My name is Jared Mitchell, and I have a great passion for wildlife and the outdoors. I am passionate about hunting, fishing, and trapping, especially in my home state of Maine. A quick history on myself and The Bug Shed: it all started back during my senior year of high school. Long story short, I got drawn for a moose permit in 2006, after a successful hunt harvesting a great animal, I didn't have the finances or wall space for a shoulder mount. As a money and space saving alternative, I went with a European Mount. A few months later I went and picked up the finished product and was amazed how antlers and bones could look so good. The following May, I purchased my own colony of dermestid beetles and the rest is history.
I started using a broken, ten gallon fish tank in the upstairs of my parent's garage cleaning any bones I could get my hands on. My first projects were turkeys, squirrels, left over chicken bones, and porcupines. After high school, I attended Unity College, a private school that is known for their emphasis on the environment and natural resources. While at Unity, I worked for the Wildlife department managing their dermestid beetle colony. There, I would prepare specimens for different classes and had the opportunity to work with some amazing animal skeletons.
After running the skull cleaning business for five years, I decided that it was time to offer more. The winter of 2016 I attended the Advanced Taxidermy Training Center of North West Montana. There I learned how to preserve, game heads, birds, fish, restore old pieces, create habitat, and much more. After returning home, I now offer a full scale taxidermy shop.
I look forward to meeting and working with you in the future!