We are now well into the month of January. The holidays are over and all of the 09 deer capes are ready for the tannery. I am busy every day in the studio working on various mounts with an emphasis on preparations for the upcoming competition/show in Grand Rapids, MI in March. I have three African deer that will be mounted as one piece, as well as my own whitetail that I shot last October.
Doing mounts for competion always takes up a lot of my time but it brings out the best in all taxidermists, and for this, it is worth all the effort. As much as I'd like to, this year doesn't look like the year for me to toss my hat into the ring for the coveted " All Around Taxidermist" award. For this award each taxidermist has to complete one mount each of a bird, lifesize mammal, fish and game head of some sort. To be elegible for the award a score of at least 80 points must be achieved for each piece with the highest total score for all pieces winning the award. Every year I keep thinking that next year will be the year that I have time to enter that arena but as the show becomes  closer and closer I again realize that time doesn't allow me to do it this year. I'll be lucky to get the mounts done that I have started, given the amount of time that I will ultimately put into each one. Oh well I never dreamed of being the fastest taxidermist around, only the best. Maybe next year............