Copyright © 2012 by Anne Vinnola

So you are heading out for a gorgeous day of turkey hunting. You are ready to shoot that tom with the long beard and huge spurs. Are you prepared for having your turkey mounted by a taxidermist?

Many turkey hunters don’t go past the kill part of their planning, they assume they are just going for the meat and are not prepared when a trophy walks into shooting view.

Hopefully you have checked out the taxidermists in your area months before hunting season. Not every taxidermist can mount birds well.   Look carefully at the turkeys in the taxidermy shop you visit. Be careful to check the birds out in his shop and take a long look at how he does the rest of his mounts.

Balance is very important in a turkey mount. Does the bird appear to be ready to fall over or stumble sideways or does it look right for the position it is in? You as a hunter have a pretty good idea of how a turkey should look.

Turkeys are impressive displayed in a home. Here are some tips to help you get your turkey to the taxidermist in the best shape for a beautiful showpiece for your home or office.

When aiming at your bird, try to wait for a shot that will not damage the fan. This seems obvious but many hunters get busy watching the tail feathers and shoot holes right through their trophy; sort of like hunters watching the racks on large bucks. The head can be replaced if necessary, but the tail feathers are harder to match.

Get over to your bird right away after you have shot it. You will want to prevent any possible thrashing around that may get the turkey dirty or harm the feathers.

Carry the bird by the legs not the neck. Keep it out of the dirt and weeds and if it is still bleeding place cotton or paper towels into the mouth to stop the blood flow.

Cool your turkey completely.  NEVER place a warm bird in a plastic bag, cooler or other tightly sealed container. Put it into a cool shady place with a breeze, opening up the wings and legs a bit if possible until it s thoroughly cooled.

Decide what you want to do with your bird. Do you want a full body mount or just a fan display?  Full body turkeys are very impressive and showy and one you are going to have mounted in a full body mount really should be kept intact until you get it to the taxidermist; but you can free the breast meat only to use it if you follow these steps.

1.  Weigh the bird, so the taxidermist will know what size body to place back into the bird.

2. Place the bird on its back on a clean surface and find the line on the breast just under the beard, where there aren’t any feathers and begin your incision; cutting just deep enough to cut through the skin.

3. Cut with your clean knife facing up downward toward the vent being careful not to cut feathers. Stop your incision just above the vent.

4. With your fingers and gently work the skin away from the breast working your way toward the back.

5. With a sharp knife remove the breast meat only from the carcass and set aside.

6. Place damp paper towels into the bird and place into a bag, keeping it dry and cool.

7. Take it to the taxidermist immediately or freeze it.

If you will need to ship your turkey or haul it far then take some cardboard to wrap around the tail feathers or to sandwich the tail feathers, to keep them from becoming bent or frayed.

Save the spurs and the beard of your turkey and if you like the shotgun shell or arrow used to kill the bird also. A fan mounted with the beard is beautiful and the spurs are also a fun bragging piece.

When looking for a place in your home to display your bird, be sure there is no direct heat source such as a fireplace or furnace vent close by or anyway for dogs to get at it.

Wild Turkey and Rice Soup

Two turkey breasts cut into bite sized pieces.

3-4 stocks of celery chopped,

1 small can water chestnuts chopped

One small onion chopped

1 box or 3 cans of chicken broth

1 tbs. parsley

½ tsp. sage or poultry seasoning

½ tsp. rosemary

1 tsp black pepper

Dash salt

1 cup wild rice or wild rice blend

Dried cranberries, sliced onion and chopped walnuts for garnis

Saute’ turkey breast, celery and onion together until the celery and onion are transparent and the turkey slightly browned.

Add broth, parsley, sage or poultry seasoning,rosemary, pepper, salt and rice and simmer until rice is tender.

Just before serving add chopped water chestnuts.

Serve in large bowls with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and green onions as garnish.

As you may know my husband Jerry and I own a busy retail taxidermy business as well as one of the best taxidermy schools in the nation.  Frequently things that I see as normal, aren’t really all that normal to the average person though.

I have laughed at other occupations before and then had to stop myself because, well our business is to stuff dead things…THAT is weird in itself. I understand the art form that taxidermy is but I have to realize that other people do not share that understanding. I have become  jaded or something, but recently  something that happened that  was weird even for ME!

My daughters Kelley and Jenny came to the shop to visit me and we were in my office, which faces the street. There are large windows along the street and since it is the main drag through town I usually lock the front door to keep the strange-o’s waiting so I can decide if I want to open the door, holler for back-up, my gun or just leave the door locked and pretend I can’t see them.

