Northwest Taxidermy - Gary Aittama's

07/22/2024

Pics are making this guy look like he has a giant nose….decieving. Just got a buzz from a young man, he said he “was on his way” to pick up his first buck harvest. Gotta luv it!!

07/15/2024

Snap shot I sent to my client a moment ago, his Sep 1st Archery buck that you guys liked so much. He’s ready to go Brandon.

07/07/2024

Here’s the latest Big Cat piece we just finished. Mark dubbed it the “Looking for Dinner” lion. He says it’s his fav to date, I’ll take that. Alot of scars on this guys face, his ears were chewed up a bit too. Ol’ boy lived life, like it was a rental. Please like the image of it you like best. Curious to see which one looks best to you. Several cat bases being built currently by Rebecca also. She puts an insane amount of thought, detail and artistic expression into her habitat dioramas. Lovin it!

06/27/2024

A peek behind the scenes. A day 2 skin on a custom sculpted form, trying to dial it in. This buck was an opening day of archery whitetail. Actual field pic included. About a week of several- times-a day tweaking of the skin and the sculpture and he’ll be dialed in. Micro….lol. Luvin it!!

06/20/2024

A Big Heavy 4 point that came in last fall from Boundary County. The deer up near the Canadian border are a bit unique as far as Idaho whitetails go. Real nice heavy/mature buck. Felt good to take a break from the cats, Lovin it.

05/17/2024

Another look at the Big boy.

05/17/2024

Fat Cat. A triple XL N. Idaho lion just finished up. The boss said ship it! The Cat guide told my client, tell Gary to get the biggest form he can find , and then go larger. Good god, the cat crazy train has reached the terminal on this piece. Luvin it!! Happy Friday folks.

02/23/2024

Inside a really big front paw…skin em’ clean.

02/23/2024

Cat crazy train running near Mach 1, hold on! Mount a couple, skin a few/study, sculpt and refine. Another big custom Tom head sculpture is being made now. Wash, rinse, repeat. Tightening the tolerances, less thinking hopefully, lol. a couple of big Tom mounts in the magazine now. Luvin it!

02/17/2024

Big Mark is even on the Cat Crazy train today, sitting and working by stabilizing a big tom while I skin. He tells me “I’m retired”. Lol Fresh snow is bad news for the big meow meows.

02/10/2024

Cat crazy train update. It’s been an insane busy winter, alot of cat intakes. Good god, somehow I’m holding on to the rails. Lol. Here’s a parting pic of a juvenile Tom that’s a few minutes away from leaving here. An opportunistic archery harvest by a stand up, younger client of mine, congrats Justin. This was a real challenge, trying to dial in a young cat. All cats are insanely hard , his head is largely ears. I was shooting for a “cautious” young cat look. A ton of customizing and skin tests with clay on top of our smallest lion form/head. It’s all about sculpture and precision. I added a few pics in comments looking behind the scenes also. Happy Friday folks, lovin it!

02/06/2024

Many of you have met Kasey in here. Guy has mad talent! He’s been my partner on the Cat Crazy Train. Here’s a bit of Background on him and some of his pieces that are currently for sale through the Best of the West Art show. Kasey also got picked up to sculpt bronzes for the Rigby Rifle Company. Ah man, keep rubbing off on me bud. Luv it!

12/16/2023

Check out this insane buck that came in for a mount a few days ago. I luv the double drop tines. The buck was taken in Stevens County WA in mid November. It was put in a freezer for a bit while Steve looked for someone to mount it. I’m glad he heard about me, never compromize my friends. A couple more pics of his buck in the comments. Definetly the best regional buck I’ve seen this season here on the machine. Congrats Steve.

12/16/2023

Here’s a really mature Saskatchewan buck that’s ready to go. The top of the whitetail pyramid as far as size and hair quality goes. It’s hard to gauge how big this deer is from the pictures. He’s about 4 and a half inches wide at the burs of his antlers. Our local mature deer are 3 fingers wide bur to bur on average. It all comes down to details.

11/19/2023

Another real neat high country dweller that came in for a life-size mount. A Frank Church Wilderness Mountain goat. Now that’s an epic hunt! I got to take a ram in the Frank Church some years ago. Congrata Dakota your’re living your dream. Luv it!

11/19/2023

Here’s a once-in-a-lifetime animal. A nice bighorn ram that was taken above Lake Chelan in WA a couple days ago. It found it’s way in here to me mounted. Landon hunted for close to 2 weeks, passing on many rams. This was the one he liked best. Right on bud, never compromise my friend, congrats!!

