Three generations of Wisconsin taxidermy — built one mount at a time.
What began with Greg Stehling in a small Wisconsin shop has grown into one of the most respected taxidermy studios in the country. Same family. Same standard. Same quiet obsession with getting every detail right.
2026 Award Winner
Voted Best of 2026 for taxidermy in Jefferson & New Franken, Wisconsin
Recognized by BusinessRate, powered by Google Reviews — a reflection of the trust hunters across Wisconsin place in our craftsmanship.
A Wisconsin shop, an industrial engineer, and a patience for fish.
Greg Stehling founded Stehling’s Taxidermy (the studio behind taxidermyplanet.com, which many hunters know simply as Taxidermy Planet) in 1978 after years of training through the 1970s. He came to the craft with a different toolkit than most — as a trained industrial engineer, he saw in taxidermy the same problem-solving discipline he’d spent a career in: precision, efficiency, and process.
He worked in every area of the craft in those early years, but his passion kept returning to one place: fish. His skill and speed on the bench quickly made him one of the most sought-after fish taxidermists in the country. Word traveled the way it does in outdoor circles — one hunter tells another, and another, and another.
“Every animal a hunter brings home deserves to be preserved with the same respect it earned in the field.”
From one bench to a production powerhouse.
Through the 1980s and 90s, Stehling’s became a name that moved through the industry itself. Thousands of specimens passed through the shop each year — mounted for sportsmen, museums, nature centers, universities, biological supply companies, and other taxidermists who couldn’t keep up with their own demand.
Greg’s sons, Aaron and Austin, grew up inside the business. Mornings before school were spent in the shop. Summers were spent on the bench. By the time they were teenagers, they were contributing to thousands of fish mounts a year alongside their father — learning the craft the way it’s supposed to be learned.
The shop’s reputation reached far beyond Wisconsin. Partnerships with Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Texas Roadhouse, zoos, and museums became part of the rhythm of the work.
Turning the bench toward the hunter again.
After decades dominating the wholesale side of the industry, Stehling’s made a pivotal decision: turn the shop back toward the people who started it all — the hunters and anglers themselves.
We built a state-of-the-art facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin to serve as our flagship. Eight thousand square feet of production space, climate control, a state-approved paint booth system, dedicated fish and bird rooms, and a showroom where clients could see finished work up close before committing to their own.
Demand kept growing, and in time a second location opened in New Franken — just outside Green Bay — to serve hunters across northeast Wisconsin and the U.P. two locations, one standard.
Aaron & Austin, carrying the bench forward.
Today the shop is led by Aaron and Austin Stehling — Greg’s sons, the second generation, the brothers who grew up in the studio and never left. They run both locations. They still do the work themselves. On any given day you’ll find one of them sculpting a cape, airbrushing a fish, or walking a client through their options in the showroom.
Their philosophy is simple: a mount isn’t something you produce, it’s something you build. Every hunt is a story, and the craft exists to tell it honestly — muscle tone, posture, expression, the tension in the moment the trigger broke. Get those right and the mount does what it’s supposed to do: bring the memory back, every time the owner walks into the room.
Built in Wisconsin. Serving hunters far beyond it.
Our Jefferson flagship sits just off Highway 26 in Jefferson County, with 8,000 square feet of production space and a showroom built for walking clients through every option before they commit. Our New Franken showroom, just outside Green Bay, serves hunters across northeast Wisconsin, the Fox Valley, Door County, and the U.P.
Jefferson is the production studio, with a showroom and drop-off and pickup. New Franken, just outside Green Bay, is a showroom with drop-off and pickup; the mounts themselves are built in Jefferson by the same hands, to the same standard. Choose whichever is closer to your driveway.
two locations, one family, one standard.
Honoring tradition, shaping what comes next.
Alongside the studio’s client work, Aaron and Austin teach professional taxidermy. Taxidermy Insider is their video-instruction platform: full courses — standing wood duck, flying pheasant, full-strut turkey, whitetail, fish, molding and casting — taught by Aaron and Austin for working taxidermists and serious beginners. The Taxidermy Twins, their YouTube channel, offers shorter lessons and technique walk-throughs. Both are Stehling’s Taxidermy projects; the teaching happens online and in person, for students around the world.
Preserving the craft means preserving its record, too. The Taxidermy Heritage Archives, a division of Stehling’s, digitizes rare books, historical documents and original research from a collection built over decades and makes them freely available for study.
Tradition, practiced and taught.
Hunters, anglers, institutions — and the brands that outfit them.
Three generations of craft — one conversation away.
From a child’s first turkey to a once-in-a-lifetime African safari, every mount gets the same care we’d give our own. Visit one of our Wisconsin studios, or start your piece online with our Mount Builder.