DARLINGTON - Ted Kilcoyne of Darlington pushes and smoothes a hide around a solid deer form, using a toothbrush to stroke the hair into place.
"This is so relaxing," he said. "It's fun. It's bringing art back into the craft."
Sunset View Buck Tail Taxidermy and Kilcoyne's home sit atop a small hill looking over the western horizon. The home's deck is one of his favorite places to sit, to see deer run "and watch the sun go down," he said.
Kilcoyne spent six days a week last fall driving to classes at the Dan Reinhart Taxidermy School in Edgerton. He spend a week each in classes focused on birds, deer and mammals. Reinhart is a three-time taxidermy champion and has his own taxidermy studio, school, supply catalog and a TV show, with videos for classes.
"Dan made the classes very easy," Kilcoyne said. "He would give us four steps at a time. When we had done that, he gave us another four steps."
But when Kilcoyne finished his classes, he had no idea he would be in the taxidermy business within a month.
Kilcoyne already has mounted 30 deer heads since opening at the end of October. He has the hides of a wild boar, two Russian boars, a ram, a Corsica ram, a Dall sheep and a white fallow deer on his schedule. He also has received some unusual requests to mount a peacock, a three-hour-old baby calf for a cow collector and a chicken.
That's all without advertising. He expects to do 100 deer heads next year.
Kilcoyne used to be the plant manager of Illinois Tool Works in Darlington, where he worked for more than 20 years before it closed and moved to Kentucky. The job was stressful, he said.
"Only twice did I take two days off in a row," he said.
He was close to landing another job late last summer, but the opening fell through. About the same time, his wife Nancy lost her job. That cinched the idea to start his taxidermy business, and Nancy went to work with her father in real estate.
Kilcoyne is now working in his garage temporarily. Too cold to pour concrete for a new shop in October, he partitioned a section, heated it and went to work.
And then people in the community "started bringing in stuff," he said. He had work to do before he even got his permits and licenses. He's been "bombarded" ever since.
Kilcoyne believes it's partly the way the community has rallied to help after ITW closed. Two local hardware store owners helped him with hardware to get his shop ready, and were the first to come out with deer heads to be mounted.
One man "shot the buck of a lifetime, and brought it in for me to do," he said.
He has seven racks of antlers ready to be mounted and 20 more on a list to be brought in when he calls for them.
To store hides, Kilcoyne has three freezers and is planning to buy a fourth. Right now, he is using the unheated part of the garage to store some of the hides.
Kilcoyne said other taxidermists he's talked to are 12 to 19 months behind on their orders. He never wants to get more than six months behind.
To help him keep up, Kilcoyne owns his own tanners and can do a hide in four hours. Besides deer, Kilcoyne has done a coyote rug and just finished a bear rug.
Hides are placed in the tanner container for about an hour, and then Kilcoyne scrapes away the grease, tallow and excess skin.
"Deer have three layers of skin," he said. "You only need one, so I have to scrape away the other two."
The hide then goes back into the tanner for another three hours.
Rugs are stretched and pinned down, coated with a tanning solution and left to dry for three to four days. The hide is stiff when dried, but Kilcoyne said he breaks it over cement blocks until it softens up and is supple again.
A deer head he is working on came out of the tanner Saturday. He started working on it Sunday and figures he will be done by 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
"I stop along the road and look at pheasants - look at turkeys - to see how they move. It's about moving the hide," he said.
His knowledge of animal movement helps him position hide on the form "where it needs to be when you're doing it."
Kilcoyne attaches the skins to the head and ear forms. Head forms are hard foam over a wooden core; plastic forms are inserted into the ears.
Kilcoyne has to repair shotgun holes and any other damages the deer may have received while alive.
Then the head hangs on the wall for three to five days to dry. After that, the painting begins.
Eye sockets, noses, lips and ears dry out and need touchups. Kilcoyne waxes, paints and re-texturizes the noses. Moving hairs around to reach the skin, he airbrushes inside the ears which have turned brown during the drying process.
Working from home has given him a little more time to spend with daughter, Alyssa, 14 and son Haden, 10. He's also available to help with the family's Sunset View Kennel, where they raise beagle puppies and Alyssa's Wisconsin champion show dog.
But all this wouldn't be possible without the help of the community, he said. Kilcoyne refused a job offer from ITW when it moved, because of the support he and the other employees received when the closing was announced.
