photo by Destiney Robb

Tucker Crisp does some finishing work to a buck he mounted Friday afternoon at his home in Natchez.

Local man takes pride in bringing dead animals back to life

By Matt Burrowes | The Natchez Democrat

Published Sunday, November 25, 2007

NATCHEZ — Most people wouldn’t like the idea of handling bloody deer hides or dead turkeys, but for Tucker Crisp it’s a labor of love.

Crisp has been a taxidermist for 18 years.

“He’s the best around here,” assistant manager for the Sports Center Paul Mair said. “He does all of our mounts in the store.”

Crisp first got interested in the art when he didn’t have enough money to mount some of the deer he was killing.

“I was killing some nice deer but wasn’t able to get them mounted,” Crisp said. “I had a friend that did it. I started reading books and doing some for guys I worked with at the paper mill for some extra money.”

Crisp said his first heads were not very good and it took years of practice to get to the level he’s now at.

“I didn’t charge much when I first started because I knew they were not that good,” he said. “I look back at the ones I did that at the time I thought were good and see they were not.”

Now Crisp is a full time taxidermist. He works all year long and mounts nearly every kind of animal including deer, turkey, fish, squirrels and ducks.

“Right now it’s mostly deer,” Crisp said. “Come spring I’ll get more turkeys. Then fish in the summer.”

Crisp said he can mount a deer head in 10 to 12 hours but it takes a couple of weeks for one to dry.

“It may take a year for someone to get their mount back,” Crisp said. “When people drop their deer off, there might be 300 heads in front of that one.”

Crisp said before bringing a deer in to be mounted, is to cape it out properly and not allow excess heat or water get to it.

“If you don’t know how to cape one out, find someone,” he said. “A mount looks better when it has its originally cape. Bacteria can form if it stays wet causing the hair to fall out.”

Crisp is proud of his trade. Nothing makes him happier than hearing people comment on how nice his mounts are.

“I always wanted to do something just for the passion of it,” he said. “I like it when someone says I’m a good taxidermist. I wish I would have started this sooner.”