Awards!

I went to the Texas State Taxidermy Convention and entered the competition for the first time this year.  The three mounts I entered were all in the Professional Division.  One was my old coyote pedestal, the second was the tarantula with the coyote and the third was a bobcat for a client.

Mounts are scored on a scale of 1-100, 100 being the best.  Once scored, ribbons are awarded to mounts according to the number of points the mount received.

My bobcat scored 65 and earned an Honorable Mention ribbon.  I think that is great for a commercial mount, and I learned alot from the judge's critques.  My quail, though not entered in the competition, was also critqued.  I sincerely appreciated all the judge's time and advice.

My poor old coyote did much better than I expected, he scored 63, just under ribbon placement.  This coyote was garbage from another taxidermist who claimed it could not be mounted.  Well, I tanned and mounted it, and he looks good, but he's not competition quality.

Even though the coyote didn't get a ribbon, my tarantula received a First Place blue ribbon!!

That's pretty good I think for my first competition.  Two ribbons, one being a blue in the professional division... I can't wait tell next year!