The next stage is tanning, which is done outside of our region. The hide returns and is added to one of Roger's six deep freezers, waiting for the "body" to be prepared. A client can request a specific pose, often choosing one from a catalogue of forms, but Roger likes it best when the idea is left up to him.

He has made backdrops with running waterfalls and natural rocky slopes for a sheep to walk on. His black bear in full attack mode won him the Judges First Choice award in a Reno, Nevada show. The only other competition he took time to enter earned him a First Place ribbon for a full-sized sheep in the Canadian International.

When the mount is left up to Roger to decide, he says , "I can then do whatever I want to make the animal look its best." You can see the respect he has for his subjects in the finished products.