Some tidbits from the past----

Al Hansen

Well-known member
Reminiscing

Back in the middle 60's when I moved to Alaska, I happened to stumble upon a taxidermy shop that ended up employing me part time while I was teaching. Basically my job was to skin out and prepare all the hides, skulls, etc. that came into our shop and we then sent them via jet cargo to Denver, Colorado. I loved the heck out of my job because I saw all of the big game animals, worked on them, and had a chance to meet some fantastic people.
These are some of the things I remembered:
A. A customer and his wife brought in a black bear that he had shot and told my boss, Darrell, that they wanted an open mouth rug mount. He then proceeded to dump it out on the floor which consisted of six pieces. Yes—he cut off the head, the four legs, and of course had the body.

B. One day this Texan walks in with two ewes. My boss looked at him and said, “I don’t know your name and don’t tell me. Just turn around and get out of here before an Alaskan Fish and Game warden stops by. Mr., you might think you have shot two world record mountain goats but you have two female Dall sheep which are very much protected. Good bye!”

C. I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go around. One day this big game hunter walked into our shop because his guide had dropped off his five animals and he needed to tell us what he wanted done with each mount. The cab was parked outside as I guess he was on his way to the Anchorage International Airport.
Darrell had his receipt book out and began writing down all of the information like on his sheep, which was going to be a shoulder mount with a slight right turn. On his grizzly, he wanted a life size mount on a pedestal enclosed in glass. As for his 68" bull moose, he was going to have a shoulder mount of it as well. Finally when we got ot his caribou, this hunter looked at Darrell in total exasperation and said, “Can’t you write any faster? Look outside----don’t you see that the cab’s meter is running and YOU are costing me money! Hurry up!”
We saved our comments about him until he walked out the door.
This guy had just spent a minimum of around $20 grand back then and was worried about the cab fare! OMG

D. It was the first day of brown bear season in October and Stu, who was a brown bear guide, walked into the shop with his usual big smile and said, “Well, boys, you just can’t believe how lucky we were today. I walked out to his truck and carried in two ten foot Alaskan brownies. When Darrell had finished writing up the necessary paper work and the guide had left, I proceeded to turn the lips and nose on one of the bruins. “Hey, Darrell, did you see all of the saw dust on this one hide?” I asked. Evidently, these two bears had been taken at least three or four days before the season opened. Lots of that happened back then.

E. One morning this lady walked in with tears in her eyes. She looked at Darrell and begged, “Please, sir, you just have to help me or my husband will kill me!” In a calm voice my boss asked her what the he could do to help. “Well, she said, my husband is on a business trip and won’t be back for three weeks. Today, I decided to try and clean the paws of his polar bear rug and make them look white instead of that yellow color that they are. I poured some Hylex on one of the paws and in horror, watched the hair and hide disintegrate. He’ll kill me for sure.” We got that polar bear rug, shipped it to Denver where they had spare parts and one of the workers repaired that bear for her.
She was much relieved! The poor woman didn’t realize that the hair color is tinted yellow from the fat of the seals that they eat and it won’t come off.

F. It was in August and my boss and his wife, Carol, were on a sheep so I was in charge for the week. I had two “good ol boys” from Louisiana call me from the airport and ask if I would come pick them up where they were waiting along with the two caribou they had shot on the Alaskan Peninsula. I closed up the shop and drove out there.
Back at the shop I took down all the information that I needed and waited for them to get picked up by a cab and brought back to a motel where they were staying. As I was fleshing one of the hides the phone rang and it was one of the Louisiana guys—in fact, he was a judge. “Sir, could you check in the truck for me for my camera? I left it there by mistake.” I turned that truck inside out and never saw a camera. I then told that to the old gent and he hung up. Well, I’ll bet that an hour didn’t go by when an unmarked squad car pulled up in front of the shop and two detectives walked in. The first thing they did was read me my Miranda rights because I had been accused of stealing the judge’s camera. Never in my life had I ever been involved with the police except for one speeding ticket. I looked at one of the detectives and said, “Sir, I don’t have his camera and it is not in the truck or shop. How can I prove my innocence?” He told me that I would have to take a lie detector test. Well, that day arrived and I remember the guy hooking the wires up on me and then telling me this. “I see that you smoke, because I had a pack of Pall Malls in my shirt pocket, so when I ask you if you smoke, tell me, NO!” I did so, and he was pleased with the results as he looked at the machine. So, the questioning began and of course I was to give a simple “yes or no”. On his last question he said, “Did you take the camera?” I said, “NO!”
The test was all over----I was sweating profusely because I was a nervous wreck and he said, “I know you didn’t take his camera, but what were you thinking when I asked you, “Did you take his camera?” I looked at the policeman who gave me the polygraph test and said, “I was thinking-----I wished I had his camera because I wanted to shove it up his ass for all the grief he caused me!” He smiled and said, “You are done now and we know you are innocent.”
Al
 
Thanks Al

Funny the things you see in a Taxidermy Shop...in the early 80's I worked part-time in a taxidermy shop, based upon that I think your stories are right on target.....CWAZY HUNTERS!!!! At the least you could enjoy a good laugh when the client left the shop......



Matt
 
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