KTA Member's Spotlight
Members send us your profile and pictures to pictures@kytaxidermy.com and we will spotlight you !
Well my name is Jenna Leisring and I am one of the rare
female taxidermists!  I started fiddling in the art about 5
years ago and kinda got hooked ever since. I wasn't
raised in a family that hunted so when I finally was
introduced to the outdoors tagging along for a squirrel
hunt, I fell in love with the outdoors!

Soon the squirrel hunting turned into deer hunting and I
was able to shoot my first deer which was far from
reaching "trophy standards" by any means. I shot a small
button buck but to me that deer is the best trophy I will
ever have on my wall.
Of course the family wasn't going to pay to mount that
deer so I figured why not try it myself? Yea, I look back at
that deer now and laugh at the poor thing, but that was
my stepping stone into the world of taxidermy.
I hope to continue to learn and keep having the privilege
to preserve the creations that the Lord put on this earth
for us to admire and pursue in the field. Hopefully one
day I can be as good as the rest of y'all!
HORIZON AWARD WINNER  
   JENNA LEISRING
HI guys I'm Sarah but my dearest friends and family call me
Sarah Jean. I have been interested in taxidermy since I was
a small child. One of my mother's favorite stories to still tell
about me is one day when I was riding home from
kindergarten how I cried to stop at the taxidermy shop. My
mom didn't even know what a taxidermy shop was until
she asked my dad when we got home. From then on out I
was wanted to keep mice we caught in traps, collected
bones, teeth, birds nest, you name it. I shot pop cans and
smaller game when I was younger with my dad and just in
the past two years got into hunting big game, specifically
with my bow. I've been lucky to take all sorts of game from
a Ram, to FL Hogs, to KY Whitetail. Of course my trophy is
my first doe, which was my first bow kill, and it made my
first mount I did all by myself!

Luckily this this past April, Wade Calvert took me under his
wing and has been showing me the ropes, since many
taxidermist are "too busy to teach". Of course I am still
called the Grasshopper...but one day maybe I'll snatch the
fly.I can't thank Wade enough for everything he has done
for me, especially taking time from his mounts to take me in
as a complete stranger and teach me taxidermy. Maybe one
day I will have to teach him to jump horses in exchange for
him teaching me taxidermy!"
SARAH JEAN HOPE
      
Hi  my name is R.B. Griffin . I own and operate Bullseye Taxidermy LLC in Butler county, where I
also live with my two sons , Ty and Briar.
I've been in business here for about 5 years. I moved here about 6 years ago from Florida where
I was doing taxidermy for my dad .I worked for him for about 12 years full time before moving to
Kentucky. I was fortunate to have him to learn from . He's been in the business for over 44 years
now he's semi retired and working for me now. So he's the one that got me started and maybe
one day my boys may follow in my foot steps.
I had been a  member of the Florida State Taxidermy Association before leaving Florida. I'm  
glad I am part of the Kentucky Taxidermy Association , where I've been a board member for 3
years now and been able to meet great taxidermist and people in the organization. I hope to
meet more in the years to come.      
R.B. Griffin