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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2021)
BUSINESS NEWS Coast River Business Journal February 2021 • 3 Taxidermist brings a lifelike presence to big game Story & Photos by Luke Whittaker Coast River Business Journal lwhittaker@crbizjournal.com CRBJ STAFF Publisher Matt Winters mwinters@crbizjournal.com Editor Emily Lindblom editor@crbizjournal.com Offi ce Coordinator Sarah Smith ssmith@eomediagroup.com Group Publisher Kari Borgen kborgen@dailyastorian.com Advertising Director Sarah Silver ssilver@dailyastorian.com Layout/Design Emily Lindblom | Matthew Vann NEXT ISSUE Publication Date: March 10, 2021 Advertising Deadline: March 1, 2021 CONTACT CRBJ Submit news: editor@crbizjournal.com Website: CoastRiverBusinessJournal.com Coast River Business Journal 205 Bolstad Ave. E. Suite 2, P.O. Box 427 Long Beach, WA 98631 Phone 800-643-3703 Coast River Business Journal is published the second week of every month. Opinions expressed by contributing writers and guest columnists do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of the Publisher. Letters to the Editor will be accepted, and will be printed at the discretion of the Editor. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. © Copyright 2021 Coast River Business Journal CRBJ is part of EO Media Group ASTORIA — Melanie Kinney spends most days at a desk with a headset working dispatch for the Astoria Police Department. But each evening, Kin- ney, 28, retires to a dramatically different occupation. On Jan. 28, Kinney was elbow deep in a blacktail buck hide, among her latest order as owner of Pre- serve The Hunt Taxidermy. “You want to get it as thin as possible,” Kin- ney said as she spoke over a whining table saw that trimmed fi nger-length strips of fat. First buck fueled hunting passion Kinney was introduced to hunting as a student at Ilwaco High School when she received her fi rst rifl e and shot her fi rst buck. “Sandy [Bennett, owner of Sandy’s Guns and Ammo in Long Beach] set me up with my fi rst rifl e and introduced me to someone who allowed me to shoot a buck on their property. I’ve just been hooked ever since,” Kinney said. Dispatch call sets new taxidermy course In her role as a full-time 911 APD dispatcher, on a clear and sunny day in January 2019 a call came in that changed her life and set her on a new course. A teenage duck hunter with black-rimmed glasses had gone missing on the nearby Columbia River. “I took a call about an 19-year-old who was out duck hunting with his dad, and his dad couldn’t fi nd him after looking for a few hours,” Kinney said. “They sent the Coast Guard and water patrol to look for him and they never found him. They found his boat, gun, gear and cell phone.” As a fellow duck hunter, it was an area Kinney knew well and she found herself down at the nearby docks after work. “The dad was still down there and I met him. It was really rough,” Kinney recalled. “It was a call that stuck with me.” During an interview with the father later on the local news, Kinney learned that the missing 19-year- old was a taxidermist. “I didn’t hunt the rest of the season because I couldn’t go out there and not think about fi nding him. After the season was over I decided I was going to try taxidermy.” In March 2019, Kinney began mounting birds, at fi rst relying on YouTube and Facebook tutorials. Later she learned how to tan hides from a friend in Bend. “The taxidermy community is super inclusive. I had no formal training, just have gotten a lot of help from really good friends,” Kinney said. “I can call them anytime I need help.” Soon Kinney was on her way to a taxidermy show in Prineville, where she connected with others in the industry and earned her fi rst award. “Three months later I went to the taxidermy show. I took a redhead [duck] from a friend of mine and mounted it. I won the Horizon Award, which is presented to the best up-and-coming taxidermist,” Kinney said. The experience inspired Kinney to take a deeper dive into the taxidermy fi eld. “I realized I could really get into this and it snow- balled from there,” she said. Roughly a year later, Kinney had her fi rst request for bigger game. “The sheriff’s offi ce was looking for someone to mount a bull elk that got hit by a car,” Kinney said. “At that point I had never done any big game taxidermy.” Kinney consulted fellow award-winning taxi- dermist Bobby Esplin and drove to Colorado with a trailer containing the elk. Today the elk is prominently displayed inside the sheriff’s offi ce. See Page 16 Preserve The Hunt Taxidermy Melanie Kinney, owner 92418 Maki Rd, Astoria Phone: (503) 468-9578 Melanie Kinney Kinney pulls her hair back before beginning work on a blacktail buck hide on Jan 28. IT Solutions Provider Serving the North Coast • • • • • • • • Consulting Web Development Networking/WiFi Cloud Solutions Backup & Disaster Recovery Cyber Security Assessment Phone Systems Managed Services Locally Owned • 20 yrs Experience Daniel Penley Owner No Obligation Consultation 971.444.5001 info@norcoastsolutions.com www.norcoastsolutions.com
