Bigfork taxidermist donates mount to wounded veteran

A moose head sits in the corner, a bear lazes on a branch, and two deer face each other, antlers locked in combat.

The taxidermy shop is full of finished works and mounts in progress, all beautiful brilliant trophies, filled with memories for the hunters.

But the elk head and shoulder mount that sat in the middle of the room is a particularly special mount to come out of Smith Wildlife Artistry. Devereux Stutsman of Kalispell shot the bull elk on a Montana Wounded Warriors hunt in Dillon this fall. As a donation to the Montana Wounded Warriors, Smith mounted the elk for free.

The donation from Smith was facilitated through the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which contacted the Montana Wounded Warriors this year to partner with them on one of their hunts.

The Montana Wounded Warriors, which is not associated with the national Wounded Warriors foundation, takes wounded Montana veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan on all-expense paid hunts throughout the year.

“It’s a type of recreational healing,” Montana Wounded Warriors board member Neil Baumann said. “It gets them out in our beautiful state, hunting and fishing with comrades in arms.”

The organization started in 2010 and has grown steadily in the number of trips and veterans it serves. This year was the first they partnered with another organization, Baumann said. The Rocky Mountain Elk foundation sponsored a hunt on a ranch in Wisdom Mont., for two veterans, and initially Smith had donated a mount for one of those veterans if they got an elk. While both shot elk on that trip, they were small, and not mount material.

So the Wounded Warriors asked Smith if they could give his donation to a veteran on another trip if he shot a trophy elk, and Smith agreed.

On the organization’s next trip to Dillon is when Stutsman shot his elk.

“Dev made a very good shot from about 350 yards on a large five-by five bull with an irregular rack,” Baumann said. He was ecstatic, Baumann said. “He was just all smiles, he couldn’t have been any happier or more thankful.”

At first Stutsman didn’t know he would be able to have his elk mounted for free, Baumann said, but the Wounded Warriors told Stutsman if he wanted his bull mounted to check out Smith Wildlife Artistry. 

“When he took the elk over, the gentleman told him he was donating it,” Baumann said. “It was a pleasant surprise for him.”

For Smith, he was happy to be able to use his 30 years of experience in custom taxidermy to give back to veterans.

“I just did this as a thanks, my little way of giving back to them for what they sacrifice for us,” Smith said. “The United States, I feel, is the greatest country in the world. It’s because of them that we can get up in the morning and carry on our lives.”

Smith finished with Stutsman’s mount a few weeks ago and presented it to him at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet on Saturday at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

Scott Smith’s workspace in Ferndale is full of dead animals. 

A moose head sits in the corner, a bear lazes on a branch, and two deer face each other, antlers locked in combat.

The taxidermy shop is full of finished works and mounts in progress, all beautiful brilliant trophies, filled with memories for the hunters.

But the elk head and shoulder mount that sat in the middle of the room is a particularly special mount to come out of Smith Wildlife Artistry. Devereux Stutsman of Kalispell shot the bull elk on a Montana Wounded Warriors hunt in Dillon this fall. As a donation to the Montana Wounded Warriors, Smith mounted the elk for free.

The donation from Smith was facilitated through the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which contacted the Montana Wounded Warriors this year to partner with them on one of their hunts.

The Montana Wounded Warriors, which is not associated with the national Wounded Warriors foundation, takes wounded Montana veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan on all-expense paid hunts throughout the year.

“It’s a type of recreational healing,” Montana Wounded Warriors board member Neil Baumann said. “It gets them out in our beautiful state, hunting and fishing with comrades in arms.”

The organization started in 2010 and has grown steadily in the number of trips and veterans it serves. This year was the first they partnered with another organization, Baumann said. The Rocky Mountain Elk foundation sponsored a hunt on a ranch in Wisdom Mont., for two veterans, and initially Smith had donated a mount for one of those veterans if they got an elk. While both shot elk on that trip, they were small, and not mount material.

So the Wounded Warriors asked Smith if they could give his donation to a veteran on another trip if he shot a trophy elk, and Smith agreed.

On the organization’s next trip to Dillon is when Stutsman shot his elk.

“Dev made a very good shot from about 350 yards on a large five-by five bull with an irregular rack,” Baumann said. He was ecstatic, Baumann said. “He was just all smiles, he couldn’t have been any happier or more thankful.”

At first Stutsman didn’t know he would be able to have his elk mounted for free, Baumann said, but the Wounded Warriors told Stutsman if he wanted his bull mounted to check out Smith Wildlife Artistry. 

“When he took the elk over, the gentleman told him he was donating it,” Baumann said. “It was a pleasant surprise for him.”

For Smith, he was happy to be able to use his 30 years of experience in custom taxidermy to give back to veterans.

“I just did this as a thanks, my little way of giving back to them for what they sacrifice for us,” Smith said. “The United States, I feel, is the greatest country in the world. It’s because of them that we can get up in the morning and carry on our lives.”

Smith finished with Stutsman’s mount a few weeks ago and presented it to him at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet on Saturday at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.