Eastern MD Turkey Taxidermist

[Gobble!]

Anyone know of any?
Appreciate it.

[1tiogabowhunter]

Eastern Bay taxidermy mike travis 410 708 1140

[gobbler777]

Agree ... Mike Travis does a great job.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Mike Travis of Upper Bay Taxidermy. Best in MD for sure when it comes to turkeys

[Gobble!]

You guys were not lying. Thanks.

[alloutdoors]

Personally I wouldn't limit myself to a taxidermist based on geography, even if that means having to ship. Those mounts are above average, but I would look for better. I'd be happy to suggest a couple guys but they aren't in MD.

[Gobble!]

Sure let's hear them!

[JLH]

Tim Young...... Youngs Wildlife.

Tim is an amazing artist....everything he does is just perfect!

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Personally I wouldn't limit myself to a taxidermist based on geography, even if that means having to ship. Those mounts are above average, but I would look for better. I'd be happy to suggest a couple guys but they aren't in MD.

Mike was taught by Callie Morris of Hazel Creek Taxidermy.  For those who know world class turkey taxidermy, Hazel Creek is the nationally recognized best in the business.

I do not limit myself geographically; I choose Mike because you can put his mounts next to Callie's and you won't see a difference.  I also do not limit myself based on price yet still choose to send my birds to Mike.  The bottomline is that he is a world class turkey taxidermist and a turkey guide.  He is around live turkeys and mounts birds that actually resemble anatomical accuracy.
Whether I kill a mount worthy bird in Nebraska, Wyoming, Maryland or my home state of Virginia, they all go to Mike because his work is phenomenal.

[alloutdoors]

Mike was taught by Callie Morris of Hazel Creek Taxidermy.  For those who know world class turkey taxidermy, Hazel Creek is the nationally recognized best in the business.

Yes, it's quite obvious from looking at his mounts that he went to the Callie Morris School of Unrealistic Head Painting. Callie does some phenomenal bodies in terms of posing, but that shade of blue that he uses is absurd.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I will point out some of the flaws I see in the above mentioned work and then I will provide what I consider examples of world class turkey mounts. Everyone is free to judge for themselves.

I said Callie does great bodies, and he does, but even he makes mistakes. Here's an example of a bird on a limb from his site, note the straight legs. Any gobbler trying to stand like that in a tree is about half a second from falling face first to the ground. Think of where the weight of the bird is, it's center of gravity is way out in front of it's legs in this pose.


Here's a similar example from Upper Bay, same posture issue. Also the back feathers are a bit sloppy in my opinion and the wing position is off. It's not off much, but it looks unnatural and creates an effect where the wing dominates the rest of the mount. The bird also looks compressed from front to back. I will say that the head on this bird looks good, it doesn't have the Callie Blue that some of his others have.


Another, same issue with the wing and compressed body.


Now some mounts that I feel far surpass these previous examples. Please look at them with an honest eye and tell me I'm wrong.

Proper posture on a limb.


What a strutting bird should look like. Notice how the wing curves with the body, and the separation between the primaries. The wing blends with the rest of the body, it doesn't look like it was stapled on after the fact. On top of that, this mount just exudes personality and attitude. You can see the same in the mounted bird in the background, even though it's out of focus.


More examples.


It's the little things, like knowing how to properly pose feet, that separate good from great. Again, note the separation in the primaries and how every single feather is in its place.


Painting a head with the correct colors helps too.


Now, if you can look at those photos and honestly say that anything on the Upper Bay site is better that's fine, we can agree to disagree. I would sincerely be interested in hearing a detailed breakdown in support of that opinion though, similar to what I have provided here. Maybe you can change my mind about something.

[dejake]

I was going to suggest Don Travis in Chestertown.  However, after seeing the strutter photo that Alloutdoors posted, that's who I want doing my birds.  That mount is awesome.  Who's the artist?

[alloutdoors]

Ok, tired of answering PM'S. 

The photos I posted are from Mike Mizelle, Blackwing Turkeys/Mike's Taxidermy.

http://blackwingturkeys.com/

https://facebook.com/blackwingturkeys?_rdr

He mostly focuses on turkeys but does some other stuff too that he puts on his Mike's Taxidermy page. The gator at the top of the page was in his shop when I dropped off my Osceola in March, it's a cool mount.

https://facebook.com/mikes.taxidermy?_rdr

The other guy I consider worth looking at is John Beard of Birds Only Taxidermy. He also does great work, but he raised his prices this year and to me the quality is the same as Blackwing. If someone lives close to him it might be a better option than shipping.

http://birdsonlytaxidermy.com/