Joe Smith Taxidermy

When Joe Smith opens the door and turns on the lights in his trophy room, even the highly paid professional outdoor communicator is reduced to simply saying “Wow!”  In my case, I was speechless.

The two-room collection of animals is a PETA member’s nightmare. A full-grown musk ox grazes near where a mountain lion crouches over the door, while elk, deer, otters and even bighorn sheep stand frozen, amazing the young boy inside every grown man. Creatures, known and unknown, crowd every surface except the ceiling and the largest moose ever seen by this writer fixes an unmoving gaze into the distance.

I hadn’t originally come to see Smith’s trophy room but it is certainly an attention-getter. The reason behind this private museum of zoology is Smith’s other hobby turned occupation: taxidermy.

The Shop

I had traveled to rural Tippecanoe County for purpose of learning about taxidermy and trophy care from Smith, now in his 32^nd year of “stuffing” animals. From self-taught beginnings when he “would mount ten fish at a time, then throw them out and start over,” to the present when sportsmen across the country seek his services, Smith knows a thing or two about preserving the fruits of a successful hunting or fishing trip.

Now retired from the Eli Lilly Company, Smith first began mounting animals as a way to preserve his own hunting and fishing trophies. “I’m totally self-taught because most taxidermists are very competitive and very secretive. I tried for many years until I finally got into a taxidermist’s back room,” he said.

Now, after much trial and error, supplied by a steady stream of hunting trips across the globe, Smith’s skill is evident. When complimented on his obvious talents, Smith sidesteps and points out, “Before you stick a knife into somebody’s trophy, you got to know what you’re doing.”  With many years and hundreds of deer, turkey and fish mounts behind him, Smith certainly qualifies as an expert in care of special trophies.

Antlers

Foremost, Smith advises a potential customer to comparison shop. “You should go around and look at the work,” he says. “You will see a difference.”  Smith notes that the only complaints he ever receives concern the length of time required to complete a mount. He advised that any reputable taxidermist will require many months to finish a trophy and cautions that anyone who promises a completed deer head within two to three months is likely not doing a thorough job.

Smith says the biggest secret to a good mount is the use of a commercial tanning service on the animal skin, rather than a homebrew concoction in the backroom of a taxidermy workshop. “Commercial tanning is the only way to go because longevity (of the mount) is a problem. If not tanned properly, a mount will eventually crack due to (changes in) humidity,” he explained.

With deer season now open, Smith has lots of advice for successful hunters who are considering bringing their trophy to the taxidermist. Above all else, Smith says that hunters need to bring the animal to him as soon as possible.

“Temperatures above freezing and moisture are the big problems. 40 degrees and rain are bad!” he said, even though the temperature might seem quite chilly to hunters. “Just bring me the deer as soon as possible; the minute it died, it started to rot,” he noted.

Other things to avoid include washing the carcass, salting the hide or slitting the throat. “Once the animal has died, slitting the throat does nothing,” Smith said. He also explained that it is fairly easy to repair or reconstruct broken antlers. “I call these ‘project deer’,” he chuckled.

Smith explained that birds are tough to work with due to delicate skin and the care required to protect the feathers. Field care for birds requires you to “stuff cotton into the mouth of the bird, wipe off any blood and bring the whole animal to me as soon as possible,” Smith said.

Fish are the easiest trophy to care for. Smith advised to simply wrap the whole fish in wet newspaper then use clear kitchen wrap to secure it to a like-sized board, stuff the whole conglomeration into a plastic trash bag and freeze. Stored this way, fish can be safely kept for years; Smith recently mounted a largemouth bass that had been frozen about 17 years.

After your deer, turkey or mongoose has been returned, caring for the trophy is relatively simple. Smith warns to keep them away from windows to prevent fading and away from heat sources to prevent cracking or other damage to the skin. He notes that a well-prepared mount should require nothing further than occasional dusting with a feather duster.

Whether your spouse will permit hanging a dead animal on the living room wall is entirely up to you.

Joe Smith can be reached via the internet at http://www.joesmithtaxidermy.com

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