Taxidermy Business Expands and Moves to New Location after 20 Years

SAN ANGELO, TX -- A San Angelo taxidermy shop has moved to Grape Creek after two decades of business on U.S. 67 and Twin Buttes Marina Park Rd. and expanded to meet demand.

Safari Studios owner Jimmy Fontenot has seen a lot of changes in the taxidermy business over the last two decades.  Fontenot purchased Frontier Taxidermy over 20 years ago and it was a one room wooden building. In the last five years, Fontenot has expanded four times in the same location and just ran out of room.  

“We had about 7,200 sq. ft. of space and we needed more, but we didn’t have room.  We found this building in Grape Creek that was 13,000 sq. ft. and was ideal for our needs.”  said Fontenot in a recent interview. Safari Studios caters to native deer hunters and trophy exotic hunters alike.  Fontenot has worked to develop his African Safari clientele and now has customers who hunt all over the world.

Fontenot has completed hundreds of safaris from several African countries as well as New Zealand.  Safari Studios also mounts hundreds of native trophies including whitetail deer, mule deer, bobcat, and fox each year.  “The new location basically expands our workspace and allows the taxidermists, finishers and habitat constructionist to work on more mounts at the same time because of the extra space.”  

Safari Studios ships mounts to clients all over the country and has numerous clients in the Midland area and in Central and North Texas. Fontenot markets his business through the Texas Taxidermy Association and Safari Club International.  Safari Studios competes in taxidermy competitions each year with entries for the business and for individual taxidermists.

Whitetail deer season began on Nov. 3 and runs through Jan. 6 according to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.  Fontenot said deer season has been a little slow because all the rain this year has created plenty of food for the deer and they are not coming into deer feeders as they do in regular years.  

The new studio is located in the former Fisher Food Mart building on U.S. 87 N near FM 2288 in Grape Creek.   Safari Studios is open seven days a week during deer season and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday after deer season.