Pendleton — “It’s really an art more than a job,” is how Aaron Goen views his occupation as a taxidermist.
The walls of his central Indiana shop are lined with deer heads, some looking straight ahead, others turned to the side. He stuffed one full animal, a white doe, and it sits with feet tucked under itself on a spot of grass.
“It’s really a pride thing for hunters,” he said. “It’s a trophy.”
An avid deer hunter with about a dozen trophies of his own, Goen began training in taxidermy in January.
“I said, ‘That sounds easy. That’s what I want to do,’” he said. He began training under Fortville taxidermist Allen Thompson, whose business A&M; Taxidermy, he later bought out, investing about $4,000 to $5,000.
It didn’t take long for him to realize the error of its first impression. In fact, he said, taxidermy is an involved process that requires both artistry and technical skill. He’s now stuffed about 75 animals and has about 30 on the waiting list.
The process of stuffing an animal begins in the workroom, which is located just off of the main showroom. Goen cuts the meat away from the skin on a shiny metal table, then washes it with water. To preserve it, he rubs a white powder borax preservative into the hide, then dries it in a black, drum-like metal tumbler.
The shape of a stuffed head or body comes from a Styrofoam mold. Customers can choose the position they’d like the final product to take, from a bent position to eating to looking straight ahead.
The hide is then positioned on the mold.
“That sounds easy, but that’s the hard part,” he said, because the hide must be positioned exactly on the mold to look lifelike. He has a selection of different glass eyes to use.
Another challenge is the ears. The cartilage in the ears has to be spilt, then filled in with the automotive dent repair compound Bondo and placed on a form to make them stay in a natural position.
The nose is then painted on with an airbrush.
Besides deer, Goen also stuffs fish (either the actual fish or a plastic model, depending on the fisherman’s preference), caribou, elk, bobcat, mink, opossum, or just about anything else.
Prices range from $150 for a pheasant to $700 for a full shoulder moose, $1,500 for a full bear.
Is there anything he won’t do?
“A skunk,” he said, then thinks for a minute. “Or a cat or dog. No domestic animals. Because you can’t make it look as good as they remember it.”
Lindsay Whitehurst writes for The Herald Bulletin in Anderson, Ind.
Archive
Related Photos
-
Don Knight
October 23, 2006
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