Jerry had just started a meeting with two customers, so the door was unlocked and we were waiting for the mail gal to bring the daily pile of bills. The girls were facing the window and I was talking with them when they both locked their eyes on to a man coming across the street. I turned my head mid sentence and took in the scene thinking he was just coming across so he could  step on to the sidewalk and go wandering down the street. He was  about 62, tall, black, mostly toothless had wild hair and was wearing a old shirt over a fishnet shirt….yep I did say fishnet, and sandals with black socks and hadn’t bathed in a while…a LONG while. NOT our usual taxidermy client.

We watched in fascination as he started to open the door. It is a heavy door, so takes a bit of time. He got it open and dragged his awkward, heavy suitcase through the door. I smiled at him and asked if I could help him, although slightly miffed that he didn’t read the NO SOLICITING sign. I couldn’t imagine what he was selling in that suitcase but I was busy and didn’t want whatever he had.

He walked to my desk and said he wasn’t selling anything and leaned toward me…gaaak…my nostrils started screeching…he needed a bath REALLLLY bad. “How much does it cost to do a full body mount?” He asked.

“Unhuh, pardon me?” I asked attempting to let some air squeak out of my nose without being rude.

The girls both stepped back a little trying to be polite but not wanting to be any closer than the had to.

“How much does it cost to do a full body mount?” He said again a little louder.

“Well, it depends on the size of the animal,” I said.

He held up his hand a little higher than knee level and said “About this size.”

I started to give him the usual speech about skinning and prices and so forth thinking he was talking about something he would bring in during hunting season or in the future.

THEN HE POINTED AT HIS SUITCASE!!!

Silence followed…..a lot of silence….

My daughters and I  turned our eyes but not our heads and time stood still as we looked at the suitcase…I imagine our eyes looked like some creepy 1960′s horror movie closeup with just the ticking of the clock for sound….tick tock tick tock  tick tock…I’m sure you get it.

I quickly stood and walked around the desk and told him I would get our manager to help him, I had no idea what was in that suitcase and since he said “body” I was kind of freaking a little. Who or what was in there?

I walked briskly, back to the workshop and called Buddy over to me. Waving my hands to signal that he needed to hurry. Well maybe flapping like a dodo bird describes my appearance better.

Buddy came over to me and walked with me to the  front office. The smell was like a smack in the face, so Buddy introduced himself to the man and had him follow him back through the front door to the side of the building.

Shortly after Buddy took the man outside, I chanced a peek at the situation. I looked out of the door and when I did I was shocked! It was SO sad!  This poor man had been given this  lab to take care of and it died. The man was so distraught that he packed it into the suitcase and started to try to find someone to help him. He had taken it all over town and it had dies the day before. so for over 24 hours he had been dragging this dog around…wow

He asked us to take the dog in and he would pay to have it mounted. He said money was no object but I am still not so sure what he was going to tell the folks he was dog sitting for! “Hi, about your dog….”

Buddy handled that man with courtesy and kindness even though the situation was really strange and uncomfortable.

Buddy and the boys bagged the dog up and then put it into the freezer and wrote up his paperwork

Later I found out that the man had been smoking dope  and even had a toke in the parking lot after everyone went inside then he trudged along back down the road with his smelly suitcase….

We have the dog in the freezer and will probably never see that guy again.

Some things make you say…hmmmmmmmmmm

Brought to you by the Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training Inc.,

What you need to know to find the best wildlife artist for your next mount.

This awful bobcat mount could have been avoided if the hunter had done his homework!

I am not going to speak poorly of another taxidermist for there are many good ones out there, but hunters do need some advice when they decide where to take their trophy to be mounted.

A hunter came to us toting a mount he had just picked up from another taxidermist.  The hunter was livid at the taxidermist for ruining his cat. He was also angry as much at himself than at the taxidermist he had just left.

A while ago the hunter with his bobcat carefully skinned, frozen and anticipating the beautiful table scene he would have made around this cat, called all of his friends to tell them about his prize. Then he sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out his local phone book.

That simple move would ultimately be a costly one. He let his fingers do the walking to a taxidermist whose work he had never seen. He wanted to save a few dollars, and after all aren’t all taxidermists alike?

After finding a shop that would do the work he wanted, for $25.00 less than we would have charged, he packed up his prize and off he went.

After paying the taxidermist $400 for the animal upon its completion, his excitement turned to disgust at receiving an anatomically incorrect, wild-eyed, fuzzy piece of garbage.   Was he wrong to shop for the best deal? Not really, I am all for shopping around for a good deal but let’s count the cost for this particular “bargain.”