11/14/2023

Here’s the custom final XXL Selway-Bitteroot wilderness lion taken by Jeremy Pernstiener. First skin on our latest head sculpture/form. It’s all about shapes and geometry. Kasey, Rebecca and I put an insane amount of heart and soul into these builds. You all know we’re cat crazy over here! Look close while shopping for an artist to mount your big meow/meow. Thanks folks….lovin it!

11/08/2023

It’s that time of year again…Whitetail Mania! Here’s the first mature rutting buck to come in for a mount. His skin and facial muscles tell the story. (Both extremely swelled) quite a distinct smell too. Check out the sway in the back on the live pic of him and the neck really starting to swell. He’s got some age to him. This one was taken in unit 1. Congrats Isaac Carey on the harvest.

10/03/2023

I was going to mount this young mule deer buck on Sunday. Everything ready to roll. I look at the antler/form fit. The heads form is least a half inch too wide, see this often. It would have worked just fine. Nah, get the bandsaw and start cutting. I spent Sunday rebuilding the form and testing the skin. Custom. Skins on it now. Never compromise.

10/03/2023

The boss comes in here for a final tweek. She tells me “ship it”. You seeing it folks? Luvin it!

09/27/2023

Another WA Blacktail piece that left the studio a few days back. My wife said he was gorgeous. Nice.

09/26/2023

What do I always say folks? It’s not about antlers. Young bucks make some of the best mounts. Custom. Luvin it!

08/29/2023

So I’m prepping deer skins today, looking at this big scab on a mule deer’s chin. I send my client a pic of it, while over on on text I see the picture of his live deer he’d sent me. Zoom in on the his live deer’s head. I swear I see the actual scab on him. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, yet again. Lovin it. Lol….

08/20/2023

A couple of whitetail skins I got on sculptures last week are drying in nicely. Few new things, as always…lol worked into the builds. Quite a different look, lil guy to big guy. Sculpture….a few of you know what I say about that. Refine, refine. Progression. Lovin it!

08/07/2023

The finest taxidermy possible would be your unique, live animal on the wall. Obviously that’s not gonna happen. How close can one get is the question. A tricked out custom mule deer coming down the pipe. Mark and I spent several days sculpting the form and testing the skin. Real pleased with the result. Started with an upright form we had here. Live random inspirational pic included. Loving the head roll and eye rotation. Refine it!

08/07/2023

First skin on our 4th generation Big Tom Custon lion head sculpture. Kasey Nixon came by to supervise my skin application, and he loves cat paws. Lol. Luvin it!! Cat crazy train…..chugging along, Chuh Chuh! Feel free to hit me up if you’d like to swing by and see this big fella in person.

06/14/2023

West Washington blacktail shipped out yesterday to a client in Seattle. I don’t see many of these guys. Fortunately, I was able cape him out and had the actual meat skull for reference while trying to sculpt him out. Biggest challenge was the antler block height was off. Brows were off and way to light. Dozens of not quites. Lol. Muzzle on actual deer was alot wider then the form. Actual pic of the live deer profile for gee whiz. Earning and learning. Lovin it.

06/12/2023

I think I promised some antlers a while back. “The Glen Lambert Buck”. Right near 200 inch Custom North Idaho Whitetail piece. Precision in every apect of the commission. No hair to hide sheet. 😬. It’d a been a lil’ better if I’d of gotten to skin/cape it. Yeah there’s a level to skinning, it starts there, perfection (attempt anyhow),
and I was missing the meat skull for reference. I hate guessing. Lol. Hard to find a early season, narrow headed (our local deer) mature, summer buck head sculpt. I just needed to make one for him. I’m super pleased with the mount. Luvin it!

06/04/2023

Here’s one you don’t see often. A custom Kodiak (Sitka) Island Blacktail deer. Custom, as in it’s an attempt to to re-create the unique animal. I’m trying to take you way beyond throwing a skin on a form with glass eyes and antlers that resembles the species. Precision on the sculpture and in the skin application is needed for that clean, smooth and even, soft pastel look. Compare to the “live” pics.

I missed taking a few pics during the process to illustrate in more detail what went into this one, but you’ll get the idea. I‘ll add some notes on the pics that will fall into three categories: The sculpture, a few live pics and the client with the actual deer for comparison.

Refine, Repeat, Progress. Lovin it!

05/01/2023