WADENA — Dave Crook has been carving for most of his life.
The Wynyard man started by working with leather and wood. About 10 or 12 years ago, he said his grandson took him to a place near Spiritwood that had a couple of moose antler carvings for sale.
“It was the first time I’d ever seen one, and I decided to give it a try and it just went from there. Right now, it’s pretty much a full-time job,” Crook said with a laugh.
The first time he worked with antlers, he said it was difficult and he thought he’d never try another set again. But he became quicker and better with each project, as he figured out which tools work and which ones he should avoid.
Crook will often start by coming up with an idea of what he wants to create. Since he can’t draw, he goes online, types in a search, finds a design he likes and downloads it.
Then he takes it to the Wynyard Advance newspaper office, which has a machine that shrinks or enlarges the image to fit the antler he’s developing.
“From there, then you’ve got to carbon copy it onto a piece of bristle board, and then cut the bristle board out with an X-Acto knife. Then you use the bristle board on the horn and you draw around it with pencil to get an outline, and you go from there,” said Crook. “So, there’s lots of times I have a day tied up in just preparation work before I even pick up my carving tools.”
He uses a Dremel tool and various bits and more used for carving hard items.
He works almost exclusively with moose antlers. Elk horns are way too porous inside, he said, with little air bubbles that aren’t good for carving. Deer antlers are too small.
“I will cut the prongs off of deer horns and use them to make a prop to hold the moose antler up,” he said.
He has two or three projects on the go for other people, and by the time he gets caught up, he has other people approaching him with a project.
Crook finds time goes quickly and he enjoys the work when carving. The size and the scope of the project will determine how much time he needs.
“A small one might be a day or two, and some of the biggers I’ve worked on have taken me … two or three weeks,” he said.
The largest project he has completed came recently. About a month and a half ago, he recalled a person from North Dakota showed up with a set from a moose the man had shot in the Yukon. They were 59 inches across and intact on the skull. Crook finished the project a couple of weeks ago.
“That took me over three weeks to do,” he said.
Initially, Crook thought getting a supply of antlers would be difficult, but that hasn’t been the case. He has a pretty good supply, and he knows people who hunt who bring him their horns.
Crook takes his antlers to various craft, gun and trade shows. At the Yorkton gun show in the spring, he has had a booth and conservation officers have been present. He started chatting with them, which led to him having antlers on display for the provincial conservation officer convention next year, allowing him to showcase his carvings to new audiences.
When he started working on moose, he never would have imagined that his carvings would become so popular. His works can now be found throughout Canada and he believes he has at least 40 pieces in the U.S. A couple are in Italy and China, and can also be found in Vietnam, Iceland and other nations around the world.
