You did a great job, but I have always wondered why those beasts got named "Jackalope". Those are certainly not Antelope horns. They are deer antlers. should be a Jackdeer or Deerjack, well, that doesn't sound as good a jackalope....
Whatever, yours looks healthy and strong. Nice cutting.
In my view you are not wasting a piece of wood. You are putting it to good use. I usually use scrap MDF for that, nice and flat. I use a piece of 3/4 inch, when I get to many holes on one side I turn it over. One piece lasts for a long long time.
This is not my work, but the work of a person I follow on FaceBook. I just really like the way he does is word art name pieces. Just thought I'd share it. The person that did this is Osman Egilez from Turkey. I like the way he fits the bottom of the letters into the base piece. Very nice.