I just moved from Texas to Montana –a total of nearly 2000 miles! But I also had to move my belongings –most of which are ‘dead-heads’ (my mother’s nick-name for taxidermy). As you can imagine, I have a few shoulder mounts and because I had to pay ABF Freight by the square foot, maximizing space was important.
After consulting with taxidermist, Terry Rheinlander (Rheinlander World Class Taxidermy) , an effective game plan was developed.
Thank God that my good friend Larry Chapman came to lend a hand! After receiving ABF’s 28’ foot trailer, we noticed it had slotting. Using the trailer’s slots, the idea was to hang (using 2×4’s) and screw in thick plywood as a backing for our dead-heads. We also purchased 3 ½ inch screws and several eight foot long 2×4’s.
Next we selected dead-heads based on size, weight and anatomical structure and puzzle-pieced them in our minds as to where they should fit in the trailer.
Larry and I then cut the 2×4’s long enough to overlap the back of the trophies by 6 inches or so on each side, and screwed the cut boards into the back of the taxidermy (most taxidermy is lined with a plywood-type backing).
After screwing the wooden boards to the trophies, we’d then place the shoulder mount against the sheet of plywood and again screw the dead-head to the plywood using the 2×4 overlap (which was just screwed to the back of the mount).
For larger trophies, we’d screw two 2×4 boards to the back of the trophy (elk/eland/caribou) and saved the smaller items for last so we could puzzle-piece them in.
Nine days later everything arrived in perfect condition –it was experimental, but successful and now they’re beautifully displayed in their new home!
Do you have any other taxidermy moving tips?
