RR Brannstrom | Daily Press | Tim Gorenchan, owner of North Country Legends Taxidermy, sculpts a clay eyelid onto what will become the stag’s base. The horns are real, the animal skin is stretched over foam and a plastic nose and glass eyes are added.
Editor’s note: The Daily Press will feature a series of articles about local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. This series will be serialized regularly in the Daily Press.
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ESCANABA — A world-class taxidermist skilled at creating lifelike mounts of all kinds works out of a quiet shop in the western suburbs of Escanaba. Founded just about 20 years ago by Tim Gorenchan, North Country Legends Taxidermy operates out of a building in Wells Township, Delta County, with a nose-licking buffalo in its lobby and a man who pays for what appears. Artistic finished products are lined up. Snow and ice clinging to its fur, a wolf chasing three coyotes, a jumping salmon, and an African kudu with spiral horns.
Gorenchan, who became an engineer before pursuing his current career, said his interest in taxidermy was first sparked when he visited the UP Taxidermist on Ludington Street as a Cub Scout. However, my curiosity was put to rest for a while.
Mr Gorenchan said he and his wife were living in County Down and working for a Detroit-based company when the couple had the opportunity to return to their Upper Peninsula hometown. After relocating, I continued to work in engineering consulting for about a year and a half, but once those projects started winding down, I looked for a new path.
Gorenchan arrived at the American Institute of Taxidermy in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, and then brought his skills to Gladstone, where he founded North Country Legends in 2005.
“It started before I was ready to start.” said Goren-chan. “When I got home before I finished school, I found a caribou in my cooler before the store was even ready.”
He started making his first taxidermy pieces in the fall of 2005, making this year his 20th year. The bulk of the work comes between September and February, he said, and most of the work is deer riding. “Maybe it will be food for taxidermists.”
However, Goren-chan is quite branched out. He does it all, but says the process for turning a carcass into a finished vehicle is more or less the same whether the creature is a mammal, bird, fish or reptile.
“Mounting a chipmunk is basically the same thing as mounting. You mount anything. You have to take all the measurements to get it sized, and once you get it right, it’s honestly a great combination.”
It takes a considerable amount of time to get the form under the skin to the right size and shape, and it is often not obvious at first how difficult the piece will be.
Foam is relatively easy to handle because it is a foam, but “There’s an element of sculpture. There’s certainly an element of anatomy that you have to understand.” Goren-chan said.
He described a recent piece where the form was in the desired pose but was far from the right size, so all the pieces had to be cut out and changed.
“The length[of the forelimb]and everything else was off, so I had to cut it out and block it and make it bigger. The biceps were too small. Now, that has to be cut. . The belly was too small. So I had to cut it, drop it, and whip it back in. …The only part of that shape that I didn’t have to cut back. I never did.” he said.
Assembling the finished product also involves incorporating and recreating other parts. Fake eyes and noses are made by manufacturers such as Champion’s Choice, a taxidermy company run by Gorenchan and his Wisconsin partner Clint Rickey.
Sculpture the clay to form the eye socket. Fill the hole with epoxy. Painting, airbrushing, and detailing create a surreal imitation of skin, hair, and scales.
At this point in Gorenchan’s career, his artistry is pretty good, he nails even difficult and time-consuming projects, and he never seems to experience setbacks.
A newly completed rattlesnake sits on the counter, damaged by Fatso, the energetic store cat, but Goren-chan doesn’t seem too concerned as he explains that it has to be repaired. .
When asked what helped him develop his skills, the taxidermist said he gained the most from participating in competitions. He began competing in taxidermy competitions in 2010, starting with the Wisconsin Taxidermist Association State Championships.
At such events, “People bring in work from all over the state and country, and we have a series of judges who judge it, and we hold seminars and things like that.” Goren-chan said. “So I started learning more detailed techniques and things like that.”
He said the critiques of his work by judges from around the country and the points they provided helped him grow.
Nine years ago, North Country Legends moved from Gladstone to a site that was part of a golf course at 13.75 Road (where Eighth Avenue South in Escanaba becomes west of Meadowbrook Apartments). After adding on to an existing building there, the taxidermy business moved a few years later to another building on the same property.
Goreng said that his favorite and proudest vehicle was the fish. Fish mounts are difficult, especially show mounts that need to look seamless, because fish skin is much more delicate than mammal skin. Many finished fish mounts use plastic fins, plastic heads, and things salvaged from the skin, and many craftsmen use them to paint areas where the skin may have been torn or damaged from reference photos. use techniques.
In addition to awards at state competitions, Goren has won multiple awards at the World Championships in taxidermy and fish carving. Not only was his cold water fish the best in its category, it was also the best in show.
These days, Gorenchan has less work than in years past. Part of that is because he spends his time traveling for supply operations and contest judging, and he doesn’t think it’s fair to make his customers wait. Their product took a long time.
In February, he plans to travel to Florida to serve as a contest judge. This summer, he was one of three judges in the fish division of the World Taxidermy and Fish Sculpture Championship in Coralville, Iowa.
“It was a huge honor. I feel like I’ve pretty much come full circle.” Goren-chan said. “I don’t compete this hard anymore. … After a while, you almost feel like ‘been there, done that.’ It takes a lot of effort and can lead to burnout. ”
Just reviewing them is a difficult task. There are hundreds of submissions that need to be inspected and critiqued.
Although he is not actively taking on new clients at this time, Gorenchan does have some work in progress. The reception area at the front of North Country Legends Taxidermy is decorated with finished stuffed animals of all kinds, the award-winning painting of Muskellunge’s Mount Gorentian, which he completed for a customer several years ago, as well as shields and medals. There is a shop area in the back where the work happens. Inside the store, deer, bears, and even hunting dogs are in various stages of posing, sculpting, detailing, and assembling in scenes, becoming finished works of art and creating this It is on its way to becoming a source of pride for those who know the world. The story behind them.
