Tanner Streeter, 25, is an artist whose specialty is animals.
“I’ve been an artist my whole life, with a primary focus on animals,” he said. “I grew up hunting and fishing, so I’ve always been surrounded by nature. I spent much of my time studying animals I saw in life, in books, or on TV so that I may understand their anatomy well enough to draw them accurately.”
“My parents would take me on trips to zoos to satisfy my fascination with animals, as well as places like Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops. In those places, the taxidermy on display captivated me at a very young age. I would think of taxidermy as almost magical, since I could not comprehend how it was accomplished.”
“When I was 18 and about to graduate my senior year of high school from Christian Learning Center, I began practicing taxidermy on small animals that I could acquire.”
He was inspired by a taxidermy how-to book that his parents, Bernard and Torrie Streeter, had given him for Christmas.
“Much to my surprise, after making a Facebook post about my endeavors in taxidermy, a mutual online friend, Dale Robertson of Wild Heritage Taxidermy in Young, Arizona, reached out to me and offered me an apprenticeship with him. He had followed me for my artwork that I would post, and I followed his taxidermy work, so that’s how we were connected. Dale is a renowned taxidermist with multiple prestigious awards.”
“I packed everything I owned into my little Chevy Blazer and drove to Arizona, where I lived for a year and a half in a trailer at the Robertson’s home and learned everything a beginner needed to know about taxidermy and then some. I competed at the last Arizona state show (their association is no longer active) in 2019 and won the title Best New Competitor and a 2nd and 3rd place with a coyote and a deer I had brought.”
Streeter learned much in that time.
“When I came back, I got a job at Outdoors Indoors in Pittsburg, KS. I got to do some taxidermy from all over the world…Africa, Greenland, and New Zealand, along with locals. My ultimate goal was to have my own business, and my first year on my own, I got an LLC (limited liability company business structure).”
He has competed at state, national, and the World Taxidermy Show, earning an assortment of first, second, and third-place ribbons.
He’s earned the titles of Best Professional Gamehead of Kansas 2023, Best Professional Small Lifesize Mammal of Kansas 2025, and Best Professional Open Mouth Whitetail of Kansas 2025.
“Competing is vital for me since it sharpens my craft and allows me to learn from the best of the best in seminars and from my judges during critiques.”
His business model prioritizes quality over quantity.
“I take a limited number of animals each year… I take extra effort to make each animal as accurate as possible, and I try to capture the unique qualities of each specimen. I’m recreating that particular animal down to the smallest anatomical detail. From muscles and hair patterns to glands and membranes in the corner of the eye. Nothing is too small to overlook.”
“Taxidermy is an art, and I treat it just as another medium. Just like if I choose to draw with a pencil or paint with a brush. I am trying to recreate God’s creation to the best of the ability He gave me.”
He started his business, Tanners Wildlife Artistry LLC, in 2022 and shares a business building with Whitetail Properties Real Estate at 306 E. 23rd, next to Riggs Chiropractic.
“I do roughly 70-80 animals annually. This keeps turnaround times and my workload reasonable.”
“I am a mammal specialist, so I currently do not do taxidermy work on birds or fish. I have been blessed to work on a wide variety of animals from around the world, including baboons, warthogs, and antelopes from Africa; red stags, fallow deer, and wallabies from New Zealand; and black bears, elk, and deer from both the U.S. and Canada.”
The Process
With large animals, the animal is skinned, then salted and dried.
“Once I get it, I rehydrate the skin, and then tan it in a chemical bath with a tanning formula. Then the leather must be thinned to put on a foam mannequin. I do a great deal of clay sculpting on the form. I then apply a glue to the form, put the hide on, and put everything into place and sew up any incisions.”
“If an animal has antlers or horns, that part of the skull is cleaned, getting the meat broken down and cleaned off. This is to prevent Chronic Wasting Disease from spreading.”
He charges customers by the time factor plus materials.
“I go the extra mile on every piece,” he said.
Other Artwork Around Fort Scott
One can view some of Streeter’s artistic work on the wall of Structure Hair Salon on National Avenue.
In 2023, he was part of a group of people creating wall murals in Fort Scott. “The Bison” was created by artists Cally Bailey, Emily Bailey, and Tanner Streeter.
Tanner is married to Johnnie, and they have a three-month-old daughter, Annabella.
Find out more on his Facebook and Instagram under the business name or tannerswildlifeartistry.com.