He Turned "Antler Art" Into Thriving Business

He Turned "Antler Art" Into Thriving Business SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 24-6-39 Every spring, Jim Daine of Salmon, Idaho, spends weeks hiking through nearby mountains looking for elk or deer antlers. He later turns them into lamps, chandeliers, coat racks, and much more. "Antler Art" started out as a hobby but has grown into a thriving business. "When I came west from New York in 1988, I spent two winters in the Bitterroot-Selway wilderness area of Montana and Idaho. I was like a kid in a candy shop û there were all these elk wintering there and all these horns to find. I'd sometimes hike 20 miles a day," says Jim, who now works part time on his wife's family ranch. "In 1998 I made a portable shop from an old 16-ft. travel trailer. During calving season, I tow it to the main ranch, next to the pen where the cows need watching, and work on my antler projects while checking the cows," says Jim. The things he makes are inspired by the horns themselves. "I try to look at a horn and think what it might make û what it will create that someone will look at and think is beautiful." Daine allows customers to trade horns in toward the purchase of his creations. "Some folks have kept antlers from game they've killed, and don't have them mounted; they just have the horns and no real use for them. I can do custom work from someone's deer or elk horns, and make them into something nice. A few people have had me do something specific with their horns. They had a good hunt, and now have a work of art they can keep forever. A big floor lamp might be the antlers from three hunts." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Daine, Box 1135, Salmon, Idaho 83467 (ph 208 756-6847 or 2841).

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