Question for the professional taxidermist and DIY’ers

[TRF455]

At what point do y’all draw the line and say “no” when doing euro mounts for people? I just recently acquired multiple heads that were shot last season/ years past. Some were from people who planned on doing them their selves, but couldn’t stomach the smell, and some that were people that were flat lazy and brought them to me after holding onto them for years and realizing they didn’t know what they were doing. (All this being said, I am not a professional taxidermist and just do a little here and there because I really enjoy doing it. Would love to turn it into a profession at some point, but not willing to quit my good paying job to peruse it full time.) I have done some really putrid mounts in the past... some I probably should have said h*ll no to. Like a longhorn skull that had been triple bagged and left in/behind a shop all summer only to rot and bathe in its own sludge. (Turned out nice when I got done with it though.)

I add a little different “twist” to the euros I do, and I believe that’s what keeps bringing people my way. I have a buddy that is a full time taxidermist and is teaching me how to do full body mounts/ shoulder mounts as long as I can incorporate some of my skills in the mix for him. But enough rambling... where do y’all tell people, “Nope, I ain’t gonna do it.”

[kingranch]

Tall to trey powers on here
He does alot of these on the side and from what I remember he let's the water do the work and his kid helps him. I've had him do some for me and it's the best I've seen, even better than that beetle technique

[TRF455]

This is the “twist” I was talking about. Could someone please turn the pics upright... I don’t know how to fix that. Thanks in advance.

[wytex]

Cool work, maybe just do contract work for a taxi.

Spouse finally told his friends no more stinky skulls to clean. Either keep them frozen til he "boils" them or do it yourself. They also buy the propane.

Have a friend that was licensed by Wyoming to do just euros and he made bank every fall.

[buck_wild]

I don't need any side hustle money bad enough to do anything I don't enjoy. I have no problem passing on jobs.

[Smart]

That is just flatout lazy right there. Some folk are just **** slackers.


There is a local guy here near Denton that does this as a solid side hustle and I think he charges an extra $100 or maybe even $200 on top of regular price if you bring it in rotten. That might be passive aggressive way to turn them way.....or make it worth your while if they stil want it done..

[CamoQuest]

I'm with Smart on this. For the quality and uniqueness of your finished product, you can afford to be selective in the work you take in. And honestly, if I had your artistic skill with euros, I'd be asking for heads that were already clean and done, lol. I guess that isn't always practical or possible, but you don't want to reach the point where you no longer enjoy doing what you do. That is beautiful work, sir.

[Dusty Britches]

That is just flatout lazy right there. Some folk are just **** slackers.


There is a local guy here near Denton that does this as a solid side hustle and I think he charges an extra $100 or maybe even $200 on top of regular price if you bring it in rotten. That might be passive aggressive way to turn them way.....or make it worth your while if they stil want it done..

I'm with Smart on this. For the quality and uniqueness of your finished product, you can afford to be selective in the work you take in. And honestly, if I had your artistic skill with euros, I'd be asking for heads that were already clean and done, lol. I guess that isn't always practical or possible, but you don't want to reach the point where you no longer enjoy doing what you do. That is beautiful work, sir.

^^^ This.

My taxi charges double or triple on heads that he does not want to do. A basic deer skull with antlers he charges $150. Hogs $300 because that what it will take to motivate him to do it.

[Chance Love]

It can take time to learn to say NO. I’m still working on it but have gotten way better. Basically if it’s something I just don’t want to do, I don’t. I like the side cash, but it’s not “needed”. Sometimes I’ll try to just price it high enough to turn it away, but that usually backfires and gets left here. Rarely is the $$ worth it for something I just don’t want to mess with.

[AntlerCollector]

This looks like a disguised shameless plug for your skull work. Nice work by the way.

I don’t do rotten euro mounts ever. It’s an easy no for me.

[TRF455]

This looks like a disguised shameless plug for your skull work. Nice work by the way.

I don’t do rotten euro mounts ever. It’s an easy no for me.

I can assure you it’s not. I’m not taking in anything at the moment due to being too busy with life/work and already behind on what I need to get done. (I still have a couple deer, longhorns and a giraffe to carve until I’m caught up.) But thank you for the compliment.

The main reason for the post is just to see how everyone else handles it. A lot of what I have to get done is for friends, or friends of friends. I genuinely enjoy doing it, but the rotten ones really take the fun out of it for me and I don’t want it to eventually become something I don’t like to do.

[TRF455]

I'm with Smart on this. For the quality and uniqueness of your finished product, you can afford to be selective in the work you take in. And honestly, if I had your artistic skill with euros, I'd be asking for heads that were already clean and done, lol. I guess that isn't always practical or possible, but you don't want to reach the point where you no longer enjoy doing what you do. That is beautiful work, sir.

Thank you.

[Dusty8186]

That is just flatout lazy right there. Some folk are just **** slackers.


There is a local guy here near Denton that does this as a solid side hustle and I think he charges an extra $100 or maybe even $200 on top of regular price if you bring it in rotten. That might be passive aggressive way to turn them way.....or make it worth your while if they stil want it done..

This is the way to go. If I'm gonna lose my lunch, your gonna buy me another one!

[scott1022]

My friends know that "I'll do anything for a dollar". That got me in trouble when a good friend of mine gave me a dollar to eat a packet of mayo that had been sitting on the console of his boat all summer long. Of course we all got a good laugh (and story) out of it, but my point being, I like what Smart said; extra charge for rotten. Make it worth your time.