The hunter, by going to his phone book and not personally checking out the work done by the taxidermist, indeed saved $25.00 at first, but received back an animal that he was ashamed to have in his home.  He asked us to fix his bobcat and thus added time and $200 more to his mount.

It never ceases to amaze me when sportsmen call to tell me for instance of the wonderful African adventure they had or are going to have. They tell me how they spent months searching for the perfect professional hunter to guide them, and how they found the best lodge to stay at.  The amount of money spent hunting abroad is staggering, with air fare, passports, guns, time off of work, trophy fees and all the rest.

Costs to hunt nationally also rise each year, yet hunters try to save a few bucks on their precious memories by price shopping for their taxidermy work on the phone.   They must ask themselves why they went hunting in the first place.  Was it just a nice trip and a way to fill the freezer?

That is one thing, but secretly in the back of most hunters’ minds is the possibility of shooting the next world record. You may just want to preserve the memories of hunting with special people or in special places. You may want to be prepared though when you do score a nice trophy or land a great fish even if you didn’t mean to.

The most important thing you can do is to drive to the taxidermy shop to take a look at their work and get to know the artist.

Some things to consider when you are visiting a new studio:
Does the taxidermist welcome you to his shop with respect or judgment of your animal?

Several years ago, an elderly gentleman brought a tiny trout to us in a sandwich baggie.  He was somewhat defensive upon his arrival and we soon discovered why.  He had been to several other taxidermists in the area and each one had laughed at his fish, as though it was beneath them to take on such a seemingly insignificant project.  What Jerry did because of the respect he has for each person and animal brought into our shop and what he teaches each student in our taxidermy school, brought the elder man to tears of gratitude.  Jerry carefully held the fish in his hand and told the man he would be proud to mount it, as it obviously meant a lot to him or he wouldn’t have brought it in.  The man then went on to tell Jerry that he was dying of cancer and would probably not be around to see the mount finished.  This tiny fish was the product of the only fishing trip he would ever be able to take his grandson on, and was the first fish this young boy had ever caught.  If you are not treated well when you visit a new taxidermist, then how well will your trophy be treated?

Do you like the look of the mounts in the studio?

Carefully study the mounts in the studio.  Obvious things to look for are nails or nail holes left in finished mounts, cracks around the eyes and noses, crooked skins on the mannequins, hair and skin pulled away from the horns or antlers and such. Stand and look directly at the face of the mounts.  Are the eyes level and are they looking the same direction?

With fish mounts, do the seams fit on the back, or are they stapled leaving a gap? If the back seam does not fit, then the rest of the skin does not really fit either.  Do the fish have both eyes?  This seems obvious, but many taxidermists cut corners with mounted fish saying that the eye closest to the plaque is the “non-show” side.  Would you want to pay a portrait artist to paint your picture only to find the eyes missing or the ears crooked? You took in a whole fish, and you want to get your fish back with the same size, color with all of its parts intact. Ultimately, though if you like the work you see then that is all that really matters.

How long will it take to get your mount back?

Frustrating as it is to be patient for a mount to be done there are some reasons for the wait. Turn around time is another thing hunters judge taxidermists on, but having an understanding of the basic process is helpful in determining how long you might wait. Some things to consider:

1. Where is your piece in the lineup of work to be done? There are many pieces coming into the shop during the various hunting and fishing seasons.  Yours will go into the lineup and should be finished in the order in which it came in.  Pick a taxidermist who won’t compromise the order things are brought in to make his buddies happy or to customers who want to pay more for faster turn around. If he will do this for them then he doesn’t really value you as a customer.
2. How long does the taxidermist have to wait for the cape to be tanned?  Your taxidermist is to some extent at the mercy of the tannery.  It can take months for your taxidermist to receive capes and hides back since there are only a few tanneries and there are many taxidermists. If he tans them himself, it still takes time to prepare them and do the tanning.
3. Drying time. After your trophy is mounted, there needs to be a bit of time for the clay and other materials to dry. If drying time is rushed, then problems can come up with visible as well as interior parts of the mount. After it is dried, then it can be painted and finished.

Of course there can be unforeseen circumstances, like family emergencies, freezers that go out and even tannery fires to contend with. Recently one of our past students called to say that the tannery he used went up in flames and many of his capes along with it.  These things do happen and your taxidermist will do what he can to make things right with you.   When you take your trophy to him, your taxidermist will be able to give you a ball park time of completion. But it makes sense that waiting a little bit longer to get a nicer mount done is better than settling for a rush job and a poor piece you are not happy with.

