Feather Creek Taxidermy

Feather Creek Taxidermy Gina is a wildlife artist specializing in national award winning game heads & whitetail mounts. We thank you for all of your support!
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Although Gina didn't get into deer hunting until 2009, she has always been into something with animals and nature since her childhood. From fishing, to animal photography to veterinary medicine to raising horses to animal behavior studies! By trade, she had been a biology/animal science high school teacher for 19 years with extensive background in animal dissections/anatomy and a veterinary techni

cian for 10 years prior to teaching. After working with skulls in the business since 2016, and after numerous requests from her customers, Gina decided to take her anatomy/art skills further and took the plunge to be trained to offer game head mounts. In June of 2019, Gina traveled to Iowa to train under the World/International Champion taxidermist Joe Meder for a week with one on one training. Since 2020 she has also trained with World Champion taxidermist and well respected whitetail judge, Jack Emery (whitetails/elk) of Illinois and continues education with him. She has recently trained with World Champion bird taxidermist, Jordan Hackyl. She is a member and competes in the Illinois Taxidermist Association, United Taxidermy Association and National Taxidermists Association. As an educator, she carries over that mindset and continues her taxidermy education with seminars, additional coursework, and competitions. Starting in the fall of 2023, she will also start to teach Whitetail Mounting courses in her shop & at seminars.

2020 - Illinois Taxidermy State Show
2nd place award - Whitetail Professional division closed mouth mount (2nd buck mounted individually)
2nd place award - Whitetail Professional division closed mouth mount (3rd buck mounted individually)
3rd place award - Whitetail Professional division closed mouth mount (1st buck mounted individually)
First Time Competitor Award - Sponsored by Long Beard Taxidermy

2021 - No Shows Due to Covid

2022 - Illinois Taxidermy State Show
1st place award - Whitetail Professional Division Open Mouth Mount
Best of Category - Whitetail Professional Division Open Mouth Mount (best in entire division)
Whitetails Unlimited - Best Whitetail That Tells a Story Award

2023 - Illinois Taxidermy State Show
1st place award - Commercial Whitetail Shoulder Mount (judged at 6 feet) (Morris's buck)

2023 - United Taxidermy Association Conference & Competition Expo - Wichita, Kansas
1st place - Masters Division Whitetail Closed Mouth - Collective Artist (Memorial Buck)
Masters UTA Champion Collective Artist

2024 - Illinois Taxidermy State Show
1st place award - Commercial Whitetail Shoulder mount (Beyer's buck)
1st place award - Commercial Whitetail Shoulder mount (Dalton's buck)
Best Commercial Mount Award (Beyer's buck)

2024 - World Taxidermy Championships - Coralville, Iowa - August 2024
1st place award - Whitetail Division - Open/Professional Division
1st place award - Open Habitat Division (whitetail buck habitat)
3rd place award - Gameheads - Open/Professional Division - 77 -(Desert Bighorn - Vaughn's)

September 2023 - September 2024 - Board Director of Upper Midwest Region for the United Taxidermist Association & Vice Chairman. States responsible for - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota. - Due to time restraints and health issues - temporarily resigned from this position. With her attention to detail along with her artistic eye you won't be disappointed! Gina, Feather Creek Taxidermy

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is great and has had a good summer!  2024 hunting season quickly coming!  So 2024 custo...
09/04/2024

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is great and has had a good summer! 2024 hunting season quickly coming! So 2024 customers you will want to read at least the bottom portion of this post!

I have been absent from here for a few months for a few reasons. But I'm still here. 😊 Lots to cover here so hang in there with me! I first need to get something off my chest. I debated this many times - but its about time many of you realize some things. This will be about what has been going on in the shop and with me for the past year since last fall (beginning), it will discuss the world taxidermy show (middle), and it will also discuss this upcoming hunting season (bottom).

