FOSTER'S TAXIDERMY

A good quality mount starts with how you take care of the skin or cape. Obviously we can't control the weather or hunting conditions. Try to keep it cool and dry. Best scenario is to get it to me and I can skin/cape it and get it properly cared for. If on a hunting trip skin it and get it cooled. Do not salt it unless you have it fleshed and the eyes, lips, nose and ears turned and fleshed.

 1) Do not hang your animal by the neck as it will ruin the hide/hair

 2) If a deer,elk, etc hang by the antlers. Do not hang by the hind legs for an extended amount of        time as the face will fill with fluid.

3) Keep it in the shade or cool building if you can't get it to me in 1-2 days. If not freeze the head

4) Do not drag it far or it will ruin the hair/hide

5) Do not slit the throat

6) When Gutting stop at the sternum, we need more hide then you think, and I'd hate to charge          you a sewing fee to fix the brisket 

7) The diagrams above are a very good reference to know how to skin your animals for shoulder           mounts or lifesize and rugs

8) Try to wash excessive blood from the cape/skin. Clean all dirt, rocks, leaves etc from the skin.

9) I prefer to cape and skin your animals. This way I get it how I want it. I don't have to re flesh the     animal and fix potential mistakes, therefor saving you $$

10) If you must cape your shoulder mount animal, skin to base of the neck and get a circumference       measurement before cutting it off. Please do not cut it off mid neck. This creates a ton of extra       work to get it out of the skin. I tube cape mine so there isn't much of a seam when sewing. 

11) DO NOT PARADE IT AROUND IN YOUR TRUCK FOR A WEEK AND EXPECT QUALITY  

As you can probably tell my passion is hunting, the outdoors, taxidermy and family. I grew up in a small town Indianola NE. I moved to Ogallala in 2002 to go to work for Ogallala Community Hospital Banner Health as a Med Radiographer. I do X-Ray and Cat Scan and have been there for 17 years. In 2004 I met the love of my life and married Dana in December of 2005. I have my two beautiful daughters Shyanne and Cidney from a previous marriage and I gained two amazing children Dane and Demi with my marriage to Dana. I have been doing taxidermy since I was 16 years old. I don't compete a lot but in 2005 I won the Award of Excellence for Mule Deer and also Best Professional Game head with a Mule deer mount. Over the years I have taken several first place awards in the professional division along with numerous seconds. I have been fortunate enough to travel to many parts of the world hunting all the while gaining knowledge in a variety of different species of animals. In January of 2019 I was blessed with a beautiful grandson Knox!! On October 23rd 2019 I gained my first granddaughter Cooper Lee to Cidney and Cody . My kids have all turned out amazing. Dane is married to Jamie the parents to Knox and they are both rad techs in Grant NE. Shyanne is an art teacher in Maywood NE. and her boyfriend Zane is a heavy equipment mechanic in Curtis Nebraska where they live. Cidney works for Fed Ex and her husband Cody works for Nebraska Bull Service. Demi is a Radiation Therapist in Loveland Colorado, her boyfriend Evan is in Fort Collins getting his PHD in Physics. Dana is a lifelong resident of Ogallala and she has been with Banner Health as a Lab Tech for 30 years. Moose is my Rottweiler, Jax my mini Aussi and Ryker our Bengal cat.