Having started in taxidermy with my grandfather in 1954, I still enjoy looking at the old mounts. I love redoing old fish mounts to allow them to once again hang proudly on the wall rather than find their way to a Dumpster. A few products that I use are Zip-Strip for stripping, 3006 White Lightening Caulk for hide glue, Zinsser Clear Spray Shellac for sealing, and Ultra Soft for relaxing.

    When relaxing old fish skins, you can get them pliable again, but you won’t get the stretch back. The skins have a lot of memory and want to stay as they were mounted. Clear spray shellac is great, as lacquer will not cut it. You can go over the other colors with spray shellac, then detail with white and not have bleeding.

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Gadwalls (Mareca strepera) are common and widespread dabbling ducks in the family Anatidae. Gadwalls were first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. DNA studies have shown that it is a sister species with falcated ducks; the two are closely related to the three species of wigeons, and all of them have been assigned to the genus Mareca.

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One of the most telling and educational events at the World Taxidermy Championships® is the Live Sculpting Competition. It demonstrates a quick understanding of how accurate taxidermy “mounts” evolve. I say “telling” because this art form is an important foundation of the mounting process: not “stuffing,” as so many laymen describe our process. This competition is one of the first places I will take media people when I am asked for an interview. It is called taxidermy sculpture because the finished product is crafted for exclusive use by the taxidermists. Contestants for 2019 were David Ferguson–Harrisville, UT; Bill Neuman–Bismarck, ND; Jim Beenken–Eagle River, WI; Terry Van Loenen–Queen Creek, AZ; Daniel Meng–Bismarck, ND; Dave Pearson–Savannah, MO.

The Pre-Sculpted Division had a record number of excellent entries at the 2019 World Taxidermy Championships®. Ohio Taxidermy Supply, who donated $5,000.00 to the WTC cash award fund in 2019, asked that a portion of this donation go toward the winners in the Live Sculpting ($1,000.00) and Pre-Sculpted ($1,000.00) Divisions. The Best of Category for Gameheads went to Wendi Johnson of Sanford, Michigan, and Best of Category for Lifesize was won by Ma Hongyu from Yantai City, China. They each won $500.00 for their winning entries.

This photo review includes all 16 entries, six in the Gameheads category and ten in the Lifesize Mammals category. This is now a multiple ribbon division so each entry is scored on its own merit by a team of 3 judges. Rules and regulations can be found on page 24 of the World Show booklet at the Breakthrough website.

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Finally, the moment you’ve patiently been waiting for: the “loading and securing” part, the final part of this long segment. I apologize if it seemed drawn out, but like I said from the beginning: if you want your trophies to arrive properly to their final destination, you have to look at the big picture and that starts with the foundation.

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