🦌
With hunting season rapidly approaching, there are some things to discuss. A lot has been on my mind past few days of what I should talk about and what not. It has been a very rough year since last fall. As many who have reached out have learned, my health wasn't the best. As many knew I had facial paralysis last fall and couldn't see out of my left eye for almost 2 months, and my health just kept deteriorating for months after leading to the spring of this year. Without going into much as I have learned so many people anymore lack any type of empathy, I wasn't doing well health wise. This led to minimal work times in the shop due to literally feeling ill most days, which then led to some HORRIBLE and I mean HORRIBLE customers that due to their entitlement of immediate gratification, took it upon themselves to destroy me and my mental & emotional health. Which then between doctors appointments to uncover what was affecting my health and literally mentally feeling defeated from those few mean customers, it took everything I had internally just to go work out in the shop. It is amazing how a few cruel entitled people can destroy someone. It took discovering what was wrong with me, (which is now known and being treated), and a few close amazing friends that reminded me that I am NOT a slave - I am NOT your servant taxidermist to be s**t on and treated poorly. You do not have a right to also steal from my business by pretending you didn’t understand the contract you signed or the money you are expected to pay for your materials or services. I am human - and I, like many other taxidermy friends of mine, have suffered some major set backs health wise this past year. I don't have employees - so that means when something happens to me - things will slow down. Show compassion. A little goes a long way - trust me. I have always put my customers sadly before me - my life, my health, my family. I then in turn was walked on, abused, taken advantage of my good nature - I was stolen from, I was destroyed/lied about on social media, and I was verbally attacked. I had so many of my friend taxidermists telling me of this and stories they shared with me when I started out that had happened to them - and I thought - hey if I am super nice, if I am super communicating, if I am up front, and bend over backwards and so forth - there was no way this could happen to me - I was WRONG. In fact, the worst was being treated poorly by those I did so many extras for - was the most accommodating for. And I forgot the golden rule - no one is your FRIEND in a business. In fact, those customers that came to my shop that spoke poorly about other local taxidermists, I should have turned away right then and there - because eventually they became the jerks to me and did the same to me - its a pattern clearly for them.

So I took a step back for a few months back in the spring/early summer - focused on my health and getting my blood glucose/insulin under control with medications and monitors. Thankfully we discovered what was wrong and learned that is actually what may have caused my facial paralysis last fall and if it was - I am very thankful to be alive as it is something that can kill you. I am doing SO MUCH better now. Mentally, I focused on some major projects - they allowed me to find my art again - to find my heart in these pieces again. I listened to my fellow taxidermists that told me - for once focus on something for me. So for 2 months I worked on a show piece for a customer and a show piece for myself - to find my happy place again in this business. It is again amazing how a few rotten, cruel people can take this from you. This healing of my physical and mental health has given me a new charge and drive! And I'm back! For those customers that have hung in there, and for those customers that reached out to check on me and have been so supportive - thank you truly from the bottom of my heart!

🐏
Which leads to now....

First - I can now officially say I am a WORLD AWARD WINNING taxidermist! 🤩 I cannot post the pictures because I will be showing these pieces next spring and fall at some major shows until I retire the pieces! But if you stop on by the shop you can take a look at them. I accomplished something that is truly tough to do! I have never competed outside of my state shows, and even then only officially really twice. I have again always put my customers first. I attempted something with a whitetail and habitat that pushed the limits of everything I knew! I was told by a close friend in this industry Wes Mote who said to me - Gina, Go Big or Go Home when it comes to competing at the world level! And I did! I challenged myself beyond anything I had ever done. I knew when I brought my pieces to the World Competition - that I was competing up against the best of the best out there. Other taxidermists that either one - only do this for competitions and focus on pieces all year long they will compete with (they aren't commercial taxidermists) or people that have shown for years and were major master award winners with major experience. Due to the rules, if you use a mouth cup or nose made from another, you cannot compete at the masters level (you must make your own and I don't have the money to afford that equipment to do so), so had to compete at the Open/Professional Division - which didn't matter again I was competing up against master award winning taxidermists in same boat had commercial noses or mouth cups in their pieces so I was still competing up against master taxidermists. I knew going in to get a 3rd or even 2nd place at the world level would be tough as many go home with nothing so I went in with that mindset.

What I accomplished was truly something I have never been more proud of! This was the largest show in history they have ever had - almost 800 entered! I am not sure of the final count yet - but maybe 30+ whitetail bucks in my division alone? Best part? My original mentor/teacher, Joe Meder, was there and I got to show him how much I had grown since 2019 when I took a class with him. I received a first place for both my whitetail buck and my habitat which he was on that I built from the ground up! I have never been so proud of myself! I had so many stopping at my piece and taking pictures of it from other countries - so cool! I had also brought my customers Bighorn piece. Unfortunately, in the chaos of game heads , my Bighorn and 3 other bighorns of other competitors were put in a master judges pile instead of the judge for the open/professional division and we got scored at a master level - way way tougher. Even then, I beat out those other ones, which to my surprise were national award winners and state show champions, so that was a high honor - especially since this was my first Bighorn ever! I scored a 77 (a high 3rd), in the "masters" scoring system! Which was unbelievable! If it had been scored in the open/professional scoring system it would have been a high 2nd or low 1st - it sucks because I would have preferred that ribbon/score - lol....but to know my Bighorn stood toe to toe with the masters group & scoring system and beat out many of them - pretty cool! Especially since I had NEVER mounted one before in my life! That piece was all new learning the entire time! So all in all, between the professional development we received at that show with the week of trainings and of course the high honors of what I accomplished - I have never been more proud of myself. It is truly an amazing feeling knowing I am a WORLD AWARD winning BLUE RIBBON Whitetail taxidermist!!!

