Taxidermy : Question about stuffers

Scott O.

Scott O.

Well-known member
Generally I breast out our geese and essentially waste the rest of the carcass. I have always wondered about using carcasses as stuffers but never could figure out how that wouldn't be just about the most expensive I have ever done related to duck/goose hunting.

My question is this: Does anyone know of any taxidermists (I know there are a few on board here) who offer a low price "stuffer option"? I don't want it to be an unbelievably cool mount necessarily, I just want it to look reasonable and basically not rot. No comments about making them out of paper mache either, thank you.
 
hey scott, the biggest issue with making the stuffers is canada geese are extremely fat and greasy.in order for them to not "rot" that will have to be removed. once you have spent the time to skin,degrease, wash and then reassemble,95% of the work is done.a little time could be shaved off in posing and little detail stuff but not enough to cut the pricing much imo.
 
Scott, if you have a taxidermist in your area, it might be to your benefit to see if you can get some instruction from him--either pay, or exchange for work around the shop!
Biggest problem with stuffers other than storage is the defatting-if you want to do a quickie job, there are now defatting machines that are used to save time--other than the snip with scissors method---get as much off as you can, then do a job with borax----just make sure you have ventilation for storage---and some way to keep varmints from finding a feast!!!
 
OK...this is interesting because non-hunters ask me, "Aren't those geese fat and greasy?" and I tell them, " Hey this thing is making a living flying from cornfield to cornfield trying to find the odd kernel or grass top...there isn't any fat on them"

The truth of it is though, I only look at the pure muscle in their breasts, I never see whats between their skin and their bodies. You guys are telling me that there is a fat factor to consider and you must see it on every bird so I believe it. Maybe that answers my question...(but something says I can see right now that some poor goose is gonna get dissected and Boraxed and filled up with last Sunday's sport section unless I get held back by reason)
 
Funny you should bring that up, as me and couple of guys are getting together this Sat in my shop to "discover" taxidermy. None of us have a clue, but we are attempting a boraxed bird on a stick to start. I've already been thinking about stuffers, especially if I can get some skinny jeuvenille geese next fall. I'm sure we'll make a mess of it, and learn lots. We're going to start with some birds I have saved for training.

Mike
 
Here is a site that will help you do your own if you want to. Click here
Can't say it is something I would want to do and unless you can pull a trailer into the fields you hunt I think they will be hard to transport. I believe it was Hard Core Decoys that were developed by some hunters in the North West who were tired of dealing with stuffers.

Tim
 
Scott,

I did my Taxidermy stint back in the '70's, self-taught with a couple of books. It was right when the guys were going to the carved foam bodies that saved so much time over the old methods.

I did several geese, ducks and pheasants back then. So, I have a littel knowledge of what it takes to get a goose done and I really can't see where a Taxidermist could do stuffers for much less than what a regular mount would cost to have done. I always felt that a flying mount was easier to do than a standing mount.

As for the fat on waterfowl, it's there right on the skin. I used to soak the skins in Coleman fuel (white gas) to help remove part of the fat and remove blood. Borax alone will do little to keep a bird from eventually rotting. There are newer chemicals today that work better.

I think you will have to make your own if you want to save that huge Taxidermy bill for a couple dozen stuffers. Both you and Mike should order a catalong from Van Dyke's Taxidermy web site. That will give you both a rough idea of what the supplies & materials cost. It is no different than decoy carving, once you get into it, you just get better and better at it. Hell, if I could do it, anyone can!

Dave
 
I was wondering how you skin a bird without ruining the feathers. I've skinned a few turkeys and did it like doing a deer..hung them from their feet and pulled the skin down over the body..had to clip the wings off though. I had a turkey skin in my shop freezer for two years until a buddy finally took it home for fly tying. It seemed to me that scraping all that stuff off the insides would mess up the pin on the feathers so they wouldn't look right ever again. Taxidermists have my admiration.
 
Scott, i don't know of any taxidermists in your area (whereever that may be), but if you want my humble opinion, put your money into some good plastic decoys. The full-body flocked-head decoys made today (like bigfoot) are just as realistic as a stuffer..and they would probably last longer too.
 
You're probably right...the GHG full flocked bodies are pretty realistic

I just wondered about the stuffers. I think I'll wait to see how Mike does up there in the frozen Yukon and hear first hand the good and the bad. By the time I have anything to "stuff" next September, the idea will probably have dropped out of my head anyway.
 
oh, and don't forget about the resale value of plastic..i'm pretty sure it's illegal to sell stuffers.
 
right on about the borax, Dave---for as long as the stuffers last, the good old twenty mule team boraxo is as good an astringent, after some defatting as the more costly chemicals, like natron, myrrh, frankencense-hehehheh only we who are of the order of horus and anubis are privy to those tricks, though!!!---Hey, who wnats to live forever, anyway? By the time you get the foam bodies, foam for necks, wire, etc, it may be just as good to deal with the newer plastics---they ARE lighter, and do not take kid glove treatment, for sure!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top