"This is so relaxing," he said. "It's fun. It's bringing art back into the craft."
Sunset View Buck Tail Taxidermy and Kilcoyne's home sit atop a small hill looking over the western horizon. The home's deck is one of his favorite places to sit, to see deer run "and watch the sun go down," he said.
Kilcoyne spent six days a week last fall driving to classes at the Dan Reinhart Taxidermy School in Edgerton. He spend a week each in classes focused on birds, deer and mammals. Reinhart is a three-time taxidermy champion and has his own taxidermy studio, school, supply catalog and a TV show, with videos for classes.
"Dan made the classes very easy," Kilcoyne said. "He would give us four steps at a time. When we had done that, he gave us another four steps."
But when Kilcoyne finished his classes, he had no idea he would be in the taxidermy business within a month.
Kilcoyne already has mounted 30 deer heads since opening at the end of October. He has the hides of a wild boar, two Russian boars, a ram, a Corsica ram, a Dall sheep and a white fallow deer on his schedule. He also has received some unusual requests to mount a peacock, a three-hour-old baby calf for a cow collector and a chicken.
That's all without advertising. He expects to do 100 deer heads next year.
Kilcoyne used to be the plant manager of Illinois Tool Works in Darlington, where he worked for more than 20 years before it closed and moved to Kentucky. The job was stressful, he said.
"Only twice did I take two days off in a row," he said.
He was close to landing another job late last summer, but the opening fell through. About the same time, his wife Nancy lost her job. That cinched the idea to start his taxidermy business, and Nancy went to work with her father in real estate.
Kilcoyne is now working in his garage temporarily. Too cold to pour concrete for a new shop in October, he partitioned a section, heated it and went to work.
And then people in the community "started bringing in stuff," he said. He had work to do before he even got his permits and licenses. He's been "bombarded" ever since.
Kilcoyne believes it's partly the way the community has rallied to help after ITW closed. Two local hardware store owners helped him with hardware to get his shop ready, and were the first to come out with deer heads to be mounted.
One man "shot the buck of a lifetime, and brought it in for me to do," he said.
He has seven racks of antlers ready to be mounted and 20 more on a list to be brought in when he calls for them.
To store hides, Kilcoyne has three freezers and is planning to buy a fourth. Right now, he is using the unheated part of the garage to store some of the hides.
Kilcoyne said other taxidermists he's talked to are 12 to 19 months behind on their orders. He never wants to get more than six months behind.
To help him keep up, Kilcoyne owns his own tanners and can do a hide in four hours. Besides deer, Kilcoyne has done a coyote rug and just finished a bear rug.
Hides are placed in the tanner container for about an hour, and then Kilcoyne scrapes away the grease, tallow and excess skin.
"Deer have three layers of skin," he said. "You only need one, so I have to scrape away the other two."
The hide then goes back into the tanner for another three hours.
Rugs are stretched and pinned down, coated with a tanning solution and left to dry for three to four days. The hide is stiff when dried, but Kilcoyne said he breaks it over cement blocks until it softens up and is supple again.
A deer head he is working on came out of the tanner Saturday. He started working on it Sunday and figures he will be done by 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
"I stop along the road and look at pheasants - look at turkeys - to see how they move. It's about moving the hide," he said.
His knowledge of animal movement helps him position hide on the form "where it needs to be when you're doing it."
Kilcoyne attaches the skins to the head and ear forms. Head forms are hard foam over a wooden core; plastic forms are inserted into the ears.
Kilcoyne has to repair shotgun holes and any other damages the deer may have received while alive.
Then the head hangs on the wall for three to five days to dry. After that, the painting begins.
Eye sockets, noses, lips and ears dry out and need touchups. Kilcoyne waxes, paints and re-texturizes the noses. Moving hairs around to reach the skin, he airbrushes inside the ears which have turned brown during the drying process.
Working from home has given him a little more time to spend with daughter, Alyssa, 14 and son Haden, 10. He's also available to help with the family's Sunset View Kennel, where they raise beagle puppies and Alyssa's Wisconsin champion show dog.
But all this wouldn't be possible without the help of the community, he said. Kilcoyne refused a job offer from ITW when it moved, because of the support he and the other employees received when the closing was announced.