For Wilton High School (Wilton, Iowa) senior Lexi Henning, what began as a childhood fascination with the outdoors has evolved into a highly skilled Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) focused on professional taxidermy work. As the Wilton FFA Chapter President, Henning has spent the last several years developing her craft through hands-on learning, long hours, and a dedication to mastering both traditional and modern techniques.
Henning’s SAE falls under Agricultural Services—Placement, and centers on her internship with Nick Brock, owner of Wingman Taxidermy. She began working with Brock at age 13 after a family friend introduced them. What started as occasional visits to observe and help with basic shop tasks has grown into a significant and skill-intensive commitment, with Henning now visiting the shop twice a week and managing many projects independently.
Henning working on taxidermy details with the antlers.
Over time, Henning has developed a wide range of abilities, including skinning and fleshing hides, preparing animals for tanning, completing waterfowl and upland bird mounts, and creating European skull mounts. She has refined a detailed process for skull cleaning that involves skinning, removing tissue, using a dermestid beetle colony for cleaning, degreasing the skulls, and finally whitening them. She manages her own beetle colony at home, ensuring proper hydration and care twice daily.
Henning estimates she has completed roughly 50 European deer mounts on her own and recently mounted three ducks independently. She has also contributed to numerous customer projects in the shop, assisting with everything from deer and waterfowl to predators like coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Although not regularly paid, Henning records all of her hours and has logged over 640 unpaid hours across the last three years—more than 240 this year alone.
Her work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Henning has earned recognition through the FFA Proficiency Award program, placing 3rd (Gold Rating) in 2023 and 6th (Silver Rating) in 2024. She plans to apply again this year.
