I hear there's a few left on the mountian

[Tristate]

Here is a very rare project we just finished. Not too many of these get hunted anymore and the fact that the client wanted it full body really made it a rare job. I know it ain't a big ol' muley buck but its still some kind of cool.

Good luck out there fellas.

 

[TOPGUN]

Now that is cool and I'll bet it took some man hours to do that specimen!

 

[Zeke]

Looks way way cool but I don't think I have room for a lifesize rhino!

How thick is the hide?

I've never skinned a rhino so I don't know but I've heard it's some kinka thick.

Zeke

 

[eelgrass]

That looks to be a White Rhino? Still pretty rare and looks great.

At my age I sure would like to grind up some of that horn.

 

[Hunt_the_West]

Tri, we may disagree on some things and you may get belittled (not by me I generally don't play those games), BUT you are one hell of a taxidermist!!

 

[theox]

Really cool.
So how long does something like that take to do? On a scale of 1-10 how difficult compared to an elk or deer etc

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

Very cool tri. How much does the hide on one of those things weigh?

 

[hornkiller]

Wow very nice!

 

[KNOTFERSAIL]

That's bad azz...great taxi work.

 

[hillshooter]

Very nice! That's one hell of an accomplishment. I have zero artistic talent but I can sure appreciate when someone else does. I hope you are rewarded well because it looks like you earned it!
I can hear the call into your shop now (Hunter) "Hey Tristate I have a rinoserous that I'd like to do a full body mount on, how much? " (Tristate) "oh bull sh!t, quit prank calling me, I dont have time to play games" Haha

 

[Snoopdogg]

Pretty nice mount Tri, any other pictures or angles?

 

[oneaway]

Might be the best pic of taxi work you have ever posted! Amazing!!!


www.SkullHanger.com

 

[PleaseDear]

Damn nice!

Robb

 

[Tristate]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. A lot of work went into it. I will try and answer questions as best I can. As far as time, Roughly we had 4 men at 9 days on this project. I was not there in Africa when this guy was skinned and I have never seen a rhino skinned so I am unsure how thick their skin is when they are fresh. However I know once the shavers at the tannery were done with it the skin was about 1/8-3/16 thick depending on the spot. I think they did a great job. When we were working on mounting it the skin I estimate weighed over 250 pounds. A welding buddy made a rotating bracket I could attach to my forklift so we could lift the entire rhino and spin it as needed while we worked on it. That made it a whole lot easier to deal with. Rhino by itself mounted, I estimate weighed around 700 pounds. With the base I think we broke 1100 pounds. I have a close up of the front end I will try and post.

Cheers

 

[Snoopdogg]

That puts more perspective on the size of that sucker. Looking forward to more pics. That's a doozy of a rhino.

 

[whitetailrick]

Black or white rino? museum work... outstanding

 

[Lawrence]

I've known Ben for years as a friend and a customer. Despite what some on here might think, he's just as good a man as he is a taxidermist, and he's a great taxidermist.

Great work, Ben!!!

 

[Blank]

Beautiful work there, that is a lovely mount and you can imagine the long hours spent on it. Once started, you can't just walk away when you get tired. You're committed to finishing.

My PH friends in Namibia get a couple permits every year for both Namibia and South Africa, and it is surprising how many people want life-size mounts of the big guys. As far as the hide, rhino-ele-hippo are all very thick and giraffe is too. A green giraffe hide is just about 2 inches! Looks like watermelon rind, and all that white hide is what is all carved off until it is about 1/4" thick. Then the entire hide is siped about 1/8" deep every 1/8" across to get the salt into the crevices and dry the hair folicles. After it gets to the tannery, they shave it and try for a uniform thickness of 1/8 to 3/16".

 

[pufftuffly]

>I've known Ben for years as
>a friend and a customer.
> Despite what some on
>here might think, he's just
>as good a man as
>he is a taxidermist, and
>he's a great taxidermist.
>
>Great work, Ben!!!


That must be why he's so well liked around here.