Wild Turkey Taxidermy
What started as a hobby for Ryan Scearce has now become a profitable side business. By day Ryan is a mail carrier for the USPS, but in his spare time you can find him mounting the majestic wild turkey!
Turkeys have been Ryan’s passion for over twenty years now. It all began after his first harvest during his freshman year of high school. He said that, “after that day the obsession began. I’ve hunted them in numerous states.” Including out west and down in Florida.
The fascination with their beauty coupled with a lifelong interest in various arts, kind of, “came together.” With his creativity and obsessiveness to detail, it has been a blessing and a curse in the taxidermy business. He says that he spends a lot of time working on details that no one else would ever notice. “I try my hardest with each mount. I want everyone to be pleased with what they get back from me and show their friends.” Ryan started competing in Taxidermy contests to get his name out there and also to use it as an opportunity to learn. Ryan Scearce is now a name that is known all over the country. He gets birds shipped to him from Florida, California, and even Canada!
Billingsby Road Taxidermy is not only the name of the business, but Billingsby Road is also where Ryan grew up. “It stands as a reminder of the outdoors—from family and where all my first hunting successes came from. It’s also a way to represent both sides of my family’s names in my work and in competitions, which, I take pride in.”
This spring, Ryan was persuaded to compete in the World Taxidermy Championship which is held every two years. This year it was held in Springfield, Missouri. A total of twenty-three countries were represented at the show with various kinds of animals from all over the world. Ryan humbly says that he was fortunate enough to finish second in the world with his turkey. “It was said to be the best turkey field they had ever seen from top to bottom. I competed with well-known taxidermists and past champions. Seeing as though I was likely the least experienced turkey taxidermist, as far as years and mounts under my belt, this was an incredible feat for me.”
Ryan also won “Best of Show/State Championship titles this summer in both Tennessee and Alabama, beating some of the states’ best taxidermy artists with their best pieces and various animals. “Aside from being able to channel my artistic ability into my work, taxidermy competitions also give me a way to compete. I am a very competitive person by nature, so the desire to win and do well only spurs my quality and want to keep improving.”
Ryan’s favorite part of mounting turkeys is painting the heads, which go through a freeze-drying process to preserve the actual bird’s head for the mount. Turkeys heads can change color and offer a variety of ways to give them an individual look. “It’s a fun way to be creative for me.” Receiving the birds in good shape, and keeping them clean are the two hardest parts of the job. The better shape the turkey comes in, the better the end result. It’s also important to inform and educate turkey hunters on proper field care. At times that is difficult to do.
Ryan has set a couple long term goals for his business. First and foremost he wants to be known as a good and honest man, but also considered one of the best taxidermists to have ever won a World Championship! His plan is to work for the USPS as long as he can. Once he retires from there he hopes to mount as many turkeys as he pleases! To be able to always provide for his family, to live comfortably while doing what he loves is the most rewarding of all.
Currently Ryan takes in enough turkeys to allow him to spend time with his young family and still enjoy the outdoors. His beautiful wife, Tandye is supportive of his business and understands his passion for turkeys. They have two awesome kids, Ryder (4) and Finn who is one. They are both spring (turkey season) birthday kids. “They knew the best time of year to be born! I’m hoping one day they will enjoy turkeys the way I do.”
Picture a 12x20 portable building… that’s where the magic happens! Ryder has named it “The Turkey House.” It was definitely humble beginnings for Ryan to say the least. Before the “Turkey House,” Ryan was working from a spare bedroom in their home. “A funny story about that is a guy was wanting to come see my shop after I won the NWTF Grand National in 2018. I told him he could come see my house and garage if he REALLY wanted, but that’s all I had. He didn’t truly understand until I told him I literally washed the bird in the bathtub, and mounted it in the bedroom. We got a good laugh about it, but it was true.”
Ryan’s work has been used in magazines, papers, websites, and catalogs. In conclusion, Ryan said, “I would have never dreamed all of this just a few years ago when I started! I have truly been blessed to be able to do something I love as a job. Here’s to hopefully, many more years of hard gobbling toms for my clients and a quality mount to remember with afterward!”
Ryan Scearce is the owner of Billingsby Road Taxidermy located in Paris, Tennessee.