Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Taxidermist Recommendation for Mounting a Bobcat

Killed a bobcat Sat. evening and it turned out to be a nice sized male with good coloration. 260 AI put a little bigger hole in him than ideal but didn't have much choice at the time! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Anyhow, serveral of my family have suggested I have him mounted and I'm considering it. Where could I find a taxidermist that would do a bang up job? I've seen several bobcat mounts and it must be tough to get the mouth just right.....cause most look ridiculous. I had rather not do it than get a hack job.

I have a friend back where I grew up that is a taxidermist. My rother has seen two bobcats he has done and he said one looked great and the other not so good. Turns out the not so good one was done for the Arkansas Game and Fish but was in pretty bad shape when it was brought in.

I can always go with my friend but was curious what some here might suggest. Do you know a taxidermist who does a realistic job on bobcats that you can recommend? Maybe someone's specialty is bobcats.

Depends on what you are willing to spend. Probably the best bobcat taxidermist in the country is in Michigan, and she is pricey. Not a big deal to ship something small like that back and forth. Might want to post up on taxidermy.net.

It don't get any better than this!
Click on the bobcat.
Then click on the bobcat photos that pop up.
I'm real fussy and trust me you won't find better than this.
http://www.wildlifeartiststudio.com/

Animal Artistry

MtnHtr

I've followed Animal Artistry's progress since the eighties.
Many of Animal Artistry's best taxidermists have split over the years and work for themselves now.
They still have great work, but there are some less famous artists out there that produce some stunning mounts.
Any arguments?






[img]http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/7989/ct2ys.png[/img]
[img]http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/4350/k3zs.png[/img]
[img]http://www.philipsoucy.com/gallery/photos/mtnlion3.jpg[/img]

You might check this fellow's cat at AR:
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1821043/m/357101265

Salmonella,

Quote: "....... They still have great work, but there are some less famous artists out there that produce some stunning mounts. Any arguments?" End Quote

I presume Wildlife Artists is "less famous artists" that you are referring to. I sent them an e-mail this evening with a few questions. I look forward to their response.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

HogWild

Well it somtimes pays off to do a little checking. I looked around at the taxidermy.net site a poster above suggested. Turns out there is a very talented taxidermist that lives within 30 min of my house. The name of her place is Karen's Taxidermy and Wildlife Art Studio just outside of Rogers. Karen won the 2006 National Champion Small Mammals title this year with a ....... you guessed it, a bobcat mounting. I called and spoke with her on the phone this evening. Turns out she loves cats and had a pet bobcat at one time. She invited me to come by and see a few bobcats she has at her studio that she has mounted. Apparently, a lot of taxidermists come to her for advise on bobcat mounts. She is very reasonably priced.......but her website could use some work! Ha! Here is a link to her website if anyone is interested.



And here are some of the awards she has won (plus several more that I wasn't able to copy from her website easily):

2006 National Champion Small Mammals
2006 Oklahoma State Champion Mammals 2006 Oklahoma Mckenzie Award Mammal
2006 Oklahoma Highest Scoring Mount
Karen is Oklahoma's first "Master of Masters" Certified Taxidermist
National Taxidermist Asso. Award of Excellence
Karen has won the Best All-Around Taxidermist Award 15 times and Three 2nd places

2000 Nebraska Rocky Mountain Elk Award
2000 Nebraska National Wild Turkey Fed. Award
2000 Nebraska Blue Ribbon Masters Lifesize Mammall
2000 Nebraska Blue Ribbon Masters Rattlesnake
2000 Kansas Best of Catergory Lifesize Mammal
2000 Kansas Best of Catergory Fish
2000 Kansas Rayline Large Mammal Award
2000 Kansas Blue Ribbon Fish -Crappie
2000 Kansas Blue Ribbon Lifsize Mammal- Wolf

2000 Oklahoma Peoples Choice
2000 Oklahoma 2nd Best All-Around Taxidermist
2000 Okhaloma Rayline Large Mammal Award
2000 Oklahoma Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal

2000 Arkansas Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
2000 Arkansas Best of Category Lifesize Mammal
2000 Arkansas Best of Category Gamehead Pro Div
2000 Arkansas Rayline Large Mammal Award
2000 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Gamehead Antelope
2000 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal Wolf

