BlackRiver Taxidermy

09/05/2024

Who said monsters don’t exist!

08/31/2024

LOTS AND LOTS of bears coming in. I will be happy when I start seeing some bulls roll through this next month!
Great blacktail leaving the shop today. Congrats to the returning customer on an awesome mature buck with a huge swollen neck on him.
Have a great and safe holiday weekend everyone!

08/30/2024

More new laws. This has got to be the dumbest requirement I’ve heard of as it MUST be done before a seal can be applied. Ridiculous.

08/30/2024

New rules for my GMU 100 hunters!!
If you shoot a deer or elk in these units and bring them into the shop without it being processed as advised below we WILL NOT accept them as it will get us in trouble as well.
Ask wuestions below and I can answer in regard to getting your trophy to us along with options.

08/29/2024

You guys really don’t want to miss this banquet. TONS of fun, LOTS of drawings for incredible items, trips, and certificates….all in the name of helping provide funds for this outreach that is now in our 11th year and over 120 kids through the program! Be there!

Mark your calendars and save the date for the 2025 Titan Outdoors Lil Titans Banquet!!
🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻🫶🏻🙌🏻

08/28/2024

HUGE red fox leaving the shop. This Alaskan male took the largest form on the market and we still had some modifications to build-up the form to accommodate his size. Client gave us free rein on the habitat and pose and he was pleased with the final product. Congrats on a great trophy and for letting us do the work.

08/21/2024

Winner of the euro giveaway is Isaac Peter. Thanks for all who entered!

08/20/2024

Good morning! Yesterday evenings bears awaiting prep for the salt table today.
Check out our bear skull euro giveaway on the previous 2 posts ago. We’re announcing the winner tomorrow (Wednesday). No one has guessed the exact number yet, but there’s a few REALLY close, so you can still win this thing!

08/18/2024

*****Winner!! Isaac Peter- 7 away from the actual number! Nice work, I will send ya a PM.

Today is announcement of the winner. Few more hours and then we will announce it on a separate post and update this one-stay tuned**

European Bear Skull & Skullcraft bracket giveaway!!!
This is for a completed euro work on your bear skull (winner must provide skull) to include a bracket from SkullCraft Collective (pictured) that will hold your skull on the wall- NO EXPIRATION DATE!

HOW TO ENTER-
1. Follow our page
2. Share the post
3. Tag a friend
4. Pick a number between 1-1000 and post your choice. 1 entry per person.
THATS IT! Person will be chosen on Wednesday and announced in a follow up post, yes, I already have a number in my head picked, so whomever gets the number of closest wins.
We’re actually giving away 2 of these, 1 on FB, 1 on Instagram. If you already have a bear in here you can apply it to your in-progress project. Good luck!
****DO NOT GET SCAMMED! I will post the winner, if you get a reply or a message to your post it’s not us.

08/17/2024

Giving away a certificate for a black bear euro to a lucky hunter! Details tomorrow afternoon-stay tuned!

08/14/2024

4 bears, 2 deer (previous years), 1 zebra, a springbok antelope, 1 blue wildebeest, and a kudu to top is off for todays intakes.
Shop is super busy and with some help this year I’m starting to catch up AND keeping up with intakes.
Shop will be open tomorrow till about 2pm then I’m off with the family to the fair for a family outing. Off to Colville for the weekend for a moose hunting seminar and back hitting it hard on Monday!
Only going to get busier around here….I love it, seeing new and previous clients and hearing the stories and talking about the great outdoors and its game species!

08/08/2024

07/31/2024

BEAR SEASON!! It’s upon us as of tomorrow Washington hunters! We’ve been receiving a LOT of inquires about pricing so we’ve posted the 2024 prices for bear work below. Look for a video tomorrow to show some different options for bear mount, unique and traditional. Feel free to share!

Pricing- prices do not include tax***
50% deposit due at drop off on all bear work with the exception of European/skull work**

Rugs- $300 per linear foot (nose to BASE of tail) for closed-mouth pose, ‘open/growling/partially-open poses are an extra $150 on the top. Does not include skull cleaning, degreasing, and whitening.

Trapper/soft tanned hides- $100 per linear foot, does not include skull cleaning.

Skull European (clean, degrease, and whiten)- $180 or $120 (discounted) if you’re bringing the hide in for mount work.

Skull plaque w/claws (1st pic)- $350. These are very cool mounts for either the wall or tabletop.

Packboard mounts (2nd pic)- $800. Becoming very popular and are great options for small to large bears with bald spots, improper cuts, etc. also take up very little wall space and very unique!

Shoulder mount- $800 (closed mouth) $950 (open mouth). Shoulder mount only, does not include the front legs.

1/2 Lifesize Mount- $1600-1900. Dependent on bear size, base, and open/closed mouth options.

Lifesize/full-Body mounts- start at $3500. Very dependent on size, base options, mouth position, modifications, etc.