Is the work guaranteed? You want to do business with an artist who is proud of his work and will guarantee it.

If there is something wrong with your mount after you take it home then, be sure to call him and work out a solution.

Get to know your taxidermist. Spend some time in his shop if you can. Your taxidermist can give you many field care tips and can help you get the best results for all of your trophies.  He wants to see you succeed and will do his best to help.

There are many things to do when preparing for a hunting or fishing trip.  If you do your homework in finding a wildlife artist whose work you are comfortable with you will have a more relaxed and secure time knowing that your memories are safe with someone you trust.

This coyote was mounted by a caring professional who takes pride in his craft!

My husband  Jerry and I own the Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training Inc, as well as a full service taxidermy studio, Big Timber South Taxidermy. Both are located in Canon City, Colorado.  Feel free to look us up at 1-800-733-6936 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-733-6936 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or www.ColoradoTaxidermyCchool.com.  You may also e-mail us at CoTaxidermy@gmail.com

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Tony Vinnola and his first turkey!

Copyright © 2011 by Anne Vinnola

As you head out for a beautiful Spring day to hunt for a big bearded tom, you are thinking about your gear, your gun or bow,and a good spot to view the birds as they come out into the clearing for your perfect shot. You may not be thinking about what happens at the end of this nice trip out… the part that happens AFTER you shoot that amazing turkey.

At Big Timber South Taxidermy Studio and the Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training Inc., we are eager to teach our customers the proper ways to handle animals, birds and fish while they are in the field in order to get them to the to our studio safely. Taxidermy customers can spend loads of unnecessary money and face the distress of wasted animals because of poor field care.

Here are some tips to help you get your turkey to the taxidermist in the best shape for a beautiful showpiece for your home or office.

VISIT the wildlife artists in your area months before hunting season. Not every taxidermist is good at birds. Birds and fish are some of the more difficult specimens to do well. Look carefully at the turkeys in the taxidermy shop you visit. Balance is very important in a turkey mount; does the bird appear to be ready to fall over or stumble sideways or does it look right for the position it is in? Do the eyes look level and balanced? Are the feathers and the beard straight and even? You as a hunter have a pretty good idea of how a turkey should look. Find some good reference photos in some of the great outdoor publications out there such as Turkey Country from the NWTF.

Hunting

When aiming at your bird, try to wait for a shot that will not damage the fan. This seems obvious but many hunters get busy watching the tail feathers and shoot holes right through their trophy; sort of like hunters watching the racks on large bucks. The head can be replaced if necessary, but tail feathers are harder to match.

Get over to your bird right away after you have shot it. You will want to prevent any possible thrashing around that may get the turkey dirty or harm the feathers.

Carry the bird by the legs not the neck. Keep it out of the dirt and weeds and if it is still bleeding place cotton or paper towels into the mouth to stop the blood flow.

Cool your turkey completely. NEVER place a warm bird in a plastic bag, cooler or other tightly sealed container. Put it into a cool shady place with a breeze, opening up the wings and legs a bit if possible until it s thoroughly cooled.

Decide what you want to do with your bird BEFORE you clean it. Do you want a full body mount or just a fan display?  Full body turkeys are very impressive and showy and one you are going to have mounted in a full body mount really should be kept intact until you get it to the taxidermist; but you can free the breast meat only to use it if you follow these steps.

Removing the breast meat only

1.  Weigh the bird, so the taxidermist will know what size body to place back into the bird.

2. Place the bird on its back on a clean surface and find the line on the breast just under the beard, where there aren’t any feathers and begin your incision; cutting just deep enough to cut through the skin.

3. Cut with your clean knife facing up downward toward the vent being careful not to cut feathers. Stop your incision just above the vent.

4. With your fingers and gently work the skin away from the breast working your way toward the back.

5. With a sharp knife remove the breast meat only from the carcass and set aside.

6. Place damp paper towels into the bird and place into a bag, keeping it dry and cool.

7. Take the bird to the taxidermist immediately or freeze it.

If you will need to ship your turkey or haul it far then take some cardboard to wrap around the tail feathers or to sandwich the tail feathers, to keep them from becoming bent or frayed.

Save the spurs and the beard of your turkey and if you like the shotgun shell or arrow used to kill the bird also. A fan mounted with the beard is beautiful and the spurs are also a fun bragging piece.

When looking for a place in your home to display your bird, be sure there is no direct heat source such as a fireplace or furnace vent close by or anyway for dogs to get at it. Watch for flying insects such as moths that can damage the feathers.

Wild Rice and Turkey Soup

Two turkey breasts cut into bite sized pieces.