Now back in the shop, I'm full steam ahead mounting every day and putting in very long hours with a renewed mindset. In fact, as many knew my 2022 year set me back horribly. Due to lots of issues, I was very backed up and didn't even have half of my 2022 capes back from tanning until beginning of this year. But all good! I am pushing out bucks daily and will have all completed by the end of October which still means they will all be done before the 2 year mark. Now - not ideal, but you all signed that contract understanding that it was estimated that it would take 2 years for completion. Point is - I will have them done! Which means since I took so few in 2023, that those 2023 pieces will be rolling soon after and be done if all goes well and no snags by the end of this current year. Which means I will finally be back to the 12-16 month turnaround again - which is the typical turnaround. Whew! So I'm back and strong and better than ever!

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🦌
Ok, so what does this mean for this year's hunting season?

2024 -

*I will take 50 whitetails bucks for the 2024 season

*Any other animals like mule, elk, moose, pronghorns, ram, etc - I will ALWAYS take in - I do not set a cap on those as they are only a fraction of my business!

*Half-life size and life-size will be accepted.

*I also do customized habitats for homes/showrooms - you can again stop out and see the nature habitat I created for this whitetail buck I took to the world show.

*I will do African animals!

*If you are a regular on good terms, customer of mine, and have made an agreement with me - I will take bear.

*I still am not taking birds for about another year.

I DO NOT DO fish, or general mammals. *Eventually I will take in limited mammals and of certain species but not this year.

About half of the whitetail buck number taking in will be saved spots for my regulars. I will take limited new customers this year. I still want to keep on track of a faster turn around so still don't want to over take in numbers.

Out of those 50 whitetail spots - if you were a customer from last year (2023), You have a spot saved already in the beginning of the list regardless of harvest time! That is your privilege for sticking with me. If you didn't harvest anything last year, but were a good customer of mine from the very beginning - you have a spot. All other spots will be open to grab.

*PRICES WILL REMAIN THE SAME AS 2023 - they will NOT be going up.

*Deposits still $450 minimum down. NON-negotiable. NON- refundable. Do not show up without it or you will be turned away - no exceptions - have gotten burned on this.

*As for payments, I will take cash, checks and cards (cards have a 3% bank fee on them), BUT unless you are a long time customer in which I trust, checks will no longer be a final payment option, unless you give that check a few weeks before I start your piece in which the check has had time to clear.

*In addition, due to all the issues with people paying and picking up their completed pieces in a timely manner - you will now be contacted a few weeks before I start your piece, you will then need to have payment of your balance PAID IN FULL before I start your piece. If I don't have that payment in full by the time your piece comes up, you get bumped. You can bring that payment by, you can mail the check to me (I will wait for it to clear before I start it), or you can ask me to invoice you so you can pay it by card online. But, again, I won't even get your tanned skin out of the freezer to begin the work until you have paid your balance in full. This way, if you take forever to pick up your completed piece, at least I've been paid for it already. This will also help those that need a “spread out payment” plan.

I am tired of waiting over a month to get paid for work I did and spending my valuable shop time hounding you when you will be picking up your piece and paying. This is my full time job. My income is the back half of what you are paying for - the deposit isn't mine - its for your personal materials for your piece. My income is that other part - and when it takes over a month to get paid after doing the work - many taxidermists now are going to this method where we don't start your piece until its paid in full. I have friends that have 30K hanging on their walls from customers that just won't come in to pick up and pay for their pieces. That is just unacceptable. Now you will have paid in full by the time I touch your buck, so if you take a few weeks after its finished to pick it up - so be it - I’ve already been paid for the work.

I know this post may have started with a negative tone - but I feel it had to be said. I am not your servant or door mat. I put my heart and soul into each and every piece. I am very honored to have mounted all what I have for you and I'm deeply happy when I see that smile on your face when you see the finished product. I pride the fact, I can take a customer piece off the wall and take it to my state show and compete with it and win blue ribbons with it every day! You pay for the best - and I give you the best! I will never be that average, subpar taxidermist.

Thank you again, for those that have supported me and kept me going even in my darkest times over the last year! Love you all!

- Gina

These two pics are of my actual world piece buck - but done with that painting app to keep the real photos of them "off line" - again due to showing this piece next year.

