Taxidermy School > Choosing The Right Taxidermy School

Taxidermy Schools – Choosing the right one for you!

When you are looking for the best education in taxidermy, look to International Taxidermy Champion Dan Rinehart.

Back in the 1970’s there were only a handful of taxidermy schools. Rinehart taxidermy school was one of the nation’s first taxidermy schools and a current leader in the business of taxidermy schools. Dan Rinehart Taxidermy schools exceed the strict guidelines of the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board (WEAB). The WEAB monitors and evaluates taxidermy schools of all sizes. Taxidermy schools that have been granted approval by the WEAB provide students with many save guards that non-approved taxidermy schools may not offer. For an example, WEAB approved taxidermy schools must be “bonded” to insure that your deposit and money doesn’t disappear in the event that the school no longer is operational. When you are evaluating taxidermy schools it can be helpful to ask if the school is approved by a state licensing agency.

Today you can find taxidermy schools at almost any taxidermy business that has an extra 4’x 4’ of floor space (or garage) available – and this is one of the major scams in the area of taxidermy education. Many taxidermists will project their taxidermy businesses as taxidermy schools – when in fact they are not and do not have any government approval. In most cases, these “taxidermy schools” are simply individuals looking to make a little money on the side while you are paying them to work on THEIR customer jobs! In other words, these “taxidermy schools” require that you pay them money to work and act as their employee! Don’t be deceived, legitimate taxidermy schools always insist that the student learn on the students own specimens so that the student has display mounts to take home with them to start their own display room / business. Be wary of “taxidermy schools” who offers to teach you on THEIR customer mounts! At first it may seem that these smaller “taxidermy schools” would offer a good education due to the fact that the student-to-teacher ratio is low. The truth is that the opposite is true about these taxidermy schools. Truly successful taxidermy schools provide a professional, clean and efficient classroom setting that accommodates multiple students. Such taxidermy schools offer each student their own organized work space with an inventoried set of well-operating tools. It is also a fact that Taxidermy schools that provide an atmosphere with multiple students, offer a wider range and greater depth of education. When taxidermy schools have multiple students, the opportunity for multiple problems and their corresponding solutions increases. The more scenerios and situations that a student can be exposed to, the greater education they receive from those schools. Having multiple students in a school multiplies the topics covered

The next thing to look for in taxidermy schools might surprise you. Taxidermy schools that have instructors that are practicing taxidermists do not provide the best education. YES, it is important that the schools instructors have been successful professional taxidermists in the past. However, instructors of taxidermy schools that also operate as taxidermy businesses find their instructional emphasis to be diluted. To many times, students of taxidermy schools / taxidermy businesses find that they are waiting on their instructor as he/she deals with daily customers coming through the door and interrupting the instruction process. If taxidermy schools are to provide the best education, they must have instructors that are 100% instructors. Again, it is important to emphasis that the instructor MUST have a STRONG record of previous success as a practicing “professional taxidermist” so that the instructor can offer recommendations on how to establish and run a successful taxidermy business. However, an instructor should not try to do both (teaching and customer work) at the same time.

What to look for when evaluating taxidermy schools

Is the school among taxidermy schools approved by a government agency
Are the Taxidermy schools instructors full-time instructors
Is the layout of the taxidermy schools floor plan and work areas geared around a classroom environment – or is it just a glorified taxidermy workshop.
Do the taxidermy schools offer each student their own organized work station with a set of well-operating tools that are inventoried and designated for each individual student.
Is the taxidermy schools history long (over ten years) and without trouble

If any of the taxidermy schools that you are considering meet all these criteria, your taxidermy education should prove to be a success. And when you are considering the Dan Rinehart Taxidermy School, you can be assured that the answer to all theses questions is YES