking. What are the chances I could do this wolf myself and make it look good? He is a beginning taxidermist and has never done anthing like a wolf before, which makes me nervous to begin with, but I just can't afford to bring it to a well known studio. I also started thinking that I would like to make my own base since I cut some beautiful walnut boards from my folks woods. I have some ideas on how I want it to look, so I can model it after the terrain where I shot it. I believe he would like to make my base, and I'm a little afraid of what it is going to end up costing me. So, my questions are:
A. What are the chances I could take this on and make it look good? I'm not at all afraid to dive into things and try them, and I feel like I have a good eye for what looks good. Can a guy do a trial run before you apply the hide paste?
B. If he does it and royally screws up (since he is a beginner as well) is there any way for me to salvage it? I'll most likely never shoot a wolf like this again.
Thanks for the advice!
I originally was going to just do a rug as money is pretty tight right now. I was contacted by a taxidermist who wanted to do the wolf for me at a discounted price for advertising purposes. A deal was struck up where I would buy all of the materials, have them shipped to him, and he would charge me a minimal fee for his labor. The pelt was done about a month ago but he has not started on it yet. I'm facebook friends with him and from what I can tell he is an aspiring photographer so has been out snowshoeing and taking pictures almost every day and doesn't seem too interested in doing any taxidermy right now. I'm not upset be this, but during this time it got me thinking. What are the chances I could do this wolf myself and make it look good? He is a beginning taxidermist and has never done anthing like a wolf before, which makes me nervous to begin with, but I just can't afford to bring it to a well known studio. I also started thinking that I would like to make my own base since I cut some beautiful walnut boards from my folks woods. I have some ideas on how I want it to look, so I can model it after the terrain where I shot it. I believe he would like to make my base, and I'm a little afraid of what it is going to end up costing me. So, my questions are:
A. What are the chances I could take this on and make it look good? I'm not at all afraid to dive into things and try them, and I feel like I have a good eye for what looks good. Can a guy do a trial run before you apply the hide paste?
B. If he does it and royally screws up (since he is a beginner as well) is there any way for me to salvage it? I'll most likely never shoot a wolf like this again.
Thanks for the advice!