Ok last sneak peak of the huge Desert Bighorn project I’m doing for a customer.  Just set horns and test fitted one more...
05/29/2024

Ok last sneak peak of the huge Desert Bighorn project I’m doing for a customer. Just set horns and test fitted one more time.

From here on out - will have plenty of photos but won’t be posting anything else because from now forward besides mounting him - he will have a habitat built up around him. 🥰🥰

Now back to the 5 bucks that are dry in shop and ready to finish and go home and the elk should be ready for finish work next week! 😁. So this guy will be put on hold till next Monday to mount. Plus still need to stitch him all up later this weekend. He was cut all the way down the back. Fun fun. lol. But now……he’s going to be a secret until he is 100% finished. 🫣

Skin fits!  All my alterations to customize this guy worked!  So why all the hassle?  There are very limited choices whe...
05/28/2024

Skin fits! All my alterations to customize this guy worked!

So why all the hassle? There are very limited choices when it comes to Bighorn/Dall sheep forms. There is only ONE form that is this sharp right turn in a pedestal. Only ONE. And unfortunately this only form was the biggest size they made 😩. So….to get what we wanted - I knew I would have to cut this body down to fit his neck.

Neck size on this form was 20 3/8 B and 22 C, with a 8 1/2 “ head and 5 3/8” E (between eyes). And again ONLY one they make in this pose.

The Bighorn I’m mounting had a head that was 7 5/8” and 5 1/4” E (form was too wide) with 18” B and 19” C. So, lol. Yep. That is why I had to alter this guy!

Love all that I have learned. Biggest thing? Foam. It’s just foam. lol. It’s so scary cutting these forms up at first. What if I can’t get it to work? Since forms aren’t cheap the last thing I want it to ruin a form and have to buy another and the cost is now on me. But yep - it’s just foam lol.

(Skull plate isn’t attached here. Just placed and things pinned to check for size)

Test fit tomorrow to confirm all fits perfectly - will perfect the details in the form and connections, seal the foam, o...
05/28/2024

Test fit tomorrow to confirm all fits perfectly - will perfect the details in the form and connections, seal the foam, officially set his horns and this Bighorn will be getting mounted up this week! Will post all the alterations this boy had to go through to make everything work and fit at the very end! This form was literally in over 20 some pieces to get everything to work. Put back together in a new size and refoamed in those gaps and new connections. 😊. Pretty proud of myself!

If you know, you know😂😂😂. 5 pieces right here alone in upper neck.  Huge support 1x1 right down the dang center but off ...
05/22/2024

If you know, you know😂😂😂. 5 pieces right here alone in upper neck. Huge support 1x1 right down the dang center but off set so had to make my cut bigger and then wedge back. Got it reduced down by 2”. So getting there. On to the lower neck now. And another support 1x1 to get around 😬😩🙄😝. Who knew that playing with shapes and puzzles would come in handy!

Would have been so much easier if there wasn’t all these supports running through the dang thing. Lesson learned. Ask to have a form poured without the supports in it. However (Matuska), lol, I did ask if there were any in there before ordering it and you guys said no you don’t pour them with them in - “ well Lucy you got some explaining to do!!” 😂 because there are a bunch in there. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Why is it taking so long to get my piece…..Here’s why 💕😜. Projects like this!  They are in line with everything else. Wa...
05/22/2024

Why is it taking so long to get my piece…..

Here’s why 💕😜. Projects like this! They are in line with everything else. Waiting their turn like everything else.

Elk- almost 3 weeks of work

Now Desert Bighorn - LOTS going to happen on this one. WAY more than the elk. Way more alterations - there are way less choices on forms and sizes for them and goats/sheep family are all so unique based on location and genetics so most need complete customization to fit the skin.

But just to keep you posted! Busting my butt daily for you all. And always putting over 100% art into each piece. 😊💕

Side note: no clue why my pics are posting fuzzy.  They are clear and perfect on phone. Something is happening when I po...
05/08/2024

Side note: no clue why my pics are posting fuzzy. They are clear and perfect on phone. Something is happening when I post to FB. 😩

This was some labor of love that went into this remount elk for a customer! As many have followed his journey, there were so many things I had to do to recreate him. And long long long hours. But here he is. Finished mounting him last night and finished sewing around his crazy antlers today. Lots of weird cuts to make it happen and tried to get their normal hair patterns that are typical for elk as close to normal. To keep things looking normal had his ears about the same and semi-forward. It was so weird mounting that left ear up because it was so far away from the antler since that side grew right above the eye. So huge gap but I just had to remember normal landmarks.

