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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Front and Center: Deer Park taxidermist Garry Blew

Veteran taxidermist Garry Blew created this trophy fish and pedestal from foam to simulate a 30-pound steelhead. (Michael Guilfoil)
Michael Guilfoil Correspondent

DEER PARK – Growing up in the Spokane Valley, Garry Blew loved hunting, fishing and art.

When he was 14, Blew saw something in Outdoor Life magazine that suggested how he could indulge all three passions. It was an ad for a $12 correspondence course offered by the Northwestern School of Taxidermy.

Created by J.W. Elwood, an Omaha-based taxidermy supply company, the school offered how-to booklets to eager teens, and a diploma upon completion of the course.

Booklet No. 1 was devoted to preserving small birds and included a list of basic tools needed: scalpel, tweezers, excelsior wood wool for filler, and 20 Mule Team Borax to preserve the skin.

Blew’s first taxidermy subject was a pigeon. Since then, he has preserved everything from Stone sheep and Cape buffalo to piranhas and African arowana fish.

Earlier this year, Blew worked his magic on the state-record 20.23-pound walleye caught in the Columbia River. Still in his freezer is the state-record 37.88-pound tiger muskie caught at Curlew Lake in July.

During a recent interview, Blew discussed how his childhood hobby evolved into a vocation and why, after years at the taxidermy table, he’s finally looking forward to hunting and fishing again.

S-R: What was your first career?

Blew: Right out of University High School I started bricklaying and did that for about 10 years while doing taxidermy on the side.

S-R: Then what?

Blew: In the early ’80s construction took a nose dive, so I took up taxidermy full time.

S-R: Did your taxidermy career grow slowly or quickly?

Blew: Pretty quickly once I started taking my work to local shows and people saw the quality of my work.

S-R: Did you have a mentor?

Blew: I’m mostly self-taught. But when I started competing in 1988, I saw what the best taxidermists were doing and my skills improved more quickly. I stopped competing in the mid-’90s after winning a first-place national award.

S-R: Is the taxidermy field crowded?

Blew: Yes, and I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go. Taxidermy sounds lucrative when you hear how much people pay for trophies, but the margins are pretty small. I’ve survived because I make things look lifelike instead of like stuffed animals.

S-R: Was there a golden age of taxidermy?

Blew: For me it was probably in the 1990s. That was the heyday for fishing on Coeur d’Alene, Priest and Pend Oreille, and my prices were still low, so guides would send a lot of customers my way. One year I took in more than 200 fish. Now I get about 70 fish a year.

S-R: If someone brings you a fish today, how long before they see the finished trophy?

Blew: Six to 12 months.

S-R: What misconceptions are there about taxidermy?

Blew: As far as fish are concerned, people think all I do is shellac them. But there’s a lot of artwork with fish. That’s why not many guys do them.

S-R: Your website says customers can choose between either having the fish skin incorporated in the trophy or getting a reproduction based on photographs and measurements. Which technique is more popular?

Blew: Skin mounts used to be more popular, but reproductions have caught on because of the trend toward catch-and-release fishing. And with certain types of fish, you get a better product with reproductions.

S-R: Are reproductions more like sculpting?

Blew: Not really, because there are so many molds available. I go through catalogs and find the closest blank I can, then add colors and markings.

S-R: What does skin mounting involve?

Blew: That’s more work. First, the client has to wrap the fish in a damp cloth and keep it on ice. When they bring it to me, I trace the fish how I want to pose it, take all the circumference measurements, then skin the fish and degrease it. Bass only need a few days of degreasing, while trout and salmon stay in the solution up to a month. When the skin is ready, I use my pattern to block out a body from foam, carve it, sand it down to my measurements, prime it, and then sew the skin onto the foam. The whole process requires about 10 hours of labor.

S-R: How does that compare with a reproduction?

Blew: Reproductions take less time but cost the same – around $500 – because the blanks run $250 to $300.

S-R: What’s the process with deer and elk mounts?

Blew: I clean everything and dry the skin. Next I send it off to a tannery. Then I soak the skin, measure it, order a mannequin, do whatever altering is needed and complete the mount.

S-R: What’s left of the original animal?

Blew: The skin, the cape and the antlers. The eyes are glass, the structure is foam, and for some animals – bobcats, coyotes – I may use artificial noses.

S-R: What mistakes do clients make?

Blew: The most common mistake made with deer or elk is cutting the cape off too short. A lot of today’s mannequins require more shoulder, so the animal almost needs to be cut in half.

S-R: Did you feel much impact from the recession?

Blew: Yeah, because a lot of my customers were builders. Other factors affect business too – like when deer season isn’t very good. Fortunately I have three freezers crammed full of work waiting for me.

S-R: With such a backlog, do customers ever decide they don’t want a trophy once it’s finished?

Blew: No, because I require 50 percent up front. I learned that lesson the hard way when I was starting out.

S-R: What’s your busy season?

Blew: Fall, when I get both game animals and fish.

S-R: What’s a typical day?

Blew: I usually work 8 to 10 hours. But since my shop is next to my house, sometimes when I’m working on a project I take a break for dinner and then come back out and work until midnight.

S-R: How much do you make an hour?

Blew: I don’t want to think about it. Maybe 20 bucks. And I’m the highest-priced taxidermist around here.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Blew: The creativity, especially with pedestal mounts.

S-R: What do you like least?

Blew: When someone starts dictating exactly what they want. That’s when I lose enthusiasm.

S-R: Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?

Blew: I would have taken some business classes.

S-R: What challenges lie ahead?

Blew: Updating my website, which is a mess. Everyone used to advertise in the yellow pages, and today kids don’t even know what a phonebook is. Guys with good websites get business from all over the country.

S-R: Do you think 3-D printers might one day replace taxidermists?

Blew: I don’t know. I’ve read about them, but I don’t understand them.

S-R: Do you still hunt and fish?

Blew: Actually, I got away from that when I started doing this full time, because hunting and fishing season were my busiest months. But now my boy is 14 and wants to hunt and fish himself, so maybe it’s time for me to get back outdoors.

This interview was edited and condensed.

Spokane freelance writer Michael Guilfoil can be reached via email at mguilfoil@comcast.net.