A new chapter is here for the NTA, one that is looking towards the future, but remembering our past. We will show resilience and adaptability, accommodation, and customer service for our members to feel welcome again. We will strive to make you proud to be a member of the National Taxidermists Association again. With transparency and accountability from top to bottom, we are bringing the association back to the members.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call (985) 345-7266.

In this issue’s article I will take you through my ideas and methods for making this habitat base with my goal of producing it as close as possible to the habitat of the location in Colorado where I killed my mule deer. I had taken a lot of photos of the flora and rocks for reference as well as bringing home some of the grasses and native bushes. The cacti of the area that I brought home had shrunk and dried so much I decided not to mold them, so I used it as reference and sculpted them in clay, casted replicas, and added the details of the cacti.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call (985) 345-7266.

Sable antelopes inhabit wooded savannas in East and southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separated population in Angola. Male sables are referred to as bulls or bucks, and females as cows or does. I found conflicting references for names of male and female antelopes of Africa, including rams and ewes, but for sable antelopes, bulls or cows were the most common.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call (985) 345-7266.

Editor Note: As you will see in this article, Erich Carter presents a very detailed article in text and photos that is easy to follow. There are names of the products used and where he purchased them. Most, if not all, of these products are available from the supply company advertisers in this issue. You or your employees can easily place this article print copy on a work bench and follow his procedures right through to the finished product. A big thank you to Erich Carter sharing his knowledge and experiences in casting many of the needs we encounter in our work. He plans to write and demonstrate many more valuable processes like you see here, in future issues of Breakthrough.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call (985) 345-7266.

European Taxidermy Championship Winners (pictured) from 2025

Judges’ Choice Best of Show, Breakthrough Award Jan Panniger, Germany—Frilled-neck Lizard

Taxidermists’ Choice Best of Show Wesley Kevenaar, The Netherlands—Hairless Housecat

Best of Europe Game Birds

Best of Europe  Christel van Ommen-Verdaasdonk, The Netherlands—Water Rail

Second of Europe     Stephan Carlsen, Denmark—Eurasian Woodcock

Third of Europe Jani Peura, Finland—Willow Grouse

Best of Europe Game Heads

Best of Europe  Pavel Visnak, Czech Republic—Nutria

Best of Europe Habitats

Best of Europe  Sebastian Brandt and Zsombor Pünkösti, Germany and Hungary—Arabian Spring Desert Plants with Crowned Lapwing

Second of Europe     Christel van Ommen-Verdaasdonk, The Netherlands—Restrepia Orchids on Flame-faced Tanager piece

Third of Europe Stefan Carlsen, Denmark—Sea landscape with seaweed and stone with Common Eider

Best of Europe Mammals

Best of Europe  Marie Christin Scheinpflug, Germany—Clouded Leopard

Second of Europe     Dimitar Pochekansky, Bulgaria—Lion