I am very happy how he turned out! Next few days closely watching him and adjusting him as he dries. But yep Elk are just my spirit animal. Just love them!! 🥰🥰

Ps my body took a beating with this guy! Even my brain! 😂. But love a good challenge! Tomorrow back to the whitetails again along with a Bighorn Desert Sheep project for a customer. Whew!

Closer! 😁😁. Got him stitched up last night since he was cut all the way down the back.  Test fitted him today to see whe...
05/06/2024

Closer! 😁😁. Got him stitched up last night since he was cut all the way down the back. Test fitted him today to see where I had to make the relief cuts around that crazy close antler/pedicle on left side (right in photos). Ears are just pinned not set at all. I was test fitting them too. And cape soaking wet to allow me to get him on and stretched into place. Now I can finish prepping form. And get the skull cap all bondo into place. Tomorrow will be the official mounting day 😁 so happy with how this is turning out for my customer’s remount!

Look at this craziness lol.  What trauma this elk went through to break and cause his left side to grow as it did.  Nuts...
05/02/2024

Look at this craziness lol. What trauma this elk went through to break and cause his left side to grow as it did. Nuts! Got antlers temporarily up on form. Test fitted new cape again and it will work around this mess. Just have to cut around the one side carefully just in case I have to sew it to the backside. But I think I have enough skin since got a bigger cape. Then I get to spend a day sewing up this long cut cape 😬. Not fun.

Phase 3 - alter elk form for the remount elk ….body support rods in, head width narrowed, cut to fit these wonky antlers...
05/02/2024

Phase 3 - alter elk form for the remount elk ….body support rods in, head width narrowed, cut to fit these wonky antlers and reattached with new support rod, complete! 😁. Whew! I have more foam particles in places I would rather not 😂😂😂. Like when you go to the beach and sand gets everywhere? Well this stuff has static and sticks everywhere. I even have it in my ears ! 😂😂 and I haven’t even prepped the form yet which is more sanding down lol.

Now need to get these antlers set on the head and bondo/fiberglass in for support and strength and attach the nose cast and then test fit cape again for the upteenth time!

So 4 days so far just on getting this form and head to fit the antlers just right and give me extra skin to work with since I will even need to alter the skin of this new cape around the wonky antler. But very happy with how things are turning out. Being so much larger than a whitetail it is truly more of a workout. But all good!

Sometimes it’s just a REALLY long day! 😬.   To get this elk remount to fit with his wonky antler that grew super close t...
04/30/2024

Sometimes it’s just a REALLY long day! 😬. To get this elk remount to fit with his wonky antler that grew super close to left eye and over it. I had to order a bigger cape to have extra skin to make it work around it. But the skull cap is smaller than the head of the form that I got to fit that cape. So doing some altering of the head today. Removed a 1/2” slice through the head and block - doesn’t sound like much but what it did was make everything fit better. And the amount of support blocks in there makes your arms jello. Thinking I need a band saw in my future 😂😂. I went through a strong wood pruning blade that cuts through anything and a battery drain trying to get through this sucker. Waiting on Tyler to help me finish cutting through this mess. Not worth the risk of injury. I can’t hold onto the head and two hands on the sawzaw at the same time since at least 2 pieces of wood glued to together in there at different angles. Also betting there is metal in there holding those wood pieces together I’m trying to cut through.

But this will reduce the width of his face and allow those antlers to sit better and again give me more skin around that pedicle where I need to be creative. Getting a smaller change out head wouldn’t work either since the neck and head would just be so far off. And the cape again fits the form. But that skull cap again grew wonky which just gets swallowed up on that wide head block area.

Again for those that wonder why sometimes they are waiting….when I get big projects like this that are super time consuming and they are in line with the rest of ya’ll - this is why. If someone is paying for a remount of an elk that he already had paid to have mounted years ago by someone else - I am for certain not going to do another crappy job for the guy. I want to make sure this bull finally looks amazing in all his unique glory. 🥰

Update: got it split. Now my cast nose fits (I still need to adjust to make straight), and that elk skull cap/eye socket bone area will fit. Tomorrow cutting out the slots on top of head to allow for the actual bone eye sockets to go on top like you do on pronghorns and ram family - and then foam this back together. Attach back to body - run new supports through the head and neck and body - sand it out and then business as usual mounting 🥰

04/28/2024

Remount Elk Update - what I found when I took this mount apart. A skull cap FULL of meat that had been left on it when it was mounted. 👉This is just not acceptable in my books! Don’t care what type of taxidermist you are - this is what I have gotten off that remount elk skull cap so far! And more still I’m working to get off! There was even brain/meat left in small bone pockets of forehead. I put that photo in comments because it won’t let me post video and photos in same post. But this literally was UNDER the mounted elk. Exposed. Skin mounted straight to this! Skull caps should never be mounted with meat left on. Doesn’t matter if “jerky” dried out. All it takes is some moisture and that meat is rehydrating and magnet for bugs!

