What do you do with your trophy animal? PA experts weigh in – Erie Times-News

Part of the thrill of hunting and fishing is never knowing what you’ll encounter. If you end up getting the deer, turkey or fish of a lifetime, do you know what to do to preserve that memory?
The answer is planning ahead and knowing who is available to handle your taxidermy needs.
Leaders in the industry gathered March 29 through April 1 for the Pennsylvania Taxidermist Association’s annual competition and trade show at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Amateurs, professional and master taxidermists competed with a wide range of animals, from deer, turkey, squirrels, bison, mountain lions, bob cats and a variety of fish. Many of the judges are world champion taxidermists.
“We bring in the best of the best,” said Jens Jorgensen, the association’s president from Mercer. The judges use flashlights to study the eyes, fur, feathers and mouths of the mounts. Their work is precise and nuanced, and they critique competitors carefully. “They can certainly humble you,” he said.
There are two main goals of the event: competition and learning.
“It’s nice to be able to come and compete, compare yourself to your peers,” he said. “Our goal every year is to continue to build the quality of the taxidermists across the state and this is a good way to do it.”
 “You are not compared against your fellow peers, you’re compared against a live animal,” said Ray Kowalski, association vice president from New Kensington. The goal of the taxidermist is realistic artwork.
The individual scores are then ranked with other taxidermists to determine the winners.
Advice from the experts:
“The completed piece that we do for a customer is only as good as how quality the specimen is they bring us,” Jorgensen said. “If they bring us junk, we can polish it up the best we can, but it’s going to look like a polished piece of junk.”
For example with a deer, hunters should avoid dragging the animal over rough terrain where it could lose hair and avoid putting rope around the deer’s neck as the rope could damage the fur, too.
“Field care is number one,” Jorgensen said.
Some supplies for taxidermists are tougher to get these days, such as artificial eyes, and prices have been driven higher because of inflation.
“It could take longer to get your (finished) piece back,” Kowalski said.
When it comes to preserving an animal, look beyond the price, Jorgensen said. “Look at their quality first and then cost.”
Taxidermy is a skilled trade where the artists have overhead costs and spend plenty of hours working on each piece. “With a deer we have a couple hundred dollars just in supplies before we make any money,” he said. 
“If you’re getting something mounted, it’s to preserve that memory of that experience for your lifetime. Do you want it to be pretty, a very nicely done thing you are going to stare at for the rest of your life or do you want it to be so-so and regret that you didn’t take it somewhere else?” Jorgensen said.
For a shoulder mount for a deer, a hunter should expect to pay $550 to $700. Fish average $20 to $25 per inch regardless of species. For a full mount of a turkey, Jorgensen said the cost starts out at about $1,000.
“Get together with your taxidermist and up come up with a good plan and let the artistic abilities of that taxidermist flow,” he said.
Shows like this one reveal the variety of mounts and opportunities those who enjoy the outdoors can have with fish and game. Next year’s state taxidermist championship is scheduled for March 23 at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him atbwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook@whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter@whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram atwhipkeyoutdoors.

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