3-4 stocks of celery chopped,

1 small can water chestnuts chopped

One small onion chopped

1 box or 3 cans of chicken broth

1 tbs. parsley

½ tsp. sage or poultry seasoning

½ tsp. rosemary

1 tsp black pepper

Dash salt

1 cup wild rice or wild rice blend

Dried cranberries, sliced onion and chopped walnuts for garnish

________________________________________________________________

Saute’ turkey breast, celery and onion together until the celery and onion are transparent and the turkey slightly browned.

Add broth, parsley, sage or poultry seasoning,rosemary, pepper, salt and rice and simmer until rice is tender.

Just before serving add chopped water chestnuts.

Serve in large bowls with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and green onions as garnish.

Feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed on this blog if you want to learn more field care tips!

Frequently our taxidermy studio resembles an old time feed store, with friendly, excited people hanging around telling their hunting stories, photos and sharing bits of wisdom. Hunters are proud of their animals and love to show them off. Each animal coming in the door is a trophy to someone , be it the first spike shot by a young hunter, or a three inch trout caught by someone’s granddaughter.

Several times each hunting season an animal is brought in to the shop that stops everyone in their tracks. The hunter and staff members are pretty sure they have a “trophy book” animal and everyone gathers around to see and admire the beautiful animal that was harvested.

As a Master Measurer for Safari Club International, my husband Jerry is asked to score many such gorgeous animals. Saying you have an animal that made a trophy record book is a great reward, but is it necessary?

To some people, keeping track of scores is only a way for people to boast about their kill, adding proof that “mine is bigger than yours.” While crowing over a big kill can be a  piece of the puzzle, there is much more involved in record keeping and to the clubs in charge of classifying the animals.

Trophy record books are used extensively for conservation purposes; a tool used by state and federal wildlife agencies alike. Herd size, condition, and range and habitat stability over several years can be tracked and managed with the aid of these records.

Finding out which book your animal qualities for can be more complicated and breaking down the different scoring methods, qualifications and philosophies gets really tricky

Safari Club International, Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young are some of the most recognized trophy record keeping clubs in the United States today. There are smaller organizations in most states with some of the different clubs such as fishing clubs and turkey clubs.

Safari Club International is an organization dedicated to the protection of hunters and hunting all over the world, their main focus is conservation, and protecting our hunting heritage through hunting legislation, and chapter involvement at the community level.

SCI hosts the most comprehensive record keeping system worldwide and recognizes all aspects of an animal stating that size matters as much as or perhaps more than perfection. SCI recognizes animals taken with a rifle, bow, handgun, or muzzleloader. There are categories for both free range and estate or high-fence harvested animals. SCI has two types of measurer; official scorer and master scorer.

Through SCI for most trophies, official scoring is all that is required. If an animal may potentially be a top ten contender, it has to go through a drying period and be rescored by a master measurer.

The Boone and Crockett Club was established in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt along with several other influential men of his time and has a rich and fascinating history.

Through conservation efforts they saved Yellowstone Park and set fair chase guidelines that are still in practice today. President Roosevelt understood the need to conserve and manage our rapidly vanishing wildlife while at the same time preserving our right to hunt. The Boone and Crockett trophy record book is dedicated to firearm harvested North American game. The system places emphasis on the symmetry of a rack and penalizes portions of the rack that are non-symmetrical resulting in well-matched trophies placing higher than mismatched trophies of comparable size.

Pope and Young Club was founded in 1961 and named after pioneer bowhunters Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young. Pope and Young with their scoring patterned after Boone and Crockett is dedicated specifically to the archery enthusiast.

Animals deemed trophy book animals are those  that posses the minimum score to qualify for the particular record keeping organization. These minimum numbers are usually posted online at the official club’s website. A certified measurer for your club will also have this information. Getting an initial measurement on your own helps you know if you are close to the minimum requirements. Usually there are printable measuring instructions on the club websites.

Contact the organization you wish to be recorded with to have them give you the name of a measurer in your area.
Most often you will need to be a member of the organization in question in order to have your animal considered for a trophy record book. Membership may be included in your registration fee if you are not yet a member. Most of these organizations have implemented record keeping as a service to their patrons.

The hunter needs to take several good field pictures of the animal and rack from different angles when getting ready to have their animal considered.

Remember a trophy is in the eye of the beholder and all harvested animals are important. Just because it doesn’t “make book” doesn’t mean it is not something to be extremely proud of. A well worn book of snapshots depicting sensational hunting trips is every bit as important, if not more so than making a record book entry. Record books change every 3 years or so, but fond memories never do.