Sometimes you just have large projects you get to do 😊.  Elk remount week!  Photos of the original mount.  This elk was ...
04/28/2024

Sometimes you just have large projects you get to do 😊. Elk remount week! Photos of the original mount.

This elk was harvested and mounted by someone else years and years ago. The owner wanted him remounted - and if you look close at how unique this bull is, you can see why. It is going to be a bit of a challenge since he grew very wonky. But I’m up for the challenge. Got a beautiful September cape replacement from Utah - and he’s just going to look gorgeous when I’m done. 😊

Ps - this isn’t a knock to anyone- but one reason why some taxidermists are “fast turn around” or way cheaper….here’s why.

First the detail work - nostrils weren’t even carved out. Just painted black. Eyes poorly done. You can’t see it in photos but huge skin ridges from - wrinkles all down the neck? No clue. And was put on a form much smaller than the original bull - typical of the dry tan/dry preserve capes. But the worst part? Take a good look at the skull cap. Meat was still on it. Dried but meat. This should never be like this. This potentially attracts bugs. Or worse could smell. Lots going on with this one. And lots to fix and clean up before I can even mount it up.

Normal elk mounts take the amount of time to mount up 3 whitetails. Add the remount time- and I will be busy all week on this guy! But so excited! 😁😁

Stay tuned…..🫣😊

Last of the birds finally done. 😊.  Beautiful Snow goose and Ross goose! Getting more whitetails mounted right now and i...
04/20/2024

Last of the birds finally done. 😊. Beautiful Snow goose and Ross goose!

Getting more whitetails mounted right now and in between them still working on a huge Desert Bighorn project and then I have a huge Elk remount project coming up that will be time consuming but rewarding and then back to whitetails again. But all so very exciting and love all the variety I get challenged on. Thank you all for your patience and awesome support!

And no, I’m not currently taking more birds at this time. Once I am caught back up on whitetails and gameheads I will start taking a few in again.

Had a quick moment, so posting some finished bucks.  All are such beautiful creatures!  Thanks to R. Shaw's 2 bucks, the...
04/16/2024

Had a quick moment, so posting some finished bucks. All are such beautiful creatures!

Thanks to R. Shaw's 2 bucks, the Eby family's 2 bucks, and C Sullivan.

On one of Shaw's I again got to recreate a little bit of that dried peeling velvet. I added those photos at the very end of the rest.

Some bucks are just super cool to recreate!  This one had peeling velvet that had dried blood on it.  So I recreated tha...
04/10/2024

Some bucks are just super cool to recreate! This one had peeling velvet that had dried blood on it. So I recreated that look for the customer! Turned out so awesome! 🥰 Thanks J. Lard!

Very proud of this guy right here!  Tou B Yang “B” and his son drove all the way down from Minneapolis, Minnesota to tak...
03/29/2024

Very proud of this guy right here! Tou B Yang “B” and his son drove all the way down from Minneapolis, Minnesota to take my Basic Whitetail Mounting Class with me for the week! He is full of enthusiasm and wants to really be a great taxidermist for his area! And kudos for his son giving up his spring break to hang out on the shop couch and play with my dogs here to keep his dad company on that long drive and at night! But such a great week with them! Can’t wait to see his future work! We had planned for this class back at beginning of year but all our crazy weather kept delaying it and finally this past week we made it happen!

I will be taking more students soon! But right now I have some customer work to crush out in the shop and first of summer a show piece for the world show I’m working on. So for now holding off on anymore classes at least for a few months. Next class time maybe July but definitely after the first week of August. I know many have asked me about them!

(Ps customers yes, I’ve still been working on your pieces too! So no worries! Got a few more mounted and some finishing up as well! Just have some antler fixes, and other cool things I have to do or fix on this group so they take a bit).

A little side step from Whitetails, I had to finish up these birds and have two more that are drying now.  Then all the ...
03/21/2024

A little side step from Whitetails, I had to finish up these birds and have two more that are drying now. Then all the birds are done I took in. Tomorrow back to Whitetails again. Got a handful ready to do finish work on, and more getting ready to mount again.

What a week!  This week was the annual Illinois Taxidermist Association Convention and Competition in Springfield, Illin...
03/18/2024

What a week! This week was the annual Illinois Taxidermist Association Convention and Competition in Springfield, Illinois.

