R.M. Wigley Wildlife Artistry

R.M. Wigley grew up in a small Central Texas country town. From a young age he learned to hunt and fish and as any country boy, he cherished his time in the outdoors. Something was different about RM, he enjoyed cleaning and skinning as much as the hunt itself. By his teenage years, RM had learned to preserve hides, bleach skulls and through trial and error taught himself to mount a large assortment of fur-bearing animals. At that point in his life, taxidermy had become a wonderful hobby.

R.M. followed in his father and grandfather's shoes and became a craftsman of wood and over the next fifteen years, he made an exceptional name for himself in custom carpentry. As a contractor, he was known for never being satisfied with "all right" or "good enough", it had to be a job well done. During the winters, construction always seemed to slow down so R.M. would fall back on his love of taxidermy and work part-time under taxidermist Don Ivie, where he honed his skills in the craft. R.M. learned a great deal under the watchful eye of Mr. Ivie and is forever grateful for the basic knowledge of the trade.

In 2001 R.M. move his family to a little town in Eastern Wyoming where he went to work for Wildlife Creations International. Wildlife Creations International owner, Stan Taylor, was a Master Taxidermist and had a keen eye for detail. R.M. found a home and the right man to finish his training in the art of taxidermy. While working under Mr. Taylor, R.M. was able to expand his expertise to include all North American Big Game and also became very familiar with African big game animals as well.

R.M. and his family have now returned to Northeast Texas and own a small ranch where he operates his own wildlife artistry studio. R.M. believes the word "taxidermy" does not describe what the hunter expects when he comes to pick up his trophy. There is an "art" to deliver a live-looking mount and anything less will not do.