Your first month of taxidermy

Most people assume taxidermy is inaccessible without formal training. It isn't. Here's what your first month actually looks like, from choosing a specimen to hanging a finished mount on the wall.

By Colin B. · Published July 12, 2026

Taxidermy has an image problem. Most people picture either a dusty museum diorama or a reality TV extreme-craft show, and in both cases it looks like something that requires either a professional studio or a cast-iron constitution. Neither is true.

At its core, taxidermy is a preservation craft (the same family as leatherwork and curing). The techniques are learnable from YouTube and a good supplier’s instructions. The first few mounts will have visible mistakes. By your fifth or sixth, the process starts to feel natural.

Here is what your first month actually looks like.

Week 1: Choose your specimen and gather supplies

The most important decision you’ll make is what to work on first. The right answer for most beginners is a fish or a small mammal, not a deer.

Fish (bass, panfish, trout) are the fastest entry. The skinning process takes 1-2 hours, the forms are inexpensive ($8-25), and you can freeze your catch and work on it at any point. The main downside is that painting a fish realistically requires some patience with acrylics.

Small mammals (squirrel, rabbit, small predators) are the classic taxidermy starting point. More fleshing is required, and the hide is more fragile than fish skin, but the technique is what most taxidermy tutorials are built around.

Don’t start with a deer. A deer shoulder mount is a multi-day project requiring large, expensive forms and significantly more fleshing skill. Do two or three smaller mounts first. The technique will be obvious by then.

Once you’ve chosen your specimen, order your supplies before you freeze anything. You’ll need a starter kit (preservation chemicals and hide paste), a form matched to your animal’s species and size, glass eyes, and basic tools (fleshing tool, scalpel handle with blades, heavy needles). Most of this is available on Amazon from McKenzie or Research Mannikins.

A note on forms: measure your specimen before you order. Fish forms are sized by length. Mammal forms are sized by body measurements. A form that’s 2 inches too small won’t work, and the return process is annoying.

Week 2: Skinning and fleshing

This is the step most beginners are nervous about, and the nervousness is understandable. It’s also the step that becomes comfortable faster than you’d expect.

For fish, the skinning process involves cutting along the dorsal fin from head to tail, peeling the skin off one side over the spine, and removing the internal organs and meat. The form is then slipped inside the skin and the two halves reattach around it.

For small mammals, you make an incision from the base of the tail to the back of the skull, peel the skin away from the carcass (called “casing”), and remove the skull and lower legs inside the skin. The fleshing step (scraping fat and membrane off the inner skin surface) is where most of the actual skill lives.

Fleshing is the make-or-break step. Flesh too timidly and fat deposits under the hide will rot over time and cause slippage (the hair or scales detaching from the skin). Flesh too aggressively and you’ll puncture the hide. The Dakota IV fleshing tool gives you better feedback than a knife for this; the wire end catches on membranes without cutting through the skin.

Spray Stop-Rot on the fleshed skin as you work, especially in warm weather. It buys you an extra day or two of processing window and is the main thing that prevents the smell beginners fear.

After fleshing, pack the inside of the skin thoroughly with borax. It desiccates the remaining organic material and deters insects. Don’t skip it.

Week 3: Mounting and positioning

Once the skin is fleshed and treated, you fit it over the form. This is the most creative part of the process. The positioning of ears, eyes, and facial features is where the personality of the mount comes from.

Eyes are placed before the skin dries. You’ll work hide paste or epoxy sculpt into the eye sockets on the form, set the glass eyes at the correct angle and depth, then adjust the skin around them while everything is still pliable. Most beginners set the eyes too shallow or at the wrong angle on their first attempt; buy an extra pair and expect one set to need repositioning.

For fish, the skin is pinned or stapled to the form while it dries, and the fins are shaped while they’re still flexible. For mammals, the incision is sewn closed with the heavy upholstery needles after the skin is pulled snug over the form.

The mount then goes on a form stand or wire support to dry. This takes 3-7 days for fish; 1-3 weeks for small mammals. Don’t rush it; moving the mount before it’s fully dry can distort the position.

Week 4: Finishing

For fish, finishing means repainting. The natural pigment in fish skin fades as it dries: a freshly caught bass looks vivid; a dried mount looks dull. You’ll need acrylic paints and a reference photo of your fish. Start with the base color and work your way to the detail layers. Beginners are often surprised by how much the paint step improves the finished piece.

For mammals, finishing is mostly trimming and grooming: straightening fur, repositioning any lifted edges, and touching up with the appropriate color if needed. A small amount of hide paste under any loose edges and then clamping overnight usually fixes them.

Mount it on a plaque, a piece of driftwood, or a simple wall bracket. The presentation matters more than most beginners expect.

Where beginners struggle (and what to do)

Slippage. The hair or scales lift off the skin in patches after drying. Cause: inadequate fleshing or insufficient borax application. Fix: go back to the fleshing step on your next mount.

Eyes look wrong. The angle or depth is off. Fix: practice on a spare set before committing. Study reference photos of the living animal from the front, not just the side.

Hide shrinks on the form. The skin pulls away from edges as it dries. Cause: form is the wrong size, or the skin wasn’t stretched enough before pinning. Fix: measure more carefully before ordering the next form.

Fish looks faded and gray. Normal; the paint step is what restores color. This is expected, not a defect.

Every one of these mistakes is more useful than a perfect first mount would be. The technique lives in your hands, not in your kit.

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Ready to buy? See our taxidermy gear guide for starter kits, forms, tools, and the chemicals that make the difference between a mount that lasts and one that doesn’t.