Preserving memories: Local taxidermists’ craft requires passion, patience
Tony Lowry puts the finishing touches on a Pennsylvania whitetail buck.
Tony Lowry said most don’t understand the time and meticulous detail that go into perfecting a taxidermy product.
Tony Lowry adds details to the stuffed raccoon he previously trapped with his sons.
Tony Lowry also works on smaller game, including this raccoon that he trapped with his sons.
Whether it’s a young hunter’s first deer, a prized bear, an outdoorsman’s trophy buck, or a trapper’s impressive yield, there are memories to preserve.
When it comes to the tangible part of those harvests, outdoorsmen turn to their local, trusted taxidermist.
“It’s about bringing things back to life,” said hunter and trapper Tony Lowry of Rocky Acres Taxidermy.
Lowry of Ohiopyle opened his business last year after harboring an interest and passion for the craft.
“It’s about the art of making it look real and having it forever,” Lowry said. “Those are memories you’ll keep and share for a long time.”
Each project requires time and patience, Lowry said, adding that you can’t take shortcuts — all of which he learned from his mentor, Dan Plume.
Plume, an Ohiopyle native, practiced taxidermy in the mountain area for more than three decades. Before closing his shop last year, he passed along his passion and wisdom to the next generation of taxidermists.
“I hope it’s not a dying profession. I hope it lasts forever, like the mounts,” Plume said with a laugh. “Not everybody can do this. It takes a lot of patience. It’s not something you can get in a hurry with. You have to really like it.”
“I hated that I had to close it up, because I liked when people would come here and tell their stories,” Plume added. “They’ll tell you all about the hunt when they bring in their deer, and they’ll tell the story again when they pick it up.”
After Plume was laid off from a construction job in 1980, the lifelong hunter began tinkering with taxidermy. He was offered a chance to pursue an education in whatever he chose after another employer, Volkswagen, closed.
“I told them I wanted to go to taxidermy school,” Plume said. After attending a 15-week course and obtaining a license, Plume began his career, completing hundreds of deer mounts and more recently dabbling in antler decor.
Lowry took Plume’s years of experience and opened his own home-based taxidermy shop where he spends a majority of his evenings and weekends.
“It relaxes me,” said Lowry, who spends his days working at the Federal Correction Institution Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.
According to Plume, one deer mount has roughly 12 to 15 hours of work put into it, accounting for time spent skinning, tanning, mounting, painting and adding final touches.
For Lowry, it’s crucial to have everything done in house.
“That’s one thing I got going for me. I don’t send my stuff out to the tannery,” he said. “I know I can get the product to the customer faster, and I know it’s quality work.”
On average, Lowry said he can have a product back to a client in less than three months, depending on how many he gets in in a season.
“Tony’s not afraid to ask questions and take criticism. He wants to learn,” Plume said, recalling when Lowry would send him photos of previous projects, to which Plume would say “I’m not picking on you, but it’s not right.”
“He’s really come a long way, and it’s quality work now,” Plume said.
“I’m very picky. Danny taught me that. It doesn’t go out the door unless it’s right,” Lowry said. “The customer doesn’t get a call to pick it up until I’m happy with it.”
As for the next generation, Lowry said he’s hopeful his sons will take up an interest in the trade.
“A lot of the stuff I have mounted are things we’ve trapped or hunted together,” Lowry said, referring to his sons Gage and Lane.
“They’ll come down and watch me work, and we’re spending more quality time together. They think it’s neat,” he said.
Lowry and Plume agreed that the most rewarding moments in the business are when kids come back to retrieve a mount.
“It might just be a real small one, like a three point. But their faces when they come pick it back up — they’re real happy and proud. That’ll last them a lifetime,” Plume said.