How to Manage Your Taxidermy Shop During Peak Hunting Season

By MountChief Editorial Team|Updated Mar 2026

Most shops fail to capture 15 to 20% of potential deer season revenue due to capacity limits. Not because they couldn't do the work, because their intake process was too slow, their capacity limits were set wrong, or they burned out before the season ended.

Peak season management is a pre-season activity. The decisions that determine whether you survive deer season are made in September, not November.

TL;DR

Your first tannery shipment of the season should go out 3 to 4 weeks after peak intake begins.
Taking in more than you can complete in a reasonable timeframe creates customer complaints in month 9 when hunters are expecting their mounts.
experienced taxidermist doing primarily deer shoulder mounts can complete 3 to 6 mounts per week at quality production pace.
An experienced taxidermist doing primarily deer shoulder mounts can complete 3 to 6 mounts per week at quality production pace.
Most shops fail to capture 15 to 20% of potential deer season revenue due to capacity limits.
Peak days require a system that doesn't degrade under pressure.

Step 1: Know Your True Capacity Before You Open

Capacity planning is the most underrated aspect of taxidermy shop management. Most shops discover their capacity limits when they've already exceeded them.

Calculate your production capacity:

How many mounts can you realistically complete per month at full production?
Multiply by 12 and subtract 20% for off-season, slow periods, and unexpected work
That's your annual capacity

Calculate your intake capacity:

How many animals can you intake per day without cutting corners?
Multiply by peak season days (typically 45 to 60)
Compare to your production capacity

If your intake capacity exceeds your production capacity, which is common, you either need to cap intake or extend timelines proportionally. Taking in more than you can complete in a reasonable timeframe creates customer complaints in month 9 when hunters are expecting their mounts.

Step 2: Set Up Your Intake System Before Season Opens

Do not start deer season on paper if you're planning to switch to digital intake. The worst time to implement new software is the day before gun season opens.

By September 15:

AI intake workflow configured and tested
QR tag supplies ordered
Customer message templates written and loaded
Deposit collection set up
Tannery coordination done, call your tanneries, confirm expected volumes

A half-hour intake simulation before season opens is worth more than any amount of planning.

Step 3: Control Your Intake Rate

During peak days, the temptation is to say yes to everyone. Resist it.

Communicate your capacity clearly at the start of season. "We're taking deer shoulder mounts at our standard rate, we have capacity for approximately X more this season, and all jobs will be completed by [date range]."

When you're approaching capacity:

Close new deer intake before you're completely full
Have a referral relationship with another trusted taxidermist for overflow
Don't apologize for being busy, it signals quality

Turning away work cleanly is better than taking work you can't complete on time.

Step 4: Run Fast, Consistent Intake

Peak days require a system that doesn't degrade under pressure.

Intake station setup:

Phone or tablet with MountChief open
QR tag printer ready
Measuring tape and scale available
Good lighting for intake photos

Intake flow:

Photos first, before you touch the specimen
AI fills the form
Confirm species, mount style, pose preference
Collect deposit via QR payment
Attach QR tag
Send tracking link to customer
Three minutes, next customer

On a 15-intake day, this takes 45 minutes. On paper, it takes 5 hours.

Step 5: Manage the Tannery Pipeline During Season

Your first tannery shipment of the season should go out 3 to 4 weeks after peak intake begins. By then you have enough volume to make a shipment worthwhile.

Before that shipment:

Scan every hide being shipped into MountChief
Set expected return dates
Confirm with the tannery they received your hides

Do this for every batch throughout the season. By February, when customers start asking about timelines, you know exactly which hides are at the tannery and when they're due back.

Step 6: Proactive Communication Through Season

The calls that come in January are driven by information vacuum. Fill the vacuum proactively.

When hides go to the tannery, customers get a notification. When hides come back, customers get a notification. You don't have to do this manually, MountChief sends these when you log the events.

The customers who know their hide shipped to the tannery on November 20 and is expected back in February are patient. The customers who heard nothing after dropping off in November are calling by December.

FAQ

How do I prepare my taxidermy shop for deer season?

Start 60 days before opener. Calculate your production capacity and set an intake limit. Configure your intake workflow and test it. Order supplies. Contact tanneries. Write customer communication templates. The shops that handle deer season well built their systems in September.

How many mounts can one taxidermist process per week?

An experienced taxidermist doing primarily deer shoulder mounts can complete 3 to 6 mounts per week at quality production pace. Intake capacity is higher, especially with AI intake. The separation between intake rate and production rate creates the seasonal backlog that leads to 6 to 12 month timelines. This is normal and expected, communicate it at intake.

What breaks down first when a taxidermy shop gets overwhelmed?

Usually intake documentation, when the pressure is high and there are customers waiting, intake shortcuts happen. Tags get put on wrong. Information gets entered incompletely. These shortcuts create the mix-ups and compliance problems that surface months later. AI intake reduces the shortcuts because the system prompts for every field regardless of how busy the day is.

How does this apply to solo taxidermy shops?

The principles in this guide apply to solo shops just as they do to larger operations, though the scale differs. A single-person shop may have lower absolute volume but faces the same documentation, compliance, and customer communication requirements. The practical advice here scales down to any shop size.

What is the most common mistake taxidermists make with how to manage peak hunting season?

The most common mistake is treating how to manage peak hunting season as an afterthought rather than building it into the standard workflow from the start. Shops that encounter problems in this area typically did not establish clear processes before season, which means every situation becomes a one-off decision rather than a standard response.

Try These Free Tools

Put these insights into practice with our free calculators and planners:

Sources

National Taxidermists Association (NTA)
US Fish & Wildlife Service

Get Started with MountChief

The results in this article are achievable in any shop that applies the same operational approach. MountChief provides the intake speed, tannery tracking, and customer communication tools that make this kind of improvement possible. Try MountChief to see what better systems do for your operation.