Howard coats a deer hide with borax, which preserves the skin. Although he works mostly with deer, especially during hunting season, he especially enjoys working with turkeys, ducks and other birds.
JoAnne Herdon, 77, watches as Howard stitches up the hide of a deer. JoAnne and Howard have been dating for 17 years. Although JoAnne grew up around people who hunted and fished, taxidermy was a new experience for her. "I was kind of squeamish at first," she said. "But I got used to it."
Tony Snelling, a frequent customer, comes to Howard's Bait and Taxidermy to pick up minnows. He talks with Howard about the day's fishing spots.
Howard Hicks, 61, inspects a recently mounted deer in his taxidermy shop in Paducah. His appreciation for the art of taxidermy manifests itself in the hours of tedious work he puts in to each project. On average, a deer head mount will take him between five and six hours. "I want to make them look like they did before, if not better," Howard says.
Since his mother's passing five years ago, Howard has kept a photo of her and his father on his workbench at the shop. "We were really close, my mom and me," he says. She had Alzheimers which led Howard to become her caregiver until she died.