Each of the aforementioned organizations recognize that our best conservation efforts are in the lessons we teach to our children and grandchildren through positive hunting and conservation experiences.

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Field Care Tips for Wild Turkeys

Copyright © 2010 by Anne Vinnola

 So you are heading out for a gorgeous day of turkey hunting. Are you prepared for having your turkey mounted by a taxidermist? Many turkey hunters don’t go past the kill part of their planning, they assume they are just going for the meat and are not prepared when a trophy walks into shooting view.

Turkeys are impressive mounted in a home. Here are some tips to help you get your turkey to the taxidermist in the best shape for a beautiful showpiece for your home or office.

Hopefully you have checked out the taxidermists in your area months before hunting season. Not every taxidermist is good at birds. Birds and fish are some of the more difficult specimens to do well. Look carefully at the turkeys in the taxidermy shop you visit. Balance is very important in a turkey mount. Does the bird appear to be ready to fall over or stumble sideways or does it look right for the position it is in? You as a hunter have a pretty good idea of how a turkey should look.

When aiming at your bird, try to wait for a shot that will not damage the fan. This seems obvious but many hunters get busy watching the tail feathers and shoot holes right through their trophy; sort of like hunters watching the racks on large bucks. The head can be replaced if necessary, but the tail feathers are harder to match.

Get over to your bird right away after you have shot it. You will want to prevent any possible thrashing around that may get the turkey dirty or harm the feathers. 

 Carry the bird by the legs not the neck. Keep it out of the dirt and weeds and if it is still bleeding place cotton or paper towels into the mouth to stop the blood flow.

Cool your turkey completely.  NEVER place a warm bird in a plastic bag, cooler or other tightly sealed container. Put it into a cool shady place with a breeze, opening up the wings and legs a bit if possible until it s thoroughly cooled.  

Decide what you want to do with your bird. Do you want a full body mount or just a fan display?  Full body turkeys are very impressive and showy and one you are going to have mounted in a full body mount really should be kept intact until you get it to the taxidermist; but you can free the breast meat only to use it if you follow these steps.

1.  Weigh the bird, so the taxidermist will know what size body to place back into the bird.

2. Place the bird on its back on a clean surface and find the line on the breast just under the beard, where there aren’t any feathers and begin your incision; cutting just deep enough to cut through the skin.

3. Cut with your clean knife facing up downward toward the vent being careful not to cut feathers. Stop your incision just above the vent. 

4. With your fingers and gently work the skin away from the breast working your way toward the back.

5. With a sharp knife remove the breast meat only from the carcass and set aside.

6. Place damp paper towels into the bird and place into a bag, keeping it dry and cool.

7. Take it to the taxidermist immediately or freeze it.

 If you will need to ship your turkey or haul it far then take some cardboard to wrap around the tail feathers or to sandwich the tail feathers, to keep them from becoming bent or frayed.

Save the spurs and the beard of your turkey and if you like the shotgun shell or arrow used to kill the bird also. A fan mounted with the beard is beautiful and the spurs are also a fun bragging piece.

When looking for a place in your home to display your bird, be sure there is no direct heat source such as a fireplace or furnace vent close by or anyway for dogs to get at it.

 Wild Turkey and Rice Soup

 Two turkey breasts cut into bite sized pieces.

3-4 stocks of celery chopped,

1 small can water chestnuts chopped

One small onion chopped

1 box or 3 cans of chicken broth

1 tbs. parsley

½ tsp. sage or poultry seasoning

½ tsp. rosemary

1 tsp black pepper

Dash salt

1 cup wild rice or wild rice blend

Dried cranberries, sliced onion and chopped walnuts for garnish

________________________________________________________________

Saute’ turkey breast, celery and onion together until the celery and onion are transparent and the turkey slightly browned.

Add broth, parsley, sage or poultry seasoning,rosemary, pepper, salt and rice and simmer until rice is tender.

Just before serving add chopped water chestnuts. 

Serve in large bowls with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and green onions as garnish.

Tell us what you think! Do you like the recipe and how can you use this field care info? 

To Score or not to Score

Copyright © 2009 Anne Vinnola

Frequently our taxidermy studio resembles an old time feed store, with friendly, excited people hanging around telling their hunting stories, photos and sharing bits of wisdom. Hunters are proud of their animals and love to show them off. Each animal  coming in the door is a trophy to someone , be it the first spike shot by a young hunter, or a three inch trout caught by someone’s granddaughter.   Several times each hunting season an animal is brought in to the shop that stops everyone in their tracks.  The hunter and staff members are pretty sure they have a “trophy book” animal and everyone gathers around to see. 

