Lake & Sky Taxidermy

08/31/2024

Got some wet tanned items back last week. Dry tan items should be back next week,figures right at the start of bear season!!!

08/31/2024

Out my bedroom window!

08/31/2024

Northern lights tonight!

08/16/2024

2024 bear season is not far away and I know several people guiding youth mentor programs this weekend. I have also had several calls from tag holders on prices and questions.

2024 Bear Season prices

I skin and quarter for free for any mount (not for a hide tan). Skinning and quartering is $100 for anything under 300 pounds and $175 for anything over 300. I don’t want to put a price on tanning cause that may change in September but it will be the cost of the hide tan (currently 3.50/inch) shipping + $100 for the fleshing, salting and packaging (which is cheaper than if you send the frozen hide to a reputable tannery yourself). Rugs this year are going to be $275 a foot from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail for an open mouth rug, 2 color felt border with a quilted backing, (closed mouth are $100 less off the total). Bear shoulder mounts are $725 for a closed mouth and $850 for an open mouth. All half and lifesize mounts are materials x2 (tanning, form, nose, eyes, ears x2). A hunter shouldn’t have to pay the same amount for a 125 pound bear as someone who shoots a 300 pounder. All catalog bases are put on half mounts and lifesize at my cost. Any custom base or form modification work is time and material.
I don’t do anything with the meat besides quartering, removing the fat and bagging, but I do have a walk in cooler. I charge $20 a day after 24 hours, for cooler or freezer space depending on how full I get. I also bring meat up to Pearce’s Sausage Kitchen south of Ashland. They make all kinds of stuff, meat cutting, grinding, garlic summer sausage, etc. Just let me know ahead of time so I can prepare the carcass for them. Good luck to all bear hunters! Stay safe!

Thanks, Kevin

08/10/2024

https://apps.dnr.wi.gov/wildlifedamage/PublicReport/WdReport?year=2024

Wolves have been busy this year!

08/05/2024

Got a notification from the tannery this morning, that my 2023 hides have been started and should be finished in the next couple weeks!

07/31/2024

https://www.fox21online.com/2024/07/30/wis-farming-familys-dog-killed-by-wolves-congressmen-tiffany-stauber-talk-wolf-hunt/

This happened a couple miles away from my house. The wolves are totally out of control up here. Both deer and bear populations are suffering. Last year I took in less than half the work that I took in 2019. The last 3 years I averaged 32-36 bear, 10 years prior to that I was 64-91 bear. Last year I took in 26 deer heads. 2020 and 2021, I took in 63 and 67 deer heads for shoulder mounts. Poor whitetail and wolf management by the DNR, combined with a new bear management plan (we have killed way too many so I don’t mind a decrease in tags) and a bad winter have had me contemplating a job change. Bayfield county used to be a destination for big bucks and huge bear but the lack of game is killing our economy. I used to see 100-200 deer from my house to Ino, now I’m lucky to see 10-20. It’s just sad!!!!

MASON, Wis. – Living up north means living with some of America’s most beautiful creatures, like gray wolves, which are on the endangered species list. But for a farming family in Mason, Wis., they say the growing wolf population has become a serious problem for their livestock and even their be...

07/30/2024

I’m not one for talking about personal things, but people are wondering why I haven’t posted any taxidermy pictures lately. My right shoulder was getting so bad that it would just stop working, my right hand would turn blue while the left had normal color. I decided to have a complete shoulder replacement back in mid-May, I now have a titanium ball joint and a teflon pad inside my rotator cuff. My arm is getting stronger but for six weeks I wasn’t supposed to lift more than a cup of coffee. It was the most boring 6 weeks of my entire life. I’ve been strength training and doing physical therapy. I got back into the shop today with no pain but I do find myself acting like I’m 18 again and occasionally overdo it, which slows me down for a day or two. I’m back to fishing and cranking out work in my shop. I’m still waiting on 2023 hides and will post when they come in. Thankfully, I was able to get my family out trolling and I’m getting stronger everyday! Got the walk in cooler power washed today to get it ready for bear season! I will be posting mounts soon, God bless!

07/20/2024

My dessert!

07/08/2024

Grilled fish dinner!

07/04/2024

It was one of those kind of days!

07/03/2024

https://www.wpr.org/news/hunters-will-see-more-limits-and-opportunities-on-bagging-does-up-north-this-fall

Well two years ago we had the largest snowfall in Wisconsin history. That’s why we wanted no does killed. They were laying dead everywhere. Each area in our county is different. I wish we went back to the dmu’s.

The Natural Resources Board has expanded opportunities for hunters to kill does on public lands in two northern Wisconsin counties, but they’ll only be able to bag bucks in two other counties this fall.

06/30/2024

First time visiting Rocky Acres Berry Farm. My girls have been working up there for 5 years. Skyler was working but Laeken and RaeAnne gave me a tour of the place. I was very impressed, lots of work goes into that place. Couldn’t believe how many strawberries there were. The raspberries and blueberries look like they are going to be a bumper crops too. The rows of raspberries in the picture look pretty impressive. They had three different types of strawberries, honey eye (small), jewels (medium) and cabots (large). They all taste great. The ones in the picture were jewels.

06/30/2024

Rocky Acres is open at 8 am for pick your own.

06/25/2024

06/19/2024

Skyler and Laeken pulling weeds at Rocky Acres berry farm in Bayfield. Skyler brought home a quart of honey eye strawberries and they were great.

06/19/2024

Skyler brought some strawberries home from Rocky Acres today. Strawberry picking opens this Sunday at 8 am.

06/13/2024

Turkey tail fan mount with beard and feet. GG

06/12/2024

This is just a plain tanned bear rug, no backing with an open mouth rug shell. I made it to lay flat for a wall mount or to lie on the floor, not as sturdy or as easy to maintain as a full rug, but awesome. Must have been about a 400 pound sow. It will easily cover a queen sized bed and then some. What a beast!! BR

06/05/2024

Swallowtail butterflies.

05/27/2024

A doe had twins yesterday just off to the side of my driveway. They looked smaller than our farm cats.

05/24/2024

Got several ring neck pheasants mounted last week. Cleaned the shop yesterday and pulled some fin cards off of fish today.

05/20/2024

Just saw a doe have a fawn.

05/16/2024

I got a 2018 Ram and the oil pan rusted through already. Ridiculous! My 2006 Ram is built tougher than the 18.

05/13/2024

Smoked wild turkey breast with fresh homegrown asparagus!

05/13/2024

Must be burning the barrens again!

05/09/2024

Got a pile of fish mounted today!!! Well I did one bluegill and one perch yesterday. Still have a lake trout, burbot, pike and a perch to go. After this, back to birds and small game. I’ll have bad arthritis tomorrow morning from all the scraping, pinning and fin carding.

05/08/2024

Saw this guy sunbathing out by the pond this morning.

05/04/2024

I’ve been working on this mount for quite some time. I had free range to create a scene with a roadkill black bear and a roadkill porcupine. Believe it or not, almost every single bear I’ve ever skinned has had porcupine quills stuck inside its skin, usually in between the toes and around the paws. So I tried to incorporate these two animals in a scene where they had an interaction. The whole base is custom made with a cave (porcupines home) and quills scattered all over as the bear tried to sniff it and then swatted it, and the young bear found out the hard way!