Recommendations for taxidermists for small upland birds?

[Trogon]

Two of the woodcock I bagged last year ended up only catching a couple 7.5's and look pretty unscathed. I'm wanting to have them mounted, not sure of position yet-perhaps one squatting on the ground and the other flying. I've not seen any local work on birds that I would be very happy with, so I'm fine with shipping them. Anyone had small game birds mounted to their satisfaction? I'd love to hear about it. Have sent a note to Eric after viewing his waterfowl mounts in his gallery.

 

[Jeffro]

There is a guy who does museum class birds for collections all over the world.

 

[JimP]

I'd check around at the taxidermist in your area and see if there is one that just does birds.

I know of one in Salt Lake City area that only does birds and fish, he doesn't touch fur. Even a couple of the deer that he has bagged he farmed out to another taxidermist instead of doing them his self.

 

[Trogon]

A work friend that I'm going waterfowl and pheasant hunting with has had a number of ducks and geese done by a local guy, and the quality has fallen off, turn around time on some of his birds are still waiting after 4 years, plus the taxi had a freezer die, so he lost 6 birds to that. He will be interested as well. I'm going to a NWTF dinner this weekend and hope to make some contact there.

 

[gizmo]

I got your email and sent one back. We’d love to have the opportunity to mount your birds. I have a world class bird taxidermist on staff that is absolutely the best there is.

 

[harden]

Trogon, You in Southwest Ohio. Correct.
Don't ship Woodcock BIG MISTAKE in my opinion but juts my opinion they are Way to Delicate
He's quite a decent Bird taxidermist and does have taxidermy industry awards for birds
Search this http://www.thunderbaytaxidermy.com/home.html
Tell Him Dennis Harris from Michigan sent you
He used to live here in Michigan

 

[Trogon]

Dennis, thanks for your note, I'll check in with these guys, appreciate it.

 

[Firebird]

Just for fun look up Ohio taxidermists association and see when they are having competitions and if they post past winners with pix etc. Also look up wasco award winners and as you sort through hundreds of pix of winners from each state you might see some names you want to check out.
Just another fun way to research taxidermists from your area.

 

[Firebird]

By that same token, just because a guy won some awards doesn’t make him great to do business with and also, all the taxidermy greats no longer compete so follow up on all the leads you get and do the diligence to make sure you find a good one-

 

[gizmo]

Trogon, You in Southwest Ohio. Correct.
Don't ship Woodcock BIG MISTAKE in my opinion but juts my opinion they are Way to Delicate
He's quite a decent Bird taxidermist and does have taxidermy industry awards for birds
Search this http://www.thunderbaytaxidermy.com/home.html
Tell Him Dennis Harris from Michigan sent you
He used to live here in Michigan

Clients ship birds from all over the country including small delicate birds. As long as they are packed properly it’s not an issue. My bird guy on staff is the best in the country and has the awards to back it up. No different than shipping a Quail with the exception of the beak, or mandival if you will.

 

[hammerguy]

I would strongly suggest Jerry Froelich from Flyway Taxidermy in Minnesota.
He only does birds, has won lots of big awards, and has done birds for me that look so real it's unbelievable.
I love woodcock - favorite bird ever (although 2nd place is about 10-way tie). I downloaded the perfect photo off the web, gave it and a well-shot bird to Jerry and he created magic. PM me if you want a photo.

 

[Firebird]

Mandival??? Mandible is the term auto spell butchered for you. Segler, zeigler and froelich all from that part of the world and bird master of masters. But it still demands some research on your part. One day shipping is the only way you can safely ship small birds and please don’t trust the usps! If I had two prime woodcock I would drive them frozen to someone I absolutely trusted. For real-how many phs did you research before you bought your first safari?

 

[Firebird]

Just for giggles, e mail zink calls and see who they recommend-I think they are still in Ohio.
I can hit three national and world champions from my house with a rock but won’t recommend any of them because you need to talk to or preferably visit several “studios” before you make this choice. And since Dennis will scratch his head about my rock throwing ability-Troy garner, Scott humble, Merlin Anderson and Tracy Jacobsen. . . There are other great ones but those are the guys that went to the big dance and did well from my tiny part of the world that I know well-

 

[harden]

Nah. Not scratching my head...

 

[Trogon]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I don't have a problem shipping these birds packed correctly, I ship collected environmental samples that would be much more fragile than two frozen woodcock. My greater concern would be receiving the finished birds. Using a local taxidermist (within a half days drive or so for me to pick up) would be fine with me, or if pick up could coincide with either a work field project trip or bird hunting vacation.