 As a Master Measurer for Safari Club International, my husband Jerry is asked to score many gorgeous animals.    Saying you have an animal that made a trophy record book is a great reward, but is it necessary?   

To some people, keeping track of scores is only a way for people to boast about their kill, adding proof that “mine is bigger than yours.”  While crowing over a big kill can be a really nice piece of the puzzle, there is much more involved in record keeping and to the clubs in charge of classifying the animals. Trophy record books are used extensively for conservation purposes; a tool used by state and federal wildlife agencies alike.   Herd size, condition, and range and habitat stability over several years can be tracked and managed with the aid of these records.

  Finding out which book your animal qualities for can be more complicated and breaking down the different scoring methods, qualifications and philosophies gets really tricky

Safari Club International, Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young are some of the most recognized trophy record keeping clubs in the United States today.  There are smaller organizations in most states with some of the different clubs such as fishing clubs and turkey clubs.

Safari Club International is an organization dedicated to the protection of hunters and hunting all over the world, their main focus is conservation, and protecting our hunting heritage through hunting legislation, and chapter involvement at the community level. SCI hosts the most comprehensive record keeping system worldwide and recognizes all aspects of an animal stating that size matters as much as or perhaps more than perfection.  SCI recognizes animals taken with a rifle, bow, handgun, or muzzleloader.  There are categories for both free range and estate or high-fence harvested animals.    SCI has two types of measurer; official scorer and master scorer.  For most trophies, official scoring is all that is required. If an animal may potentially be a top ten contender, it has to go through a drying period and be rescored by a master measurer. 

The Boone and Crockett Club was established in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt along with several other influential men of his time and has a rich and fascinating history. Through conservation efforts they saved Yellowstone Park and set fair chase guidelines that are still in practice today. President Roosevelt understood the need to conserve and manage our rapidly vanishing wildlife while at the same time preserving our right to hunt.  The Boone and Crockett trophy record book is dedicated to firearm harvested North American game.  The system places emphasis on the symmetry of a rack and penalizes portions of the rack that are non-symmetrical resulting in  well-matched trophies placing higher than mismatched trophies of comparable size. 

Pope and Young Club was founded in 1961 and named after pioneer bowhunters Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young.  Pope and Young with their scoring patterned after Boone and Crockett is dedicated specifically to the archery enthusiast.

 Animals deemed trophy book animals are those which have made the minimum score to qualify for a particular record keeping organization. These minimum numbers are usually posted online.   A certified measurer for your club will also have this information.  Getting an initial measurement on your own helps you know if you are close to the minimum requirements. Usually there are printable measuring instructions on the club websites.   Contact the organization you wish to be recorded with to have them give you the name of a measurer in your area. 

            Most often you will need to be a member of the organization in question in order to have your animal considered for a trophy record book.  Membership may be included in your registration fee if you are not yet a member.   Most of these organizations have implemented record keeping as a service to their patrons.

The hunter needs to take several good field pictures of the animal and rack from different angles. 

            Remember a trophy is in the eye of the beholder and all harvested animals are important.  Just because it doesn’t “make book” doesn’t mean it is not something to be extremely proud of.   A well worn book of snapshots depicting sensational hunting trips is every bit as important, if not more so than making a record book entry.  Record books change every 3 years or so, but fond memories never do.

Each of the aforementioned organizations recognizes that our best conservation efforts are in the lessons we teach to our children and grandchildren through positive hunting experiences. 

Jerry and Anne Vinnola are the owners of the  Big Timber South Taxidermy Studio  in Canon City, Colorado, and The Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training, Inc.  Please feel free visit www.Coloradotaxidermyschool.com  call 1-800-733-6936 for information about becoming a professional taxidermist or to have custom taxidermy done.

Our first Bird Class began at the Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training Inc. This week. What a great bunch of students! I will get some pics of what they are working on, later this week!

Example of Poor Taxidermy

Picking the Right Taxidermist

Copyright© 2009 by Anne Vinnola

A hunter came to us toting a mount he had just picked up from another taxidermist.  The hunter was livid at the taxidermist for ruining his bobcat. He was also angry as much at himself than at the taxidermist he had just left.

 A year before the hunter with his bobcat carefully skinned, frozen and anticipating the beautiful table scene he would have made around this cat, called all of his friends to tell them about his prize. Then he sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out his local phone book.  

His next move would ultimately be a costly one. He let his fingers do the walking to a taxidermist whose work he had never seen. He wanted to save a few dollars, and after all aren’t all taxidermists alike? After finding a shop that would do the work he wanted for $25.00 less than ours, he packed up his prize and off he went. Was he wrong to shop for a bargain? Not really, I am all for shopping around for a good deal but let’s count the cost for this particular “bargain.” 

