I was a little nervous as I pushed the door open. I had never been to a place like this before and yet I curiously excited as I walked through the door. And the minute I crossed the threshold, I thought I might throw-up right there. I was met with an odor that I had not planned for......a smell that burned my nostrils. I had just walked into the A-1 Sportsman Taxidermy Shop and to say the least - there was a lot to take in. There was a gentleman behind the counter conversing with a man and two young boys and a large black dog sauntered up to me and gave me a couple of good sniffs. I turned to see where the dog came from and came face to face with, what I thought was, a moose and later learned was an elk. There were deer heads, elk head and shoulder mounts, life size bobcats, rabbits, fish on the wall and/or in the counter case. They were really beautiful in a scary sort-of way. And in the middle of the room was a large (long and wide) table that I quickly deduced was the "working" table. It had tools, head molds, boards, push pins, etc. scattered about the table. I am just standing there trying to take in everything without going into sensory overload slowly turning around and around. And then the gentleman behind the counter asks if he can help me. I am sure I looked out of place with my purse and note pad and he probably thought I was going to try to sell him something. I told him that I didn't want to interrupt his transaction and he said that he was done. So I moved over to the counter; extended my hand and told him that my name was Donna and continued with my spiel. I was shaking hands with Steve, the owner of A-1 Sportsman Taxidermy and big hunter looking Steve asked me, "What in the heck made you decide to come in here?" I told him, "Couldn't pass up the giant fish on the building and I have never been in a taxidermy shop before. So, why not." He laughed and shook his head. And then I heard in a small voice, "You can meet us too." So I met Alex, his brother Patrick and their dad, John. They were there to get their first bucks mounted. Patrick had bagged a 8 point and Alex got a 5 point. Alex went on to tell me that his fell about 15 yards from where he shot it and then Patrick told me that it took them 15 minutes to find his and they walked past it about three times because he was so well camouflaged in the grass. Patrick appeared to be about 11 and Patrick was maybe 7. John, the dad, was beaming from ear-to-ear as his boys told me about their bucks and then he chirped in and told me, "I am a proud dad, I didn't even pick up a gun - they did it all." I couldn't figure out if they had already dropped off their deer and they were in the back "for processing" until I looked down near my feet and peeking out from black trash bags were eyes. I jumped back until I realized it was dead. I mean I knew it was dead, but somehow you forget until you take a second look. I should have stuck with the first glance because the second look confirmed - dead deer heads on the floor in trash bags. Insert full-body shiver here. Again, beautiful in a scary sort-of way. As Steve is writing up the order for Alex and Patrick's deer, I ask him the dog's name - Gunner and to explain, in simple terms, how this whole taxidermy thing worked. Skin removed, tanned, pulled over the form, glass eyes added and viola'.
Now to that smell. Did mention that the smell in the store burned my nostrils??? It smelled like 7th grade biology class when we had to dissect a frog. Formaldehyde and skin......if you ever had to dissect a frog - you never forget the smell. I guess you get used to the smell after a while, but I never did for the 15-20 minutes that I was there. Steve gave me the price list and as far as I can tell the cheapest thing that you can get mounted is a raccoon, flat skin without the head and the most expensive thing appears to be Life Size Mount Elk. Huh, I would have thought a bear would be more expensive, but not according to the price list. I had tons of questions that I could have asked Steve, but frankly, I couldn't take the smell and I started coughing. So I bid Steve and Gunner good-bye and Steve wished me good luck with my project. Back in my car, I couldn't stop coughing. My first thought was chemical poisoning. Second thought was a fur ball. After about 2 hours, I stopped coughing - I think I finally coughed up the deer fur ball. Oh, I should have kept it and had Steve mount it for me. Okay, maybe not.
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