These conventions are a taxidermists professional development and helps us grow and keep improving our art!

This year my student Ahna Cates who came to me last August for my Basic Whitetail Class competed for the first time with her very first buck she has mounted since then. Like I drilled into her head, you are only as good as your references! This young lady studied and practiced and took as much as she could in for this very moment! Talk about a very proud emotional teacher-student moment! She received a second place in the Professional Division! What is more amazing is this years show had about 172 total entries and I big portion of that were whitetails! I have never seen a room so full of professional division whitetail mounts as this weekend and she competed up against them. So freaking proud of this young lady! The first few photos are of Ahna and her whitetail pedestal mount.

As for me, I’m pretty happy! As you know I’m constantly telling my customers that I’m an artist! I treat every single customer piece as I would a show piece. That time I put into those pieces translates to the very best realistic mounts I create for you the customer! This is why I do not have fast turnarounds! This is why I do not do this cookie cutter/assembly line mounts! Great work takes time! Just like always I make sure that the mounts I do for you are good enough that I literally can pull them off the wall once done and take them down to this convention and put them in the Commercial Division and win those first place ribbons! In fact one of the bucks had already been picked up by customer and had been hanging on their wall in their own house and I went and got it off their wall! 😂. This year there were quite a few excellent whitetail commercial entries and my two bucks were the only blue ribbons! Judges were tough this year! In fact, they were so good it was stated they should have been entered into the Masters division! (The top division). And I still would have scored very well! So I take pride in these pieces I create for you! And this proves it!

Trust the process! That is what you are paying for when you walk through my door! One of the bucks not only won first, but also won the Best Commercial Mount award! That is not just for the whitetails on the wall- it means out of all the 19 commercial species entered - and they were all excellent pieces (birds, fish, mammals, gameheads, and whitetails) mine was chosen for this award. And there were a lot of very good commercial pieces this year! So I was very honored. The very well known Jena Everage who won 2nd in world and many more awards was again my judge! Her and Larry O’Malley are both excellent and tough judges for whitetail and gameheads but you learn so much from their critiques! I learned lots and love improving my skills to bring back to my customers!

Thank you Rod Beyers (Best Commercial Mount) and Troy Dalton (runner up) for allowing me to take your bucks to the show!

And congratulations to all the amazing taxidermists at our show! Such amazing talent always and such great people and “family”.

Show info: Springfield, Illinois
Judges:
Larry O’Malley - whitetail
Jena Everage - gameheads & commercial
Abel Everage - mammals and lifesize
Lowell Shapley - birds
Jimmy Lawrence - fish

Ahna Cates

Address

6070 E 2150 North Road
Fithian, IL
61844

Opening Hours

Monday 12pm - 6pm
Tuesday 12pm - 6pm
Wednesday 12pm - 6pm
Thursday 12pm - 6pm
Friday 12pm - 6pm