After paying the taxidermist for the animal upon its completion, his excitement turned to disgust at receiving an anatomically incorrect, wild-eyed, fuzzy piece of garbage.

The hunter, by going to his phone book and not personally checking out the work done by the taxidermist, indeed saved $25.00 at first, but received back an animal that he was ashamed to have in his home.  He later asked us to fix his bobcat thus adding time and another $200 to his mount.

It never ceases to amaze me when sportsmen call to tell me for instance of the wonderful African adventure they had. They tell me how they spent months searching for the perfect professional hunter, how they found the best lodge to stay at and what rifle they used. The amount of money spent hunting abroad is staggering, with air fare, passports, guns, time off of work, trophy fees and all the rest. Why compromise on the finished trophy?

Some things to consider when you are visiting a new studio:

 Does the taxidermist show you and your animal respect?

Several years ago, an elderly gentleman brought a tiny trout to us in a sandwich baggie.  He was somewhat defensive upon his arrival and we soon discovered why.  He had been to several other taxidermists in the area and each one had laughed at his fish, as though it was beneath them to take on such a seemingly insignificant project.  What Jerry did because of the respect he has for each person and animal brought into our shop and what he teaches each student in our taxidermy school, brought the elder man to tears of gratitude.  Jerry carefully held the fish in his hand and told the man he would be proud to mount it. The fish obviously meant a lot to him or he wouldn’t have brought it in. This tiny fish was the product of the only fishing trip he would ever be able to take his grandson on, and was the first fish this young boy had ever caught. 

Do you like the look of the mounts in the studio?

Carefully study the mounts in the studio.  Obvious things to look for are nails or nail holes left in finished mounts, cracks around the eyes and noses, crooked skins on the mannequins, hair and skin pulled away from the horns or antlers and such. Stand and look directly at the face of the mounts.  Are the eyes level and are they looking the same direction?

  With fish mounts, do the seams fit on the back or are they stapled leaving a gap? If the back seam does not fit, then the rest of the skin does not really fit either.  Do the fish have both eyes?  This seems obvious, but many taxidermists cut corners with mounted fish saying that the eye closest to the plaque is the “non-show” side.  You took in a whole fish, don’t you want to get your fish back that is the same size, color with all of its parts intact.

How long will it take to get your mount back?

Frustrating as it is to be patient for a mount to be done there are some good reasons for a reasonable wait. Turn around time is another thing hunters judge taxidermists on, but having an understanding of the basic process is helpful in determining how long you might wait. Some things to consider:

1.         Where is your piece in the lineup of work to be done? There are many pieces coming into the shop during the various hunting and fishing seasons.  Yours will go into the lineup and should be finished in the order in which it came in.  Choose a taxidermist who won’t compromise the order things are brought in to make his buddies happy or to customers who want to pay more for faster turn around. If he will do this for them then he doesn’t really value you as a customer. 

2.         How long does the taxidermist have to wait for the cape to be tanned?  Your taxidermist is to some extent at the mercy of the tannery.  It can take months for your taxidermist to receive capes and hides back since there are only a few good tanneries and there are many taxidermists. If he tans them himself, it still takes time to prepare them and do the tanning.

3.         Drying time. After your trophy is mounted, there needs to be time for the clay and other materials to dry. If drying time is rushed, then problems can come up with visible as well as interior parts of the mount. After it is dried, then it can be painted and finished.

  When you take your trophy to your taxidermist he will be able to give you an estimated time of completion. It makes sense to wait a bit longer to get a nicer mount done than to settle for a rush job and a poor piece you are not happy with. 

Is the work guaranteed? You want to do business with an artist who is proud enough of his work to guarantee it.

If there is something wrong with your mount after you take it home then, be sure to call him and work out a solution.

Get to know your taxidermist. Spend some time in his shop if you can. Your taxidermist can give you many field care tips and can help you get the best results for all of your trophies.  He wants to see you succeed and will do his best to help.

There are many things to do when preparing for a hunting or fishing trip.  If you do your homework in finding a wildlife artist whose work you are comfortable with you will have a more relaxed time knowing that your memories are safe with someone you trust.

Jerry and Anne Vinnola own the Colorado Institute of Taxidermy Training Inc., and Big Timber South Taxidermy in Canon City, Colorado. Call 1-800-733-6936 or visit www.coloradotaxidermyschool.com.

 You may e-mail them at cotaxidermy@amigo.net.