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WELCOME TO THE HOME PAGE OF

WHITETAILS UNLIMITED TAXIDERMY and South Carolina Outdoor News Hunting Forum

I am located in Simpsonville S.C.

Serving Greenville, Mauldin, Fountain Inn, Greer, Woodruff and Laurens.

My name is Rick Durham

Owner/operator of the Business.

I have been doing Taxidermy since 1995 specializing in Whitetail Deer. I am a member of the South Carolina Taxidermist Association & National Taxidermist Association.

Here at Whitetails unlimited, I specialize in high quality mounts. Only the best quality materials are used here.

By attending various Taxidermy seminars and competitions, I stay on top of the many changes affecting the Taxidermy Industry.

My favorite animal to mount is the Whitetail Deer.

My favorite novelty to mount is the Swamp Booger.

Please feel welcome to come by anytime, but it is best to call first, because I love to hunt.

A brief history of Taxidermy:

Taxidermy is a modern art that began at the end of the eighteenth
century.

It started when hunters began bringing their trophies to upholsterers to
have them sew up the animal’s skins and stuff them.
Taxidermy has become a form of wildlife art thanks to some great naturalists and taxidermists who knew how to give back the appearance of life to dead animals.
Carl E. Akeley was a famous explorer, inventor and naturalist that contributed to the art of taxidermy. William T. Horneday, Coloman Jones and Leon Pray also helped in the development of taxidermy.

The best progress made was the creation of manikins, which are anatomically correct and which replaced the excelsior. Excelsior was the original stuffing material.

The manikins that are used to mount your specimens are accurate; they incorporate every facial detail and visible muscle. I select the best manikins available to offer you the mount you desire.

What is Taxidermy?

The word Taxidermy comes from the two Greek words taxi- meaning preparation, arrangement, and -derma meaning skin. Taxidermy refers to the preparation of skins to mount on a manikin to create lifelike mounts.
Life appearance is my first objective, here at whitetailsunlimited. As soon as you bring your trophy to me, I’ll skin it carefully to keep the fur as clean as possible. Then, the skin will be salted to remove all body fluids and to temporarily preserve the skin. I will then carefully flesh and shave the skin. The skin will then be placed in a pickle, which is a bath composed of water, salt, and an acid. It will then be neutralized in a solution of water and sodium bicarbonate to destroy the effect of the acid. Finally, I will tan your skin to obtain a leather, which will last a lifetime.
The preparation of the manikin is another important step. I start with the best manikins available in the market. I have to do some altering to the manikins because each animal has a different size and I want to provide you with the best mount. I don’t want to stretch the skin for it to fit to the manikin; I want the manikin to fit the skin. This helps retain the initial size of the animal when it was alive. The fit of the skin to the manikin is what makes the difference between a good mount and a mount that will distract the eye.
I will provide you with a good mount that will attract the eye of every visitor you’ll have in your house.
Just take a look at the picture gallery on this website!
Let me show you that taxidermy is a valid form of wildlife art, just bring your trophy to me!

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