Chisholm Trail Taxidermy

Eugene Pridgen spent nine years in the Air Force and 29 years in telecom before retiring in 2014 to pursue taxidermy full-time. After attending Central Texas School of Taxidermy in 2014, he started in a Killeen garage before moving to the current Cool, Texas location. His motivation came from watching his own home mounts deteriorate over time—he wanted to create work worthy of hanging on his own walls.

"Over the years I put many deer, elk, fish and waterfowl mounts on my walls at home, and watched them deteriorate over time and / or not look like I had hoped it would, when picking my mounts up from my former taxidermists. I knew I wanted to create quality taxidermy that I would want to hang on my own walls!"

• •Game head mounts - Standard shoulder mounts for deer, elk, and other game
• •Life-sized mounts - Full-body taxidermy work
• •European mounts - Skull cap and horn presentations
• •Fish and waterfowl - Specialized mounting for water game
• •Caping service - $80 per animal (bring your own harvest or they'll cape it for you)

Ashley Mueller, Lead Taxidermist, joined the industry in Spring 2020 and immediately showed competitive drive. She placed second at the Texas Taxidermy Association Convention in 2023 on her first competition entry with a bobcat mount. She's actively competing again with higher aspirations for her career.

They provide free caping tutorials on their YouTube channel for hunters who want to do it themselves. If you'd rather have professionals handle it, bring your harvest to the shop and they'll prepare it for mounting.