The first thing I think of when I hear “eider” is a king eider, which I sense almost has a cult following by some waterfowl hunters and taxidermists. These two groups have devoted followers and collectors of their king eiders, their favorite waterfowl. Eiders are one of a few species of ducks available to North American hunters that I have never hunted or...

A couple of decades ago I had a booth at a large sports show in my hometown. The man who had the large booth next to me sold all kinds of accessories for four-wheelers, motorcycles, UTVs, and snowmobiles. During the slow times of the show he asked questions about taxidermy and I asked questions about his business. He owned a manufacturing business that made all of the...

Gray foxes’ diamond-shaped faces, with their bright, intelligent appearance, has drawn me throughout my career, much like whitetail deer taxidermists to their favorite subject. The average size of a gray fox can vary greatly. I’ve weighed mature gray foxes as light as 6 pounds (2.73 kilos) and as heavy as 14 pounds (6.35 kilos); the lighter foxes were located in...

The highest honor an entry can receive is Judges’ Choice Best of Show. Breakthrough is honoring this top achievement with the Breakthrough Award for Judges’ Choice Best of Show. Featured in this article are the winners from 2022: Australia  Andrew Xanthoulakis Canada    George Elekes United States   Tim Daigle New...