Most taxidermist make less than 75K a year. Probably 75% make 50K a year or less. The big shop owners and I mean big 1000 -2000 mounts per year with a team a hard working and very experienced taxidermists, finishers, and habitat people can make $150K+ per year plus equity in the business. Obviously those shops gross a million or even 2 but that disappears mighty fast. I did taxidermy full time for 20+ years and my best years were working as a contractor for one or two of those big shops plus 1-2 smaller shops. I made right at $100k a year and that was hustling. I could probably make a little more now due to the prices today but I pretty much hate it at this point in my life.
This is a pretty accurate description. I personally take in about 75–100 whitetails a year. I also have a full-time corporate job, so I work on taxidermy Mondays and Fridays before and after work, plus 12-hour days on Saturdays and Sundays. Holidays often turn into workdays too.
I keep everything in-house—hide prep, tanning, mounting, and finishing—so I know my net profit margins very clearly. The trade-off is that what should be a part-time business quickly becomes the equivalent of a second full-time job once you add in bookkeeping and other administrative work.
If you outsource prep, tanning, and finishing and only handle the actual taxidermy work yourself, profitability drops significantly—often into the under-$50K category at the numbers stated above—but you do gain back some of your time. For me, having a successful corporate career with flexibility, plus a very supportive wife, makes running my shop possible.
That said, when I run the numbers for going full-time in taxidermy to replace my current salary and benefits, the volume I’d need to take in each year is simply more than I want. Realistically, I’d also need at least two additional employees to maintain the 12-month turnaround my clients expect. And finding skilled help that will stay long-term, rather than leaving after a few months to start their own shop, is a huge challenge in this industry.
Doing it now pays for all my hunting trips and expenses, make additional investments in my retirement, and pay for house projects but if it was my only income, it would be a much different level of living than what it offers now, and I don't know that I would enjoy it as much. We charge $900 for a whitetail shoulder mount and that is in the higher range of our area, but we have 30 years of experience and customer base. Most of the people who start a shop in our area are priced around 500-600 to get business.
