North Star Taxidermy Studio

11/11/2026

European skull mounts are hugely popular now and for good reason, they look great and are a less expensive way to display your antlers than a shoulder mount.
There are many methods to accomplish this and each done correctly produce good results.
We Beatle clean ours, degrease them, whiten them and then Seal them for what we think is the best results possible.
If you’re looking to have one done, keep it frozen or bring it in fresh. The fresher the better! Kept in a garage or shed for days or weeks is NOT a good idea and they will spoil, even if you think it’s cold enough.
It is now LEGAL to bring an out of state deer into Mn to have a euro done but must be brought to a licensed taxidermist within 48 hours of entering the state.
Keep in mind, many people that are not licensed, do European skull mounts for others but know that your putting your buck at risk if it were to be confiscated..
Not throwing shade at anyone for doing their own but just know what the rules are.
Any euro brought to us before thanksgiving will be done for Christmas, those brought in later are about 1-2 month wait.
We charge $195 each and they all come with our custom hanger.
We do sell our hangers for those that do their own for $10 each.
Happy Hunting!

11/11/2026

11/08/2026

Ok, I’m going to post two pics, one is another view how to properly make the cuts for your cape. The other is what happens if you wash out your deer or fill the chest cavity with ice and hang it by the hind legs. All the water runs to the head and neck and turns it into a “water head”, say NO to water heads!! Notice how the face is swollen fat with water and the eyes are swollen shut!

Nothing spoils meat or skins faster than moisture, it’s completely unnecessary and avoidable.
If you insist on washing or packing with ice, please hang them by the antlers so the water can run out.

11/07/2026

This is the time of year where everyone is asking how to cape a deer for mounting.
This photo shows it real well.
We don’t mind if you need to cut it open down the spine all the way to the ears to make caping easier.
Also, if we are mounting the deer for you, we do this service for free, right out of the back of the truck.

11/07/2026

Here is some eye candy for all you hunters dreaming of harvesting your big buck today.
This is a flashback to a few years ago, this buck was taken by a young woman as it jumped a fence. She wanted us to recreate that exact moment for her, so whatever your memory is, we can capture that as well!
Good luck and be safe everyone!
We are open 7-7 for the foreseeable future.

11/04/2026

This Zebra was taken by Grants good friend Logan.
Grant did this piece with zero assistance from me. Shoutout to Logan’s dad Chris for the great photo!
For those of you who haven’t met Grant yet, he is my “right hand man”, so as you can see, the future of North Star Taxidermy is bright!

11/03/2026

Another giant on the stand for this morning. Like whitetails, these moose are all unique as well. This bull has huge fronts and very long points..
He even has a little velvet that wasn’t rubbed off.

11/03/2026

We’ve had a lot of questions about CWD testing this year, since it’s mandatory opening weekend.
You have 24 hours after opening weekend to present it for testing in the mandatory zone this coming weekend. They only notify you if it’s positive and it’s about 10-14 days for results.
We will be open 7 am to 7 pm starting this Saturday and thru the deer season to make this as convenient as possible for the hunters.
There is no cost to the hunter for testing now or throughout the fall.
We can test deer that were taken anywhere in the state as the dnr removed the carcass movement restrictions.

This picture is just for attention but it’s a buck we mounted years ago for a good client from LeCenter Mn.

10/31/2026

Last day to apply for those Wyoming preference points!!

10/31/2026

So we are entering that time of year when we get asked if we can fix broken points, absolutely and that’s an easy and inexpensive process.
We also get asked if we can make a replica of a buck, yes we can do that as well but it’s a lot more expensive.
I’m posting some pics of that process.
First the original set needs to be covered in a rubber latex to grab all the detail, next a “mother mold” needs to be made to keep the shape of the antlers during casting.
You will see that the rubber latex looks essentially like a latex glove, so without the fiberglass shell, it wouldn’t keep its original shape.

This a huge buck that was taken about 1 hour from here many years ago by a family we do a lot of work for. They have given me permission to reproduce it and have a mount of it in our showroom.
We had already made 3 sets from this buck for various family members to keep a memory of the huge buck their grandpa had harvested.
I’ve already poured the casting resin inside the mold, so the pictures are of the process of removing the cast antlers from the mold.
As the week goes along, I’ll show the coloring and mounting process, we have a pretty unique mount position dialed up for this one, stay tuned!