We are going to start with the cast that is so commonly called a blank in the industry. In the next few pages I will show you how we assemble a reproduction, taking you through the steps of grinding and detailing a cast: installing the mouth, eyes, and fins, to ready it for the paint work that completes the mount. It’s not as hard as you might think.

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Ibex belong to the genus Capra, which includes all of the goats, including domestic goats. There are 5 ibex species recognized and most exist in distinct geographical areas and most can be identified by hair color, but the recurving horns are similar. Summer and winter coats can vary in color making it vary difficult for me to properly identify each of the many ibex photos I have collected over the years. The features of anatomy  are very similar in all of the ibex species, like most animal groups, but there is a lot of individuality within the subspecies meaning form alterations may be needed to adapt to size and differences in head shape.

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Never in a million years did I think I would have the opportunity to visit a place like China. With the language barrier and its distance from North America, it always seemed so mystifying and far away, but through the art of taxidermy, it became possible. Then last summer (2017), Clark Schreibeis called to ask me some questions about how my trip had gone. He explained that he had just been asked to instruct a fish-mounting workshop in Beijing by my same hosts and was experiencing the same apprehension I had felt before I went. I reassured him I had had a wonderful experience and there was nothing to worry about. I had been well taken care of, the food was the best, the people even better, and it would be the trip of a lifetime—so go for it.

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Barbary sheep are a species of Caprid and within the subfamily Caprinae. This subfamily includes sheep, goats, and ibexes. It is native to the rocky mountains of North Africa. Barbary sheep are now rare in their native North Africa, but with their introduction to North America (mainly in the southwest USA) and southern Europe, the population is very stable with hunting seasons in many areas that they inhabit.

Barbary sheep are also called by other names in areas where they were introduced, such as aoudad, a name used by the Berbers which are North African people. This name is also commonly used for Barbary sheep in Texas and the southwest areas of the United States. In Libya, this sheep is called waddan, arui, and in Spain it is called arruis.

In 1989 when I was a fledgling taxidermist, I entered a whitetail deer pedestal with artwork on the back. I was told by the deer judge that I should not have put artwork on the back. He thought it was distracting to the viewer—the back should be left plain. Nearly thirty years later it is now hard to find the back of a pedestal mount that is not exhibiting some sort of artwork.

    Since that time I have tried to come up with new ways and ideas for doing the back of each deer pedestal I enter in competition. Of course, when customers see them in my showroom and have to have it or something similar, an extra fee for my work and design puts more profit in my taxidermy.