North Bend Taxidermist who does African mounts...

[Rob]

I seem to recall a guy in North Bend who specializes in African Game.  Does anyone know who he is, and have his contact info?

[vandeman17]

I don't know if he specializes in it or anything but it might be Buzzy Cook at Olympic Taxidermy. He is in North Bend. His number is 425-831-6273

[longknife]

Yes, he dose alot of african game, and a great job.
Took 2 years to get my 6x6 WT done, Goverment shut down in 97, and head mounts were stuck in transit, til the gov, reopened.

Good luck

[NoBark]

If that don't work out, I'd call Bruce at Wildlife Art Taxidermy up in Whatcom County.. He does awesome work and has a lot of African game under his belt.

[Rob]

Thanks!  Buzzy is the guy I was trying to rememeber.

Yes, he dose alot of african game, and a great job.
Took 2 years to get my 6x6 WT done, Goverment shut down in 97, and head mounts were stuck in transit, til the gov, reopened.

Good luck

Not following this.  Did the Government shut Buzzy down, or someone in the chain of custody between you knocking it down in the field, and Buzzy doing the mount get shut down? (i.e. the outfitter, shipper, tannery, etc)

Thanks for the tip on the guy at Wildlife Art as well.

[longknife]

He had to order the inner foam mount, and it was held up at a post office, til the USA government re opened, when it shutdown in 1997.

[Rob]

Got it. 

thanks!

[bugs n bones]

Buzzy and sandy cook .......olympic taxidermy  831-6273

[MDGrand]

Buzzy is awesome.. but usually VERY booked.

Look at Albrecht Taxidermy too.. Bill does GREAT work and has done MANY African mounts.. check out his trophy room.. 425 888 4306

located right in North Bend.

Some time ago I tried to take my work to Buzzy but he was so booked up he was only taking work from existing clients.. so I went to Bill and have not been disappointed or gone anywhere else since.

[6x6in6]

Rob, you really should spend the time and go visit Bruce at Wildlife Art Taxidermy.  I really think it would be a worthwhile visit.
My suspicion here is he is the exact person you need to complete your African memories.
http://www.wildlifearttaxidermy.com/

[Rob]

Thanks all.  I have sent the contact info for Buzzy and Wildlife Art to my friend. 

As an FYI, the Local Taxidermist is not for me, but for another member of my party.  I plan to go back to Jerry Huffaker again.  He did my 2007 work, and I cannot speak highly enough of him.  http://huffakertaxidermy.com/

Regarding Buzzy, the work would not need to be done until late 2013, early 2014 since the animals won't even be shot until October of this year.  We will see if he is free that far out after talking with him.

My friend is weighing 3 options for his work:
1.  Have it done in Zimbabwe (pros, cheaper, faster (probably)  Cons:  unknown quality, higher shipping costs
2.  Have it done by Jerry Huffaker (Pros:  known good taxidermist who specializes in African work Cons:  Not the cheapest option, and the work will need to be shipped to Seattle from Texas
3.  Use a local taxidermist who has African experience (Pros:  local work so  he can see their studio, no secondary shipment of finished work  Cons:  unknown at this time)


Here is some of the detail work Jerry did on my 2007 mounts.  The first photo is of my Kudu.  It shoudl be noted that due to poor care after the kill (hot weather), 80% of the hair on the face slipped.  There is no hair at all on the cheeks.  The white spots are supposed to be white hair!  If I don't tell people this, they cannot even tell.  He spend a lot of time trying to get that right, and did not charge me a penny more for it. 

[6x6in6]

If you want another option for your hunting partner, I could find out who taxi'd all of my hunting partners Africa animals from his 2009 hunt. 
He lives in Oregon and had a guy who I'm pretty sure was in Ontario, ID do all of his work.

[Rob]

Thanks for the offer, I'll check with him and get back to you if he wants the info.

[turkey slayer]

I would all so say Fred Peters is on the top of the list with African mounts. He is located in Graham. Check him out all so he is rite up there with buzzy

[MidgetIdjit]

If you want another option for your hunting partner, I could find out who taxi'd all of my hunting partners Africa animals from his 2009 hunt. 
He lives in Oregon and had a guy who I'm pretty sure was in Ontario, ID do all of his work.

Thanks for the offer. That'd be great.

I'm inclined to go with Huffaker due to Rob's experience, but I'm certainly willing to look at others' work and consider my options.

[6x6in6]

I'll give him a call tonight and find out. 

[6x6in6]

After my conversartion with him last night, here was what he e-mail'd to me:
Imperial Taxidermy in Caldwell, ID
Mitch Sanchotena
208-585-9603
http://www.imperialtaxidermy.com/index.html

Here is what he had to say:
Whoever answers, tell them I sent you.  They all know me..  4  working full time.  Several awards including national.  Maybe a little more expensive than some, but not as expensive as others.  Really good work  and easy to work with.  Good turnaround time.  If I can help you with something, don't hesitate to ask.  As much as I am over there, I could probably even do some monitoring. 

Gallery 5 photos, the pedestal zebra at the top left is his.
Gallery 6, the group shot at the top is a combination of his and the guy he went with. 

Kind of surprised that there was not a couple of photo's of the record book Steenbok's they each harvested.

All these animals came form Namibia.

Feel free to PM me and I will drop you my friend's name for when you call.

[6x6in6]

I think between the 2 of them they harvested something like 30-35 animals.
Zebra, Kudu, Blesbok, Gemsbok, Steenbok, Impala, Springbuck, Black and Blue Wildebeast.
Probably missing a couple.
He still tells stories - "Hey, how much does that one cost?"............"we have too many of those, $100."   BANG!!

I know he has a lot of money wrapped up in hides and mounts from this trip.   

[MidgetIdjit]

Thanks! Nice looking work.