1999 World Show Blue Ribbon Gamehead
1999 World Show Red Ribbon Lifesize Mammal

1999 Southern Regional Best Of Category Reptile
1999 Southern Regional. Rocky Mtn. Elk Award
1999 Southern Regional Pheasants Forever Award
1999 Southern Regional Quail Unlimited Award

1999 Arkansas Best All- Around Taxidermist Award
1999 Arkansas Best of Category Reptile
1999 Arkansas Best of Category Lifesize Mammal
1999 Arkansas Starfish Award
1999 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Turkey
1999 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Rattlesnake
1999 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Gamehead Elk
1999 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal Bobcat
1999 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Gamehead Bobcat

1999 Missouri Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1999 Missouri Best of Category Turkey Masters Div.
1999 Missouri Best of Category Reptile Masters Div.
1999 Missouri National Wild Turkey Fed. Award
1999 Missouri Masters Blue Ribbon Rattlesnake
1999 Missouri Masters Blue Ribbon Turkey

1999 Oklahoma Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1999 Oklahoma Blue Ribbon Turkey

1999 Kansas Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1999 Kansas Best of Category Masters Gamehead
1999 Kansas Kansas Blue Ribbon Turkey

1999 Iowa Best of Show Award
1999 Iowa Best Out of State Award
1999 Iowa Taxidermists Choice Award
1999 Iowa Best of Category Reptile
1999 Iowa Bset of Category Lifesize Mammal
1999 Iowa Competitors Award
1999 Iowa Research Manikins Best Mammal Award
1999 Iowa Rayline Award
1999 Iowa Blue Ribbon Gamehead
1999 Iowa Blue Ribbon Rattlesnake
1999 Iowa Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal

1998 National Competion Red Ribbon Lifesize Mammal
1998 National Competion Red Ribbon Bird

1998 Arkansas Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1998 Arkansas Best All- Around Open Division
1998 Arkansas Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal

1998 Kansas Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1998 Kansas Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal
1998 Kaansa Blue Ribbon Bird

1998 Oklahoma 2nd place Best All-Around Award

1998 Missouri Best of Category Reptile
1998 Missouri Blue Ribbon Gamehead
1998 Missouri Blue Ribbon Reptile

!997 Southern Regional Blue Ribbon Whitetail
1997 Southern Regiional Blue Ribbon Gamehead

1997 Arkansas Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1997 Arkansas Best All-Around Open Division
1997 Arkansas Best of Category Gamehead
1997 Arkansas Best of Category Lifesize Mammal

1997 Kansas Wasco Award
1997 Kansas Best of Category Gamehead
1997 Kansas Blue Ribbon Whitetail
1997 Kansas Blue Ribbon Gamehead

1997 Oklahoma 2nd Best All-Around Taxidermist Award
1997 Oklahoma Best of Category Gamehead
1997 Oklahoma Blue Ribbon Lifesize Mammal

1997 Iowa Whitetail Unlimited Award

I dropped my bobcat off at Karen's today. Wow, what an exhibit of quality mounts! She had 4 or 5 bobcats, lynx, mountain lion, fox, coyote, rabbit, squrrel, racoon, black bear rug, elk, bison, numerous whitetail and mule deer, several turkey, ducks, you name it and it is probably there.

I seen the bobcat that won the national championship this year at it is amazing. It is not the one pictured in my previous post. It is a lifesize mount of a small bobcat (I assume about 3/4 grown). She is truly an artist.

She said my bobcat was probably the biggest ever brought to her but after measuring she said she had bought one slightly bigger from a trapper at a fur sale. She also thought the fur was in great shape and she was suprised there was little damage from fighting as she has seen on many males. Anyhow, due to the size only 3 forms were available that would fit without extensive modification (and two of these would require some modification). We narrowed it down to 2 and I finally asked her to use her best judgement on which would look better or fit better (she will measure the cat again once he thaws). Both my girls were with me and enjoyed visiting with Karen and she enjoyed their reaction to her work.

Appreciate everyones suggestions.

Hog..,

Mt grandfrather was a taxidermist. He always said foxes and bobcats were the hardest to mount. Reason being, they are so shallow thru the chest. Most guys overstuff 'em ...then they look weird.

Unless I knew for sure the taxidermist was good with cats, I'd go for a rug.

Outcast,

Karen is very good. I looked at several of her bobcat mounts last evening and feel relieved I have someone like her to do this.

I do like your suggestion though.