A trophy room purchase

Shaylee Martin has no problem admitting that she was the “weird kid” who was fascinated by dead animals when growing up.

“Growing up, when my dad would get an elk, he’d always be like ‘Here, clean this out,’” said Martin. “So I was always the one out back after everybody was done tinkering seeing what I could get cleaned off.”

That interest in cleaning a harvested animal grew as Shaylee grew, starting with an interest in taxidermy at an early age. How amazed would young Shaylee be, then, to see her adult self buy an established taxidermy business? That is exactly what has happened, as Shaylee recently purchased Trophy Room Taxidermy from owner Warden Patzer.

“I started talking with Warden (Patzer) a little bit and he mentioned he was going to be more than willing to mentor me,” said Shaylee. “Having somebody who has been in the field for 40 years (offering) to mentor me was kind of awesome.”

It should be clarified that Shaylee has only purchased the taxidermy business, not Koyoty Sports or the building where both businesses are currently located.

According to Shaylee, she has always been fascinated with taxidermy, often closely examining mounts at the homes of friends and family. Recently, a close friend donated a bear on which she could learn taxidermy.

“I got an hour or two in, started thinking about it and decided that’s something I could do everyday. I really just kind of ran from there with it,” said Shaylee. “I’ve had some life changes over the last couple years and I really decided I wanted to let that creative side out and kind of explore taxidermy.”

While there are schools in which someone can learn taxidermy, the mentorship of both Warden and Forrest Patzer is something which Shaylee is not only excited about, but values greatly. The two generations of Patzers have plenty of experience to impart upon the new owner.

“They’re super knowledgeable and it’s really nice learning from somebody that has their hands in the field every day. They’re doing it everyday,” said Shaylee. “The nice part of having Forrest and Warden is they’ll say ‘This is what they’re going to teach you in school, but this is the easier way to do it’ or ‘This is the more effective way to do it.’ I think that knowledge is worth more to me than for me to say I’ve been through a taxidermy school.”

For the time being, Shaylee will work out of the back of Koyoty Sports. She’ll use that time to further train with the Patzers before eventually taking the business to her home in Encampment.

“I’ll move into my garage for the foreseeable future with the hopes of building my own shop,” said Shaylee. “I own the property behind my house and I think I’m just going to build a shop there and open it up there as a storefront.”

In the meantime, anybody who needs some work done can still contact Koyoty Sports at 307-326-5551. They can also contact Shaylee at 307-329-6356 or visit her Facebook page, Shaylee Martin.