MOOSE JAW -- Moose Jaw’s mascot will soon have a new set of antlers.

Moose Jaw’s Rion White, the owner of Orion Taxidermy, and Brysen Bert, the owner of Steady Metalworks, are putting the finishing touches on a new set of antlers for "Mac the Moose."

Bert and White have been tasked with crafting the new rack, after Mac lost the title of world’s tallest moose to a moose in Norway in 2015. Earlier this year, the two countries decided Mac could be the largest, and Norway’s Storelgen could be the shiniest and most attractive moose.

White said he reached out to the city and volunteered his time to build the new antlers.

“We kind of have a weird job, so ‘Who’s going to do this rack?’ Well, I think we can do it because we do kind of weird stuff all the time,” White said with a laugh.

Engineers made sure Mac could carry a larger rack. Then, Bert started working on a steel frame for the antlers.

“We had to create a template for Brysen to do the steel work,” White said. “Trying to get the template to be the right size and point lengths and the (right) width and height (was) challenging.”

“It’s not something we work on every day, so we really had no idea what we were getting into,” Bert said.

The 700 pounds of steel crafted into the shape of antlers turned out to be so large, Bert and White had to move them to a different shop in Moose Jaw.

“Even with the bigger size, (they’re) a little bit less weight because (they’re) steel and foam instead of steel and concreate,” said Bert.

The team tested the antlers on Mac last week to make sure the frame would fit. Then, White started crafting the foam covering. He said he has a bit more carving and sanding to do before the final step.

“We’re going to coat it in epoxy coatings, with stronger layers inside it, to give it a flexible, stronger (layer) for all the elements in Saskatchewan winters,” White said.

Moose Jaw’s Mayor Fraser Tolmie hasn’t seen the antlers yet, but said he is “anxious and excited” to see the finished product. Both White and Bert said they can’t wait to unveil the new and improved antlers.

“It might not be the most important thing to us every day, but you drive by it all the time and it’s here. It’s pretty cool to be involved with it,” White said.

The new set of antlers will be unveiled on October 10.