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Post by riverrat on May 15, 2008 9:10:47 GMT -5
How do you feel the field of taxidermy is going to fare in the future? I know this is a field where a talented artist has to physically do the work, we can not be replaced by a computer or robot, etc. But with the price of gas, the rising prices of license, lodging, etc. What do you see as a future for up and coming taxidermist? How is your business being affected?
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Post by jwj4856 on May 15, 2008 13:40:33 GMT -5
I really do not think it will effect taxidermists as much as everyone thinks it may, because as a hunter and fisherman I know I will still be spending money on going and if I did not do this myself I would still pay someone to mount for me. It will cause prices to rise on mounts and maybe lose some of the smaller stuff we get at this time but the larger stuff will still come in regardless. I do not think it will effect my shop nearly as much as others that are full time, as I am part time and cutting back on work myself anyway. I do believe taxidermists will still do well in the future as long as quality is kept up there with the prices. And some parts of the country will be effected more than others due to the local economy.
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Post by jonny on May 15, 2008 19:46:22 GMT -5
I am new to taxidermy but IMO with rising fuel cost and i mean they were 3.69 last week now they went to 3.89 today people are going to back of on mounting things for a while I hate to say it but a lot of full time taxis will be hurting later this year I probably picked a bad time to start myself
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mrs
Spike
Posts: 52
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Post by mrs on May 19, 2008 6:24:21 GMT -5
Here are a few thoughts that come to mind. I think because of the economy, having mounts done will become a much smaller market for those who can afford to pay for luxury expenses. There is a tremendous turnover in our profession . Combine that with the expanding impact of the "animal rights" philosophy and it looks like the opportunities to make a living at taxidermy will dwindle significantly. A related issue is the increasing practice of catch & release. C&R has rocketed right past it's employment as a technique of conservation to become a religion with many purists. The effect will be to increase the requests for replicas and greatly reduce the opportunities to do skin mounts. All-in-all I see our industry shrinking dramatically in the future, but the relative few who stay in it should do very well.
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Post by whitetail8 on May 19, 2008 17:15:14 GMT -5
I think that there are a lot of die hard hunters out there that won't care how much gas costs, They will still make it to their hunting camp. (I know I will) But I do think it will impact this industry. A lot of the guys and gals I know think of taxidermy as a luxury item. I do believe that we will probably see more bucks that have been kept in the freezer to long while they save the money for taxi work. or people will not just get average bucks done, They will wait till they really shoot a trophy before they come and see us.
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Post by snapper on May 19, 2008 21:57:14 GMT -5
I agree wih whitetail8. A lot of hunters will still hunt, and fisherman will fish, but because of how much it will cost them just to go and enjoy their sport, having something mounted if it is average will be stuck in the freezer and never done or they will bring it to you after it is freezer burnt and nothing can be done for it. A man just brought me a deer that was so freezer there was no hope for it. I had some capes in the freezer that were getting a little old, so just to get the work, I told him I would use one of my capes and not charge him for it. I figured either accept my loss on the cape and make $400 minus cost or lose the whole thing. Last year i mounted approx. 180 deer, this year I have around 100. Thats a big income loss. When people ask how much, the next thing you hear is I better wait or the will go with something cheaper like a euro skull mount. There will alway be a demand for taxidermist but if your fulltime then a part time job may be needed to make up the difference during slow times
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