This year, my friend James Burley and I decided to work together on a mount to enter into the Collective Artist Division.  In this category, multiple taxidermists can work together on a piece and enter it to be judged against other such entries.  James and I chose to tackle a bobcat that would require major form alterations to get the look we wanted.  Well, things worked out and we took First Place for our efforts!

I attended the South Carolina Association of Taxidermist Convention this year and for the second time I was very honored to be awarded a First Place ribbon and Best of Category in the Professional Life-size Division!  I look forward to attending next year and getting to know this great group of people even better!

I just returned form the South Carolina Association of Taxidermists Competition held in Camden, SC on March 7th and 8th.  I entered 2 drake wood ducks and I’m happy to report that things went very well!  The wood duck on the nesting box received a 2nd place ribbon and the other duck received a 1st place ribbon and the award for Best of Category in the Professional Bird Division!  The bird also won the Judge’s Choice Best Professional Mount Award and the Ducks Unlimited Best Professional Waterfowl Award!  Fuel has been added to the fire, and I can’t wait to start working on my next competition pieces!

I got 2 bucks mounted today.  The first is for John B. and the other is for Patty W.

One of the prettiest woodies i have ever had brought to me.  This guy is for Philip H.

Got a few all finished up and ready to go home!  The buck is for Jeff J. and the ducks are for Ricky M.

I got 3 nice deer mounted this week.  The first is for Eugene W., the next one is for Jason B. and the last is for Riley D.

This week I mounted 4 beautiful wood ducks!  The first duck is for Philip H. and the other 3 are for Ricky M.

Here are some mounts that I completed recently.

Here are a set of shed antlers that were found by a hunter and brought to me to restore to their original glory.  You may ask why would someone want to mount a pair of shed antlers?  Well these sheds just happen to score 146 inches and the hunter managed to harvest the same deer this past season!  The buck scored 187 4/8 inches and was the largest non-typical buck harvested by gun in North Carolina at this years Dixie Deer Classic!!!!

This week was a good one!  I did the prep work on 4 deer heads for Gary C., Adam A. and Tammy A. and also a bobcat for John H.  Now, all of those critters are at the tannery and the mounting will begin when I get them back.

The beast is completed!  I will say that this was definitely the most challenging mount I have ever done, but it was well worth the frustrations.  The next dozen life-size bears will be much easier because of the experience I gained on this one!

Here is a white-tail deer European mount for Kam L.

Here are the last turkeys of the year.  The standing bird is for Philip H. and the gobbling bird is for Greg G.

Today, I was able to put the finishing touches on the bear cub for Colleen O. and the bear shoulder mount for Lee S.