Complete Seasonal Guide for Taxidermy Shops: All 12 Months
Most taxidermy shop problems are predictable and seasonal. The intake overwhelm in November, the compliance scramble when a wildlife officer shows up, the cash flow dip in February, these aren't surprises for taxidermists who've been in the industry for a few years. They're patterns.
Shops with seasonal plans enter each quarter 30% more prepared than reactive shops. This guide gives you the month-by-month operational framework to convert those patterns into a planned, manageable year.
TL;DR
- Each month has a distinct operational priority, and preparation for the next month should begin 30-60 days in advance.
- Every preparation task completed in July is one less task to scramble through in October.
- Shops with seasonal plans enter each quarter 30 percent more prepared than shops that operate reactively.
- Turkey season intake, deer season intake, and waterfowl season intake all require different documentation and workflows.
- Offseason months from February through July are the ideal window for software upgrades, facility improvements, and pricing reviews.
- Pre-season customer outreach 6-8 weeks before deer opener is the highest-return marketing investment a taxidermy shop can make.
January: Backlog, Recovery, and Planning
January is the tail end of deer season in most states. Some late seasons (late muzzleloader, late archery) are still open. Goose season continues. Your shop is likely full.
Operational focus:
- Process your deer backlog systematically. Set your production queue based on intake date, oldest jobs first.
- Complete your year-end review: How many mounts did you complete vs take in? What's still in the backlog? What did you learn?
- Complete tannery follow-ups: Any hides that went out in November should be returning now. Verify shipment counts against return counts.
- Begin your first round of customer review requests. Customers whose mounts were completed in fall are ready to leave reviews now.
Financial:
- January is typically your lowest revenue month. Cash flow planning matters. If December and November deposits cover January expenses, you're in good shape. If not, this is the month to evaluate your deposit structure.
- Review your pricing for the coming year. Did tannery costs increase? Did your material costs change? January is the right time to update your price sheet before any new intake.
Software tasks:
- Archive completed jobs from last season and audit any open jobs with no activity
- Verify your USFWS permit renewal date, if it expires in 2026, start the renewal process now
February: Deep Backlog Work and Off-Season Prep
February is pure production time in most shops. No incoming intake. No major seasons open. This is your biggest production window.
Operational focus:
- Work through the backlog at full production pace. Your goal should be clearing the longest-waiting jobs first.
- Reach out proactively to customers whose jobs are taking longer than the estimated timeline. A proactive update from you lands very differently than a customer calling to ask where their mount is.
- Update your taxidermy shop annual planning document with goals for the coming season.
Marketing:
- January review requests should start producing Google reviews this month. Respond to every review, positive and negative.
- If you took trophy-class deer this past season, post completion photos on social media. November harvest photos paired with finished mount photos generate excellent engagement.
Business:
- File your annual business taxes. Taxidermy income is self-employment income in most cases. Estimated tax payments for Q1 are due April 15.
- If you're considering expanding, adding space, equipment, or a first employee, February is the time to make that decision before spring turkey season commitments.
March: Spring Turkey Preparation
Turkey season opens in the Southeast in mid-March. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi hunters are dropping off birds.
Operational focus:
- Verify your USFWS federal taxidermist permit is current before accepting any turkey
- Update your intake form to include all turkey compliance fields: federal hunting license number, state turkey tag, species, harvest state
- Stock turkey-specific forms and materials: body forms by species, fan preservation supplies, degreasing materials
- Set up turkey-specific tracking in your management software
Customer communication:
- Email your past turkey customers confirming you're accepting birds this season
- Post your turkey availability on Facebook and Google Business Profile
- Update your website with spring turkey season hours
Production:
- February's production work should be clearing your oldest deer backlog jobs. Complete any deer jobs that are mount-ready so you can open production capacity for turkey.
April: Peak Turkey Season
April is the peak of turkey season across most of the country. Midwest, Northeast, and Mountain West seasons open. This is your most concentrated turkey intake window.
Operational focus:
- Operate full turkey intake process for every bird accepted. Federal compliance is non-negotiable.
- Process birds quickly: photograph, document, condition assess, deposit collect, portal link sent, before the customer drives away.
- Ship your first turkey skins to the tannery if early-received birds are prepped and ready.
- Continue deer production on your backlog alongside turkey intake.
What 80% of turkey intake looks like:
In most states, 80% of season's total turkey intake arrives in the first two weeks of April. Prepare your intake station, supplies, and documentation systems before April 1.
Customer communication:
- Send tannery notification to customers whose turkey skins are shipping
- Update portal status for all active turkey jobs at each stage change
May: Turkey Wind-Down and Production Ramp
Turkey seasons close across most states by mid-to-late May. Late Northern season (Maine, Vermont, parts of New England) extends into June in some states.
Operational focus:
- Complete remaining turkey intake for late-season states
- Begin turkey production on earliest-received birds from March
- Continue deer production, May is a clear production window before spring fishing season brings fish to your door
Fish season preview:
- May is when trophy bass, walleye, and trout seasons peak in many regions
- If you accept fish, prepare your fish intake workflow and contact past fish customers
June: Fish Season and Production Continuity
Summer fishing season is in full swing. Trophy catches come in as replica and skin mount requests.
Operational focus:
- Activate your fish intake workflow: length/girth measurements, reference photo collection, replica vs skin mount decision, color reference documentation
- Continue production on deer and turkey backlog
- Update customers on estimated completion dates, customers who've waited since November are at 6-7 months now. A proactive status update prevents calls.
Off-season marketing:
- Post finished mount photos from spring turkey season
- Begin building social media content for fall deer season, strategy articles, habitat tips, and "book early" messaging
July: Pre-Season Preparation Begins
July is your critical preparation month. Deer season is still 3-5 months away, but every preparation task you complete in July is one you don't have to scramble to do in October.
