DT10Sam

Welcome aboard.........................this is as you will see the best site around. Regards, Sam

That could have been painful, you can tell Dave didn't know the snapping turtle was there like anyone else he would have needed time to change his pants. Regards, Sam

Yes it is that time of year when all hunters are anxiously waiting to go on a moose hunt. This morning I see that we got hit with our first good frost here in Eastern Ontario and that will sent everything into hunting mode and feeling good for all hunters. The joy of the fall season are about to begin. Enjoy your scouting and hunting adventure and return home safe with some good pics and hunting stories to tell. Regards, Sam

Thank you for the kind words everyone and I will answer some questions that have been sent to me. Most taxidermists price their fish from $8.00 - $15.00 per linear inch and the size of the girth does not matter. Also a good photograph will come in extremely handy in order to get the proper colouration of the fish. When a skin mount is ready for painting the skin is usually a very dark grey or black in colour so photographs are extremely important. Anyone who does do fish under $8.00 per linear inch is a sign of maybe checking there work to make sure that you will be satisfied with their talents. There is plenty of work out there for everyone and sometimes taxidermists will be secretive and have the ability to verbally destroy other taxidermists work. I have been doing taxidermy for a very long time and know all of the players in the field and am familiar with their work. The key is to do quality work for your client and hopefully make a little bit of money at it while working smarter than harder. Remember that full time taxidermists have a shop and overhead to pay for and my challenge is to keep it as low as possible when we are getting hit with rising costs in everything. I also do reproduction work at least in the fish category as big game can rarely fall in the category of catch and release. LOL I know some are conservationists as we all miss our shots often enough. As for my pricing it will not be a secret as everyone finds out whenever they call me. I charge for both cold and warm water fish $10.00 per linear inch and on cold water species I reproduce the heads so that it eliminates the oil leakage issue. I do use the same fins on all of my mounts and if you wish to have reproduction tail and fins then it will be $2.00 extra per inch on all skin mounts. Usually it is the tail and fins that get damaged on all skin mounts. I guess there are people that just have to touch fins and tails on a fish. As for reproductions the range is normally a lot more and they start from $15.00 - $24.00 per linear inch and I'm at $16.00 per linear inch making it affordable for many that like reproductions. Habitat is extra depending on what the client likes to have with their mount. As for deer head should mounts the price is $ 500.00. Again the going rate is anywhere from $350.00 - $800.00. Moose and Elk are more obviously as there is more involved. The pic that I posted above are spring brown trout, large mouth bass and walleye are skin mounts and the small mouth bass and brook trout are reproductions. Presently I'm working on an elk mount and a reproduction rainbow trout that is going to Alberta when completed. I will post the pics when they are done. Hopefully I have answered any concerns on pricing as if you have any questions feel free to email me or call me at (613) 397-2175. Regards, Sam

This is not good news to hear at all, we always wish for a positive outcome in these situations so I will hope for a positive outcome. Regards, Sam

Thanks guys, will post some more in a couple of months as I get an elk done and some more fish. I enjoy doing this and will enjoy it better when I see some sort of income coming from it LOL. Man do you gain friends in this line of work.

OLD people have problems that you haven't even considered yet! An 85-year-old man was requested by his Doctor for a sperm count as part of his physical exam. The doctor gave the man a jar and said, 'Take this jar home and bring back a semen sample tomorrow.' The next day the 85-year-old man reappeared at the doctor's office and gave him the jar, which was as clean and empty as on the previous day. The doctor asked what happened and the man explained, 'Well, doc, it's like this -- first I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing. 'Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her right hand, then with her left, still nothing. She tried with her mouth, first with the teeth in, then with her teeth out, still nothing. 'We even called up Arleen, the lady next door and she tried too, first with both hands, then an armpit, and she even tried squeezin' it between her knees, but still nothing.' The doctor was shocked! 'You asked your neighbor?' The old man replied, 'Yep, none of us could get the jar open.'

Thanks Roy the furry friends were to excite TJ since he seems to like to post his deer hunt in here LOL, so I thought I would just excite him a bit.

