<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elkhunter:
Nice fish mounts schmalts I see afew nice looking trout species up there, but what are the other goofy looking fish? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, dont know if you were joking so.. The Big'in is a real dark water canadian northern. I also have a clear water one mounted that barely shows up on the upper right(just his head) and the 2 together are largemouth, one smallmouth in brown color phase (come in green or brown and can change in the livewell in minutes!) One very large perch, one crappie.
Yes like one guy said about doing his lope mount, its not that expensive. If you are somewhat artistic you can do them. I do deer and birds but specialised in fish because my dad did the others. He couldnt do fish because he sucked at painting. Fish are by far the hardest to do because of the painting, and because hiding any imperfection is a nitmare. Deer heads are a huge moneymaker, they are the fastest and easiest to do, and the best money per hour of work. The thick hair on deer family heads help hide lumps and cuts in the hide, as opposed with fish when the skin dries it shrinks and thins out making imperfections even more noticable. I was very in demand for my trout because i put a high gloss finish on them, and that also brings out any imperfections. I actually wet sanded then between clearcoats to get the wet look. Most guys do their trout flat to hide any bumps.
If i get time i will post a few deer heads and stuff i did.
If any one of you are interested in doing your first deer or elk or lope, i would recommend getting a VHS tape by a company called rienhart taxidermy. They are really good and will walk you through it step by step. They also have forms that have pre-set eyes that are a huge time and quality saver. a pro can do good mounting his own eyes but ametures are better off with the preset eyes.
I learned from my dad but bought the tape anyway and learned a lot of new ideas from them. I do like the guy that did his lope and pay someone to tan and flesh the cape for me for 75$ You will be surpised how well your first mount will turn out if you have a lot of good reference photos to look at like close up of deers eyes and shit like that.
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-26-2003 21:32: Message edited by: schmalts ]</font>