In Field tips for Taxidermy prep with Josh Todd

In Field tips for Taxidermy prep with Josh Todd

 

Show Notes:

Josh Todd owns McDowell Mountain Taxidermy, a small custom shop in North Scottsdale. Taxidermy is Josh’s hobby and passion and he’s selective about what he takes in and works on. He also does a ton of refurb work cleaning up and bringing an animal back to life. Here, Josh and I get into in-field care to help your taxidermist give you the best possible product. There’s a lot you can do in the field and the moment you get something down, the clock starts ticking. Hunters often have that mentality when it comes to meat, but the same applies when you want to come back with a proper mount or something life-size. In warm weather, fur can start slipping pretty quickly, so the sooner you get the animal cold, the better. 

 

Josh talks about customizations and mannequins available and why having enough cape and shoulder is important. He also gives us a solid play-by-play from getting a bull down in an elk hunt to taking it to the taxidermist. Even though you’re racing the clock, don’t forget to take those hard-earned pictures – you’ll have time for those. Josh walks through all the right cuts and includes a ton of great details. When you’re packing up, never use trash bags or plastic bags and go with something breathable made for game hunting. And don’t forget to keep everything on ice.

 

One of the biggest issues I have is how to keep a larger animal with a big rack cool enough until it makes it to the taxidermist. Josh shares some tips on how you can get creative and do things right to get the best end result. We talked about his preferred methods for European mounts and whitening techniques and processes. Josh and I wrap up by talking about velvet antlers and how to handle them. Try your best not to touch the antlers because they’re super delicate by the tips. Velvet is developing organic tissue and it’s important to get it cold as fast as possible.

What’s Inside:

• What to do in the field to preserve your kills the right way.
• A play-by-play of what to do from getting a bull down to taking it to the taxidermy.
• How to keep things cool when you have a larger animal/big rack.
• What to do with velvet antlers.
  
  

 

Mentioned in this episode

Phoenix Shooting Bags save 20% with code johnstallone

Howl for Wildlife: https://www.howlforwildlife.org/

GoHunt: https://www.gohunt.com/

 

Short Description:

Josh Todd owns McDowell Mountain Taxidermy, a small custom shop in North Scottsdale. Josh talks about customizations and mannequins available and why having enough cape and shoulder is important. He also gives us a solid play-by-play from getting a bull down in an elk hunt to taking it to the taxidermist. We discussed his preferred methods for European mounts and whitening techniques and processes. Josh and I wrap up by talking about velvet antlers and how to handle them.

 

Tags:

big game hunting, hunting tips, hunting guide, buck hunting, hunting stories, taxidermist, elk hunting, deer hunting, mannequin, velvet, taxidermy tips, days in the wild, john stallone, josh todd, hunting podcast