In the last issue, king eiders were featured in our reference study of the eider species. This issue’s reference will feature common eiders and spectacled eiders, two species of eiders under the genus Somateria, same as king eiders. The other eider species is Steller’s eiders, which have their own genus, Polysticta.

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Jeff Brain’s Brook Trout Paint schedule was a classic. It was first published in our Issue #65 in 2001 and that issue is very near selling out because of this paint schedule. The schedule has been redesigned and all new reference added, but Jeff’s process is as current as it was in 2001. “The male brook trout shown in this paint schedule was a 23-inch, 7-pound specimen. It was caught through the ice in mid-February, 120 miles north of Toronto, Ontario. When I first saw this specimen in my studio, I felt that the body shape and head features of this fish would make it a good competition piece.”

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The deadline for the Taxidermy Hall of Fame nominees for the 2023 induction year has been extended to January 31, 2023. The induction ceremony takes place every two years on odd number years. The Taxidermy Hall of Fame board get a lot of inquires asking what are the requirements and what needs to be done to do to make a nomination for the THOF… well, here is what you do. http://taxidermyhalloffame.org  

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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 killed. Not because I wouldn’t have loved to have had them in my list of successful hunts, but the latter two-thirds of my lifelong love of pursuing game has been for the hoofed mammals, which I also believe is a sort of cult following. During my observations of both hunters and taxidermists, I have noted that the admirers of the eider genus, especially king eiders, have an obsession that I admire and regret that I was not a part of.

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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 products in his booth. Some of the gizmos were made in his hometown of Minnesota and the rest were assembled there from plastic injection parts that he contracted in Taiwan. He traveled there two or three times a year, coordinating the production of new products and the container shipments of the parts. I was familiar with the molding procedures we use in this industry to mold foam and plastic parts, but knew very little about injection-molding, and I asked questions about the process of producing tooling and the types of plastic used, etc. Much of the talk was simply idle chatter from boredom because the show fell on Super Bowl weekend and the weather outside was less than cooperative for travel. The potential customers were scarce and the hours were long.

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