While many teens spend their free time scrolling through social media or playing video games, senior Keaton Choquette can usually be found deep in the woods, bow in hand, or in a workshop, bringing animals back 
to life through his craft as a taxidermist. Bowhunting and taxidermy are more than just hobbies—they’re lifelong passions. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was like 4 years old,” Choquette said, reflecting on his early love for the outdoors and wildlife.
Keaton’s hunting journey began with earning his license. “So first step is you gotta go through hunter safety, which is just like a 10-hour course, basically,” he explained. “You do it online and then have a couple hours in person that teach you about safety, protocols, and all the rules and regulations. Then depending on what you want to hunt, you need specific licenses for that. Nebraska Game and Parks makes it easy to buy them online and print them out.”
For Keaton, hunting isn’t just about the trophy—though his success with bowhunting is impressive. “I love just being outside and just hunting,” he said..
The process has taught him essential life skills: “Patience. I mean, that’s a big one,” he said. “Determination–sometimes you just gotta rough it out and keep at it.”
Choquette’s foray into taxidermy came about by chance.
“I just ended up meeting my co-worker, like randomly, and my dog was sniffing her pants because she was covered in blood. Then she was like, yeah, I’m a taxidermist. So I’m like, oh, that’s what I want to do. And she was like, come into the shop. So I went into the shop, talked to my boss for like half an hour, walked out with a job. Really, it was that easy—never filled out an application, nothing,” Choquette said.
Since then, he has developed his taxidermy skills, working on animals brought in by hunters from all over. Today, he operates at Wildlife Creations Taxidermy, turning every project into a piece of art.
“We get a lot of deer,” he said. “We’ll take in like 150 deer a year – probably like 200 birds you’ll take in. I think there’s like six elk there currently; couple other random things. A lot of African stuff, too. We work with a place in Africa, a hunting reserve, and we get all their stuff.”
Recently a shipment of two giraffes was dropped off, Choquette said.
“Start to finish, everything on that giraffe from the moment it’s killed to when it’s done, probably 40 hours of work,” Choquette said. “Typical deer you can probably get done with about 10 hours worth of work. A bird, maybe four. And so this game they bring in, you’ll see anything.”
As Choquette prepares for life after high school, he’s determined to continue hunting and growing his career in taxidermy.
“This is what I’ve always wanted,” he said.
