Advertisement Johnson has gone into business for himself as a taxidermist, specializing in big game like elk, whitetail deer, antelope and mule deer. He hopes the upcoming deer-hunting season opening Nov. 22 will be the start of a booming business.
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Adrien Johnson has immortalized many of the bucks he and his uncle have harvested over the years through taxidermy. He has started a new business, AJ’s Taxidermy.
Photo by Jo Anne Killeen |
AJ’s Taxidermy is in Johnson’s home/workshop on Brice Prairie. Seeds for the business have grown for more than 20 years. As a hobby, Johnson and his uncle have constructed life-like representations of bucks they and family members have harvested since Johnson was a boy. He shot his first buck and mounted it in 1989 when he graduated from Holmen High School.
After high school, Johnson attended Western Technical College and went into the tool and die business because he knew he was good with details. That keen interest in detail helped him with his taxidermy skills because, he said, it is very precise work. “I like working with tight tolerances and intricate kinds of work,” he said.
That attention to detail is important because to be good at taxidermy requires carpentry and woodworking skills. It also requires artistic talents of sculpture and painting. Add sewing to that list and Johnson fits the bill.
He has to be patient, too, because the whole process takes a lot of time. After either the hunter or he removes the cape (the layer of skin), Johnson sends it to the tannery. It takes about a month or two to get it back from the tannery.
Once the cape is back, Johnson fits it onto a polyurethane-foam mannequin shaped to replicate the body of a deer. The cape fits over the form like a glove. The mannequin depends on the size of the animal and the stance or posture the hunter wants the deer replica to take. Fitting the cape takes about a day, Johnson said.
Once the cape is mounted on the form — by gluing and sewing — it is left to dry a couple weeks before Johnson begins his artistic stage requiring more detail work. “The detail work is in the expression on the deer’s face,” he said. “It’s in the eyes and how the ears are set.”
The eyes, made from glass, are the only part of the replica that is not part of the original animal. The eyelids, eyelashes, nostrils and mouth are all part of the natural cape and have to be fitted and dried just right on the mannequin. To keep the ears standing up in a particular posture, a plastic form is inserted within the cape.
The tanning process fades the coloring around soft tissue areas such as the eyes, nose and mouth. To bring that color back to life, Johnson airbrushes all the skin parts. With wounds, he sews the skin together and sets them with glue. The hardest part is sewing the cape together once it is on the form, he said.
It takes about six months to turn around a carcass once he receives it from a hunter, he said. “That’s pretty good right now. Some taxidermists are a year or more out.”
In addition to opening the business, Johnson plans to become certified in antler scoring through the Boone and Crockett Club for game harvested by firearms and Pope and Young for game harvested by bow and arrow. He’d like to be able to judge antlers for their mass, length and symmetry. “That makes sense for me and this line of work.”
AJ’s Taxidermy is located at W8672 Highway Z, Brice Prairie. Johnson can be reached by calling (608) 399-4020.