System setup:
- Review your intake form and update any fields that need revision based on last season
- Audit your deer-specific form inventory: do you have sufficient stock for your projected volume?
- Set up or refresh your customer portal and test it
- Verify all compliance documentation fields are correctly configured for your state's current requirements
Marketing:
- Send your annual deer season preview email to your full customer list
- Update your Google Business Profile for the coming deer season
- Begin posting "book early" content on social media, serious hunters are thinking about taxidermy by late July
Equipment:
- Service and inspect your freezers before peak season. A freezer failure in November is catastrophic.
- Inspect and repair any equipment that showed wear last season
- Stock supplies for projected deer season volume
August: Final Pre-Season Preparation
August is your last clear preparation window before archery season opens across most of the country.
Operational focus:
- Finalize your deer intake workflow and train any staff
- Complete your tannery relationship review: Are you using the right tannery for this season? Have tannery costs changed?
- Update your price sheet for the new season based on current tannery rates and supply costs
- Set up your deer season schedule: intake hours, drop-off procedures, after-hours instructions
Compliance:
- Complete your annual compliance self-audit using the taxidermy shop compliance audit template
- Verify CWD state regulations for your region, these change annually
Communication:
- Send a "we're ready for deer season" email to your full customer list
- Post your intake hours and any capacity limits on social media and Google Business Profile
- If you have a waitlist from last season, contact those customers now
September: Archery Season Opens
Archery deer season opens in most states in September. Early-archery deer start arriving.
Operational focus:
- Begin deer intake with full documentation process for every specimen
- Issue portal links at every intake, customers who get their link in September don't call in January
- Begin communicating your intake capacity, if you're planning to cap intake, let customers know early
Concurrent seasons:
- Early teal duck season opens in many states in mid-September, federal compliance required for every bird
- Elk archery season opens in most Western states in September, extended cape handling protocols apply
October: Deer Season Builds
October is the ramp-up month. Archery season volume increases as pre-rut deer movement peaks. Some firearms seasons open late October.
Operational focus:
- Maintain full intake documentation on every deer as volume builds
- Ship your first deer cape batches to the tannery, capes prepped from September intake should be ready
- Confirm tannery capacity and expected turnaround times for the season
- Begin proactive customer communication for September intake customers
Waterfowl:
- Main duck season opens in most states in October, federal compliance required
- Managing duck and deer intake simultaneously requires separate intake workflows
November: Peak Season
November is the center of the taxidermy year. Deer firearms season opens across the country. In most states, 60-70% of your annual deer intake arrives in November.
Operational focus:
- Run your complete deer intake process without shortcuts on every specimen
- Process deposits at intake on every job, no exceptions during peak season
- Manage your intake capacity actively: if you're at your ceiling, let customers know
- Keep your portal statuses updated even when you're busy, this is when customers check most often
Survival strategies for peak week:
- Staff drop-off hours if possible
- Use AI intake to process every deer in 3 minutes instead of 20
- Set voicemail to route callers to the portal and send pre-written status update texts in batches
Compliance:
- Waterfowl season overlaps, verify federal documentation on every duck and goose
- CWD-affected states have additional record-keeping requirements during deer season
December: End-of-Season Intake and Wind-Down
December marks the close of most deer firearms seasons. Some late seasons (muzzleloader, late archery) continue. Goose season typically peaks in December.
Operational focus:
- Complete remaining deer intake from late seasons
- Begin production on earliest-received deer from October and November
- Reach out to customers with the longest-waiting jobs to confirm their mounts are in queue
- Begin year-end audit of all active jobs in your system
Financial close:
- Review deposits collected vs work remaining, this is your operating liability heading into the new year
- Q4 estimated tax payment due January 15, plan for it now
- Assess your cash position heading into January's low revenue period
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I focus on in each month of the taxidermy business year?
January through March is backlog and recovery: process your deer backlog, complete your year-end review, prepare for turkey season, and plan the coming year. April and May are turkey season operations with concurrent deer production. June through August is your production, marketing, and preparation window, the months where preparation work directly determines how well November goes. September through November is deer season intake at full volume. December closes the intake cycle and begins the production ramp into January. Each month has a distinct operational priority, and preparation for the next month's priorities should begin 30-60 days in advance.
When should I prepare for deer season and how far in advance?
Serious preparation should begin in July, four to five months before peak November intake. Equipment service, supply stocking, form inventory, intake system updates, and initial marketing should all be complete by early August. Final preparations, price sheet updates, compliance audit, customer email campaign, should be done in August. September is too late to fix systemic problems: by then, your intake workflow needs to be tested and running. The shops that struggle in November are the ones who treat September as the time to start thinking about deer season.
How do I use the off-season months productively?
January through August is where the next deer season is won or lost. January and February are peak production months for your current backlog, clear the longest-waiting jobs and communicate proactively with waiting customers. March through June are specialty season intake and production months. July and August are preparation months for deer season: system updates, supply ordering, equipment service, marketing campaigns, and compliance audits. The shops that enter deer season most prepared use their off-season as deliberately as their peak season.
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 taxidermy shop seasonal guide complete?
The most common mistake is treating taxidermy shop seasonal guide complete 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.
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- The Complete Guide to Running a Modern Taxidermy Shop in 2026
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Sources
- National Taxidermists Association (NTA)
- US Fish & Wildlife Service
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
Get Started with MountChief
Pre-season preparation is what separates shops that handle peak volume smoothly from those that fall behind on day one. MountChief's intake, tracking, and communication tools are designed to handle the pace of your busiest weeks. Try MountChief before your next season opener.