Most bad taxidermy stories are not about the mount. They are about the shop: the deposit that grew at pickup, the phone that never got answered, the “should be done next month” that turned into two years. Stehling’s Taxidermy (taxidermyplanet.com) has been a family-run studio in Jefferson, Wisconsin since 1978, and this page is the plain-language version of how we work, so you know what to expect before you hand us an animal.
See our published prices | Call or text (920) 650-7800
1. The price you see is the price you pay
Every standard mount has a flat, published price on our price list: $1,100 for a whitetail shoulder mount, $575 for most duck mounts ($675 for eiders and scoters), $1,400 for any turkey pose, $30 per inch for a fish skin mount, and so on. Habitat bases, custom scenes, and rush service are quoted in writing before we start, not discovered at pickup. If we find a problem during the work (a slipped cape, a cracked skull) we call you before spending your money.
2. Four ways to pay, no bank, no credit check
Our Easy 8 Payment Plan gives you four ways to pay over eight months: pay in full when you place the order, 50/50 (half at order, half due in eight months), three installments, or eight equal monthly payments. The plan is run in-house, so there is no bank, no interest, and no credit check. Any remaining balance is settled before the mount leaves the shop.
3. A realistic timeline, in writing
Standard delivery is 12 to 14 months from drop-off. That is the true number, not a hopeful one, and it is on your receipt. If you need it sooner, rush service is available on select orders at 180 days (+25%), 90 days (+50%), or 30 days (+100%), and rush capacity is limited, so ask early. When your mount is done, we call. If a project is running past its window, we call about that too.
4. You talk to the people doing the work
Call or text (920) 650-7800 for Jefferson or (920) 650-8972 for New Franken and you reach the studio, not an answering service. During the fall season the counter is staffed Monday through Friday 8 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 9 AM to noon in Jefferson, and Tuesday and Thursday 3 to 7 PM in New Franken. If you are calling from the field with a question about caping or cooling an animal, that is exactly what the number is for.
5. Who does the work, and where
Aaron and Austin Stehling lead the studio and oversee every mount. Skinning, fleshing, form work, finishing, and habitat are done in our Jefferson studio by the Stehlings and our trained staff; hides go to a commercial tannery we have used for years, because a commercially tanned cape is what makes a mount last. Ask us and we will walk you through exactly what happens to your animal at each stage and who does it. A member of the family checks every mount before it goes on the pickup shelf.
6. We help you before the animal ever gets here
Free caping at both locations during open hours if you bring the animal whole. Free field-care guides for every species we mount. Free pre-hunt planning for western and African trips, including which animals are worth mounting, how to pose them for the room they will hang in, and how to get them home. If you would rather look than read, the Jefferson showroom has hundreds of finished mounts and observation windows into the studio, and the New Franken showroom near Green Bay has a full display floor. Walk-ins are welcome.
7. If something is not right, we make it right
Look your mount over at pickup. If anything is off, say so before it leaves the shop and we fix it. If a workmanship issue shows up later, bring it back and we will look at it; that is what our restoration and repair bench is for. We build mounts on commercially tanned hides and species-correct forms so they look the same in twenty years as the day you picked them up, and we stand behind that work.
8. Honest about what we are and are not
We are a full-service studio best known for whitetails, black bear, waterfowl, and turkeys, with deep experience in western big game and African plains game, and we mount fish, small game, and exotics to the same standard. We are a taxidermy studio, not a freight company or customs broker: for African and other international shipments we coordinate with licensed import brokers and dip-and-pack facilities, and our USDA-approved import facility applies specifically to eligible bird imports such as Gould’s and ocellated turkeys and waterfowl. If a job falls outside what we do, we will tell you so and point you to the right people.
Where to find us
Jefferson studio and showroom: 913 N. Parkway St., Jefferson, WI 53549, right off I-94 at Hwy 26. (920) 650-7800. Mon–Fri 8 AM–5 PM, Sat 9 AM–12 PM, Sunday by appointment. Details.
New Franken showroom (Green Bay area): 3861 Algoma Rd, Suite 3, New Franken, WI 54229. (920) 650-8972. Tue and Thu 3–7 PM, other times by appointment. Details.
Out of state: freeze it and ship it to us. We take trophies from all 50 states and ship finished mounts back.