17-year-old turns passion for hunting into business

SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) - Matt Peterson was only 3 years old when his father Jim Peterson took him on a hunting trip. That experience has turned into a lifetime passion for Matt, who is a 17-year-old senior at Spearfish High School.

“Ever since my dad shot the first deer that I was with him, I was hooked,” Matt said in recalling that first trip. “Every year since then, we’ve been going out many times and been very successful.”

Most often he enjoys hunting with a bow.

What does Matt enjoy the most about bow hunting?

“The most important thing that comes to my mind is who you’re with,” he said. “It’s all fun and all, but when you’re with somebody that cares about it just as much as you do, it makes it all better.”

Matt’s biggest challenge involves getting close enough to an animal for a successful shot. He tries to go out every day he can.

“All their senses are a thousand times better than yours,” Matt said in describing the challenges game animals present. “You have to try to outsmart them.”

And you must be much closer with a bow than hunting with a rifle. The maximum distance is 80 yards in Matt’s case.

But getting within 80 yards by no means guarantees success.

“When you shoot at something at 80 yards, he has enough time to hear your bow go off,” Matt said. “He can react and move.”

Matt and his family spend a lot of hunting time in the Black Hills and prairie chasing mule deer, white tail deer, and antelope, the Black Hills Pioneer reported (https://bit.ly/2e75daa ).

The wide-open prairie is Matt’s favorite hunting ground, as he can see for a long way and view sunrises and sunsets.

His passion for hunting has led to a business opportunity.

Peterson has owned a taxidermy business for two years.

“I started out doing some of my own stuff,” Peterson said. “I liked it enough to start branching out to other people.”

Peterson usually mounts deer, antelope, and elk. He has also created bears and mountain lion mounts.

Peterson was asked what a piece means to him when he looks at it.

“It means a lot more to the person that shot it,” he said. “It tells the story reminding them how the hunt happened and what it was all about.”

What happens when Peterson receives an animal someone has harvested?

He skins it and removes all flesh. Then, he salts the hide to kill remaining bacteria before tanning it.

“Once you’re tanned, then you can go further on and mount it. Then, it’s preserved forever,” he said.

A typical deer shoulder mount takes Peterson six to seven hours. He can do between 30 and 40 of these in a year.

The finished product provides the most enjoyment for Peterson because of the satisfaction it provides.

“The anatomy of all the different animals is so much different, and you have to learn it,” Peterson said in describing the biggest challenge.

People come to Peterson and drop off animals for preservation. The passion for him comes from getting to hear the stories about how the animal was harvested.

What message would Peterson like for people to take from a completed piece?

“Don’t look at it as another animal on the wall,” he said. “Look at it as something that you remember as a memorable memory.”

Matt tries to go hunting every weekend, but school plays a role in his schedule.

“It takes lots and lots of trial and error to try to figure out the western part of the state,” Matt said.

Matt’s most memorable hunting trip occurred in 2006. He and his dad spooked a number of deer, and they thought there was no chance for bagging one.

However, the rut for white tails was on, and one doe remained, although she was hidden from view.

“There was another buck that didn’t run away,” Matt recalled. “He knew that the doe was right in front of us, so he came and walked right at us.

“We shot him at 30 yards, right at sunset.”

Matt and Jim have combined to bag about 80 animals over the years. They also hunt with rifles but stick to bows because it is more challenging.

“I might spend 20 days trying to shoot deer with my bow, and I could shoot a deer with my rifle in five hours if I had to,” Matt said. “The challenge is what gets me to go more.”

Bow hunting requires a hunter to draw in an animal much closer than with a rifle.

“Once you start breaking that bubble of 150 yards (between hunter and animal) and getting closer, they can really start picking out what’s going on around them,” Peterson said.

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Information from: Black Hills Pioneer, https://www.bhpioneer.com