Trails
End School of Taxidermy offers the following classes.
Winter 2008
Class will begin on Jan 7th and run through March
28th.
President's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day will
be observed.
Spring 2008
Class will begin on March 31st and run through June
20th.
Memorial Day will be observed.
Summer 2008
Class will begin June 23th and run through September
12th.
Independence Day and Labor Day will be observed.
Classes fill up fast so we like to have students
signed up 2 months prior to class. This will give
us ample time to get the needed specimens for each
individual.
Contact
us for more info.
Our curriculum includes the following:
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BIRDS
You will skin and mount 3 birds. Two will be pheasants,
to be done in the flying pose. The other will be a wood
duck in the standing position. We will also incorporate
a habitat with the woody, usually a pond setting. One of
the pheasants will be done during the instructor free week
and will be done completely by yourself. There will be an
instructor present though in case you run into difficulty.
DEER
You will learn how to prep 2 capes to get ready to send
to the tannery, measure them when they return from the tannery
so a proper size form may be ordered, prep the form and
final prep of the capes. You will then mount both shoulder
mounts.
Bill Yox one of the Deer instructors helping students.
Click for larger image
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FISH
The methods you will learn at Trails
End are the most quality controlled methods in the field
now. You will learn how to skin, carve a body, mount, set
the eyes do fin work and paint 5 fish. Also, there will
be an underwater habitat to go along with one of the fish
you will be mounting. Usually there are 5 miscellaneous
fish you will mounting. These are 2 walleyes, 1 northern,
1 bass, and a trout. You will be casting and molding the
original trout head as trout and salmon need to have their
heads replaced due to oiling. Also your second walleye will
be mounted during the instructor free week.We are one of
the only schools that gives 5 fish. We feel this is important
as fish taxidermy is the most challenging part of taxidermy
to learn as a beginner.
We
now have a 150 gallon aquarium on site for the best reference
available, (live game fish). You may go and watch live northerns,
sunfish, walleye, large and smallmouth bass interact with
each other and see for yourself exactly how they use their
fins and gills You can see their attitude and eye expressions,
as well as their markings and how they are effected while
feeding. It doesn't get any better than this for reference!
BEAR
We also allow each student to do an open mouth black bear
shoulder mount. This will show the intricacies of an open
mouth and allow the student to see the difficulty in mounting
a specimen that is in the midst of a growl, bugle or yawn.
The open mouth is a lot more difficult to do as the facial
expressions and inner mouth are now taking on what is considered
the most difficult of expressions to recreate.
SMALL
GAME
There is nothing cuter than a coon hanging from a limb or
a fox searching the snow for a mouse. We provide top quality
hides for our students and allow them to mount one life
size small game to take home with them when they are completed.
It’s amazing how something, such as a coon, can go
from looking like a drowned rat to a soft fluffy critter
with just the use of a blow-dryer.
DEMONSTRATION
All specimens you will be working on will be demonstrated
in their entirety so you will be able to see what you will
be doing before you actually get to go "hands on".
This is vital part of the course as some students have not
seen any part of the taxidermy process on any specimen.
We recommend that each student at this time have a video
camera so they may tape the proceedings this will give them
a reference when they go on their own to fall back on. We
try to do a few demos,once in the beginning of the course
and then again rite before the students get to start working
on their specimens.The more exposure you get to the processes
the better as repetition is the key to success.
CASTING AND MOLDING
At Trails End School of Taxidermy you will also learn how
to duplicate antlers and how to cast your own fish heads.
When it comes to antlers there is nothing like being able
to duplicate what mother nature gave a mature deer on the
top of his head. Some customers want a copy of their antlers
for the cabin or maybe another hunter in the party shot
and missed that same deer. Learning how to duplicate them
will give you more diversity to apply in your studio to
satisfy your customers needs. Fish heads are nice to be
able to duplicate for a number of reasons. One being fit.
By molding and creating the head of a particular fish you
will get a perfect fit when it come to putting the specimen
back together again. Trout and salmon need to have artificial
heads put on them to minimize oiling to appear on them in
the future. Once you learn how to Mold and Cast, anything
is possible to duplicate as long as the item being duplicated
is in a hardened state.
DISCUSSION
There will be in depth diction on Taxidermy and the law.
Getting licensed by the DNR and USFW. As well as a general
overview of the field. Each student will leave with a subscription
to Breakthrough magazine, one of the premier magazines in
taxidermy. You will also get a one year membership to a
Taxidermy Guild or Association of your choice.
EVENING COURSE
Course length will be roughly 12 weeks, and is limited to
8 students per class. Classes will run three times a year
with a Winter, Spring and Summer session, see above for
starting and completion dates. These will be evening classes
and run 5 nights a week unless stated otherwise. You will
need to sign up one month prior to class start. Hours of
class will be 5 -10pm. Although there will be times class
may run a little longer for some due to the speed of students
while learning new techniques
WEEKEND DAY CLASSES (Sat. & Sun.)
We also offer a day class that is a little more flexible
as it is only instructed by one teacher. Some students like
this as it is more of a one on one atmosphere. It is a little
more expensive and a little longer in length. Time line
on this is subject to change due to circumstances that come
up between students and instructors scheduling. Tuition
for this type of instructing is $6,500.00 all specimens
are included as usual. If this is the option you are looking
at please call school or e mail to check on class availability.
We limit this class to 2-3 students to keep it more informal
and relaxed. With the evening classes we are set with a
schedule due to the instructors coming in from different
parts of the country. With the day class we are able to
adjust to fit students needs and keep the class more flexible.
JOB PLACEMENT:
Although most of our students are either looking for just
a little spending money or to open a studio on their own,
we sometimes get requests from other taxidermy studios looking
for employees and even some outfitters. When we get these
requests we contact our students from the past that seemed
like they would be interested in moving to another location
or working in a large studio environment. We currently have
2 students in Alaska, ( how great would that be) working
for some very reputable studios. Having talked to them since
they started their employment they seem to enjoy it immensely.
Not just the opportunity to work in the field of their choice,
but in one of the most beautiful states in the U.S. with
all the benefits of hunting and fishing that state has to
offer.
State Conservation Officer Visit ( Game
Warden ):
As in most states you must be licensed with the state in
order to charge customers for taxidermy services. Minnesota
taxidermists are governed by the Department of Natural Recourses
(DNR). At Trails End School of Taxidermy we have a state
conservation officer come in one night during the course
of the class and discuss legalities and important information
you must know before getting your license. Also discussed
is what you will need to do to comply with state regulations
once you are licensed.This is a great time for questions
to be asked about the legalities and other information you
would like to get from the warden.
Instructor Free Week
We feel that once you have learned the techniques that we
teach here, your next step will be to go to your location
or studio and apply these techniques. Since it may be a
while before you get your hands back into taxidermy, what
better way to see what you have learned than to have week
in a studio to work on a fish and bird completely on your
own. You will have guidance but you are basically doing
these pieces from start to finish by yourself. This will
allow you to build confidence and knowledge that what you
have learned can be applied by you to do a good quality
piece.The best part about this week is it is your first
piece you are doing on your own, but you will still have
an instructor present in case you run into difficulty.
Supply Companies
There are numerous supply companies out there that are able
to supply you with the tools and materials you will need
to run your studio. We supply you with most of their catalogs
and explain their shipping and handling policies. As well
as the differences in the forms they each handle. Not all
companies forms are the same and we try to show the differences
in their perceived anatomy, which is the building blocks
of taxidermy. Many students have never ordered anything
before and we explain how to get the most for your money
when it comes to ordering an item that can be obtained from
multiple companies.
