Photos by Deb Gau A row of bucks were among the mounts on display at taxidermist Adam LeClaire’s shop in Murray County. After starting his taxidermy business in 2015, LeClaire said demand has grown enough that it’s become a full-time job for him.

DOVRAY — For the past couple of years, hunting season has been especially busy for Adam LeClaire. Fall is typically when there’s a big spike in customers for his taxidermy business — but that’s a good thing, he said.

“When we first started out, I figured I would do it as a side gig,” LeClaire said. But the number of customers calling him grew fast enough that last year, he decided to go full time with it.

LeClaire said his interest in taxidermy grew from enjoying hunting and the outdoors. Taxidermy seemed like something that would be fun to do himself, he said. LeClaire developed his skills by learning from Jim Slocum, a taxidermist in Reading. Slocum has done mounts of animals for display in Scheels sporting goods stores, LeClaire said.

LeClaire said he started out by spreading the word a little that he did taxidermy, and then things started to take off — “I had 60 mounts to do, all of a sudden,” he said. “We were not expecting to get that busy, that fast.”

Together with his father and brothers, LeClaire has built a shop and showroom outside his family’s home near Dovray. Adam’s wife Chrissy LeClaire has also become part of the business, doing marketing and even learning how to do the finishing work on some taxidermy pieces.

Adam LeClaire works with a variety of animal species and techniques.

“We’ll do everything, as far as taxidermy,” he said — deer, birds, fish and more. One of LeClaire’s recent projects was a full-body mount of a javelina, a type of wild pig from the Southwest and Central America.

Examples on display in LeClaire’s showroom range from mounts of deer and pheasants to a European-style mount, where the cleaned skull and antlers of an animal are mounted on a custom built plaque.

He also does color-dipping, which adds a unique touch to a mounted skull.

“Eventually, I would like to get into hydro dipping,” which allows for more complicated patterns, LeClaire said.

One of the interesting things about taxidermy, LeClaire said, was that each animal has its own characteristics. No two mounts are alike. It’s also a lot of fun to get to meet and talk with customers, he said.

“I’m a big hunter myself, so I enjoy hearing the story behind it,” he said of the mounts he makes. Many customers come in to have taxidermy mounts made as mementos of their children’s first hunts.

“You get to be a part of that,” LeClaire said. It’s one of the things that makes the work enjoyable.

So far, the LeClaires said their customers have been a mix of people from the local area, and some from farther away.

They’ve kept working on getting the word out about LeClaire Taxidermy, both through the business’ Facebook page, and events like sportsmen’s shows in Tyler and Tracy. Chrissy LeClaire said they also hope to reach out to guide services.

“We really want to get out there even farther,” she said.