Telephone

+12173694468

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Feather Creek Taxidermy

Gina Isabelli - Head Taxidermist. Although Gina didn't get into deer hunting until 2009 and didn't kill her first buck until 2010, she has always been into something with animals and nature since her childhood. From animal photography to veterinary medicine to animal behavior studies! By trade, she has been a biology/animal science high school teacher for 19 years with extensive background in animal dissections and anatomy. After working with skulls in the business for 3 years, and after numerous requests from customers, Gina decided to take her anatomy/art skills further and took the plunge to be trained to offer game head mounts. In June of 2019, Gina traveled to Iowa to train under the world famous taxidermist Joe Meder. There she completed a game head mounting course with Joe individually. She is a member and competes in both the Illinois Taxidermist Association and National Taxidermists Association. As an educator, she will carry over that mindset and continue her taxidermy education with seminars, additional coursework, and competitions. Her goal is to focus on game heads for the 2019 year and then summer of 2020 focus on bird taxidermy. With her attention to detail along with her artistic eye you won't be disappointed! Tyler Cain - Skulls Only Taxidermist. Tyler has been hunting and cleaning skulls for over 20 years since he was a teenager. Tyler wanted a way to better clean the skulls after years of boiling them, therefore compromising the bone tissue, and we created our Dermestid beetle colonies to clean the skull while preserving their small bones. Tyler’s focus is mainly skulls and hydrographic prints of skulls. Tyler prides himself on the details and is a perfectionist when it comes to a good looking skull. Tyler has a beautiful daughter Karlie who loves to work right a long side her dad. Skull Cleaning Information: With skull cleaning, all skulls require time to degrease therefore most skulls will take minimum 4 weeks once they begin the degreasing process. Once your skulls are done with the beetles and enter the degreasing/whitening phase please expect your skull to be with us for at least a month if not more. Each skull is unique - some degrease quickly and easily and others take a long time. Things you can do to help minimize that time: please do not allow your animal to hang head down for too long - this forces the blood into the bone cells and then if trapped and then frozen this causes the degreasing time to lengthen. Please get your head into a freezer as soon as possible cutting it off right after the base of the skull. The longer again that warm blood sits in the tissues the more that is seeps into all the bone cells - this extends the times of degreasing. Just because it is cold outside doesn’t mean bacteria decomposition doesn’t start to attack the tissues. If we feel that any meat of a head is questionable we will charge an additional cost - we have received too many in the past year that we had to slow simmer first after skinning the heads to kill all bacteria and insect issues before even placing them in with the beetles - this delays our time of processing customers skulls and extends the cleaning times. We can ONLY feed the beetles safe fresh meat. Depending on the number of skulls received before yours, will depend on how many months it will take before we get to yours. We do reach out to you once your skull is up and with the beetles. We will never rush the process as this may alter our end result. But we do offer a warranty that if any skull should start to show oils even after extensively going through a degreasing process we will gladly take the skull back free of charge and put it through another round of degreasing. Bone is living tissue and some tissue will delay any hidden grease from revealing itself and we understand and respect this. We are now sealing our skulls with a museum quality protectant that helps to preserve the skull. It gives it a bit of strength and makes it easier to clean the skull of dust. It will not yellow over time. Unlike sealers, we can remove this from the skull easily if for some reason a skull started to do something funny. We sell metal skull hooks that works nicely on your walls for $15.00 and we also offer some other habitats for the skulls for a price. Starting summer of 2019, you must pay a minimum 50% of service & must SIGN an agreement when you drop your heads off - no exceptions. We have had too many clients that have not done this and then once skull is done, we are sitting on them for months on end before they are picked up. We will also adhere to a stricter policy of when you must pick up your completed skull. Please contact us for pricing. Summer of 2019 prices for skull cleaning are going up due to costs of materials and time.

Game Head Mount Information: Customers will be done in order, however if there is a special situation, for an additional fee there could be an adjustment to that order. A minimum 50% deposit MUST be made, you must have all proper conservation permits/confirmation numbers on hand and signed agreements at the time of service. You must meet with Gina not Tyler as you will need to discuss the look you are wanting. Gina will be using Microtan Tannery located in Blue Mound, Illinois to tan all of her capes. She has visited their tannery and the owner also trained under Joe Meder. They are such a high quality tannery that they receive hides from all around the world. She takes numerous photographs and takes detail notes of each cape and each are clearly marked so that she can guarantee you are getting back your cape and not someone else's. They also sell tanned capes if you are wanting to have a game head remounted. Their turn around is typically 2- 4 months for a wet tan cape used for mounting once hunting seasons begins and about 6 months for a dry tanned flat hide, but for an additional fee she can get that turn around in 30 days. Gina decided to go with this method instead of tanning the hides at her shop from suggestions of highly respected taxidermists. This will allow her to focus more on the actual mounts and details since she only does this part time during the school year - this will help with her turnaround times and quality of work. As for materials - Ears will be either bondo or ear liners based on the condition of the cape/ears. Forms are only highest quality forms from Ben Mears or Revolution. Eyes are glass eyes made from Joe Meder/Tohekion which are high quality showing all proper details of an eye. Each mount will have all the details that are present in a live animal - Gina does NOT cut corners just because they are commercial mounts and treats each mount as if she was showing it in a competition. Her goal is to always respect the animal and bring it back to life as true as she can. Contact us for pricing.

Summer 2020 - Gina is taking Turkeys for Turkey tail or turkey tail/wing mounts, but is still not taking in full bird mounts. If all goes well, she will be headed up to Wisconsin to train with a taxidermist that won world in bird categories. She will then be offering small water fowl and pheasant mounts hopefully by fall. Then geese and turkeys 2021. Tyler is planning on learning how to do fish taxidermy work so hopefully he will be offering this as well soon.

We take business from around the United States and any active military or veterans receive 15% off of any service. Please provide proof. For any taxidermy forms, prepping or shipping information, please contact us so we may email you our forms, terms & conditions. All items are processed in the order received. Excellent quality work takes time. We will not rush! We handle things in a timely manner and keep you updated of the process along the way. We keep a log of literally every day or every stage of your prized possession If you have any questions of the processing of skulls or game head mounts, don't hesitate to ask.


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