I just have a splash page up until I get all of my work ready for a website. You can email me from the splash page and I will post it in my signature as well. The site is Sam's Taxidermy Thanks for the kind words. Regards, Sam

I know that you guys are set on November and we are getting word and some pics posted on another forum of good size walleyes being caught east of the ferry. I'm going to try and get out this weekend, however I will let you know what is happening as it develops. I am thinking that October will also be a very good month for monster walleye. Regards, Sam

Hi Everyone, Just thought I would post some of my taxidermy work that I have been doing lately and since the closure of the store I have been busy working out of the country but prefer to be at home doing my taxidermy work which I will be doing on a full time basis this fall. I sure do miss seeing everyone that used to come into the store so now I keep a pot of coffee going for those that used to visit the store in the morning to shoot the breeze and tell lies are now coming to the shop and continuing with the tall tales. Beginning to be a good old boys club (bunch of liars that is), well enjoy the pics. Regards, Sam

Canadian Tire store in Kingston and Belleville carry a complete line of hunting and fishing products with a large selection of firearms and ammo. I closed my store down in Belleville after I was informed 2 years ago that Canadian Tire had placed a huge order of firearms with the various suppliers and that told me it was hard enough to compete with the regular big players in the field and I do not have the buying power or the other departments of merchandise that will carry me through the tough times, so the obvious decision was to close and take the loss. Tough pill to swallow and now Canadian Tire seems to be expanding. The Belleville store looks like a miniature Bass Pro with an enormous amount of stock and there is another local business that is now hurting as a result of Canadian Tire expanding. It will be the end of all of the local gun shops etc., and presently there is only one left and it does not look good for him at all. Most of his store is now displaying emptiness. Regards, Sam

Happy "B" day PAul

Kelvin I am sorry to hear this and I will be thinking of her kicking this one as well. Our thoughts are with you and your family.

Congrats Cliff if in fact you are retiring.......................funny thing is I was working on Freedom 55 which after putting all of my life savings into a store became Freedom 85 and now I'm working on Freedom Life. I don't think retirement is in the cards for me as of yet so if you do pull this off I need pointers...................keep smiling Cliff life is good. Regards, Sam

Ron, let me know what I can do to help. I wrote the date down and will make all efforts to attend at the town meeting. You are certainly an inspiration to everyone. Regards, Sam

Way to go Lew.............. nice to see your still smiling in your pics.

That is paradise..................very nice.

That is hilarious, I'll bet that the MNR are constantly getting guys there at that camp. The fisherman would think that they would never get caught, almost a given that someone would cause an infraction. WTG Terry they waited all night to get their asses wet.

Well I think I'm out of the doghouse for now Things wouod have ben okay if the boys didn't laugh as hard as they did. Oh well I got alot done around the shop during the quiet time. Now I'm scared as to what I will be up against int he future with these boys. It is going to be an expensive life experience for me and I know it. Sam

What an interesting evening last night here at home. It seems our two sons aged 12 and 15 must have eaten something that did not agree with their stomachs. I observed my wife following them around the living room, and kitchen area with a can of Lysol trying to make our home smell refreshed. It seems whatever the boys ate is causing their bodies to release some unpleasant odours. This was evident as my wife just blurts out "Whatever you boys ate must have been rotten". Of course the boys only had a silly smirk on their face and it was not really a time to laugh as their mother was not all impressed with them. My wife also said, "I wished we had girls instead they don't fart". Well to that I stated "that is because they do not keep their mouths shut long enough to build up pressure". I did get some sort of evil staring happening but it all broke loose when the 12 year old started laughing hysterically with tears of laughter flowing down his face. I now am aware that I have to cook my own meals for my own safety.

WOW you've got me concerned, I could handle fishing with you however, I would never consider hunting with you.

Nice pics, I miss Alberta I lived there for 3 years and will be back there this fall for some work that I am doing. Can't wait you just brought back some nice memories, Thank you for sharing. Regards, Sam

Not for me and there would not be enough toilet paper to clean up the mess.

There are alot of folks that enjoy eating them once you get past their ugly looks. I still prefer walleye over those ugly things any day.