07/19/2024

11 days boys and girls till Washington opener black bear……let talk cuts!
A large amount of improperly cut hides come into the shop every year. KNOWING what you want to do with your trophy helps in determining the cut you make on your bear.
Rug, dry tanned hide/trapper tan= ‘RUG CUT’
Full-body, shoulder or 1/2 mount= ‘DORSAL CUT’
See below for diagrams and pics of bears I’ve taken for examples. If unsure a Rug Cut is the best and can still be used in a half or full body but it makes for a MUCH better mount if you make the dorsal cut. Feel free to share and ask questions if you got ‘em’. Video in a few days or examples of mount options to include mounts that don’t require a hide! Stay tuned.

07/15/2024

17 days till Washington opener for bear season. In the next week we are going to post some info on field judging bears, mount options or ideas for your first or 20th bear to include some really cool new ideas for any budget or unique mount. I will also be including diagrams for PROPER cuts to make as we get a lot of improper ones which can change or affect your mount.
First off-field judging. You will hear a lot of ‘it’s all about the head!’….and that’s true- to some degree. This is a great diagram (below) when looking at the head to estimate age and potential s*x of the bear. The two other attributes I look at, which has helped is the hips and more importantly the front shoulders.

HIPS/BUTT- BOARS- mature boars will have a large butt, but typically it’s sloped down. SOWS- will have a large butt as well but, especially in black bear, will have more rise in the hind end. Young bears hips will always look small and sloped down at a hard angle.

SHOULDERS- I have learned to focus on this almost more than the head when determining age and s*x. BOARS will have much bigger shoulders on them, very noticeable, wide and almost a ‘bulldog’ like stance, especially after maturity or at 250lbs+. SOWS have narrower front shoulders with a straight leg walk, can be sloppy (throwing a leg forward more pronounced) as they get older but lacking that bulldog stance/walk.

Best way to judge bears is to look at a lot of them! Get out there and glass some up prior to the season. Watch them for as long as you can and these attributes and differences will start to pop out! Good luck and stay tuned for more I formation!!

07/09/2024

Shenanigans in the shop today! My son Noah with a freshly tanned wolf hide that he wanted to try on as a headdress.
Hope everyone had a tremendous 4th! We’re back in the shop hitting it hard despite the crazy hot temps right now with the air conditioner unit that just ran out of refrigerant!
Bear season is JUST around the corner. Standby for skinning diagrams, mount ideas, and hide care tips in the following weeks.

06/29/2024

Another excellent youth outreach program! Support if and when you can for this young man!

06/18/2024

The facts about cougar populations despite what the anti-hunters are claiming. I know you all know a lot of this but spread this info as they (anti hunting groups) continually claim we are killing 30-50% of the cat population each year.

Anti-hunting groups are spreading misinformation and using deceptive tactics to sway public opinion ahead of the upcoming WDFW commission meeting. Despite the facts, they claim that Washington State has a cougar population of 2,000, and that hunters and the state are killing up to 50% of the population. They also falsely claim that national anti-predator groups are blocking the commission from taking action to protect cougars. And of course using emotional imagery of cougar kittens to manipulate public opinion.

In reality, Washington State has a total cougar population of 3,600, consisting of 2,400 independent, adult cats. Hunters are taking an average of 204 cats per year (5-year average), which is approximately 8.5% of the adult population and 5.7% of the total population. The state is removing an average of 115 cats per year (5-year average), which is about 3.1% of the total population.
These numbers fall far below the 30-50% claimed by anti-hunters. The true figures fall far below the intrinsic growth rate of the species (10-16%), which is also our hunting guideline for take.
As a grassroots state conservation group, CCW is committed to protecting wildlife and promoting informed decision-making. We will continue to advocate for fact-based management practices and resist misinformation campaigns that threaten responsible wildlife management and our hunting heritage.
Be aware and mindful of wildlife management statistics because trickery is a common ploy of those who want to take away from the lifeways of others who live differently than themselves.

06/04/2024

No high fence exotic here…a Pamir Ibex from Tajikistan headed out the doors today. Lots of challenges with this mount as the guides the hunter was with did not take the greatest care of this incredible goat’s cape/hide. He came together nicely however along with some in-house custom habitat of snow covered rocks. Congrats to the returning client and thank you for letting me work on such a rare trophy!

06/02/2024

In stock!! Skullcraft is crankin’ on these designs. For those that have been asking…elk coming soon!

Cougar mounts now available! Get yours today at SkullCraftCollective.com

05/30/2024

If you’re trying to get a hold of me via messenger it’s inactive right now because Meta apparently removed me having access to it…in process of trying to get it restored. Please call my cell (listed on site) if you’re trying to get a hold of me!!

05/21/2024

Good episode with two guys I count as friends. Mike is a calculated and ‘polite’ savage against the uprising in anti-hunting movement. Jim is a huge advocate and outstanding platform for getting the details to the masses. PLUS, Mike talks about his new products for all your European lovers…a good listen!