I first met Gene Smith when he was 17 years old. He had entered a whitetail in the Novice Division of the 1987 World Taxidermy Championships®. I had the pleasure of judging that deer and awarding him with a first-place ribbon. It was easy to see that young man had talent, but I had no idea he also had the desire and drive that I would see in the years ahead. He won his...

Doves and pigeons constitute the animal family Columbidae and the order Columbiformes, which includes about 42 genera and 310 species. The distinction between “doves” and “pigeons” in English is not consistent, and does not exist in most other languages. Back in the 1970s my attempts at mounting two species nearly had me at the brink of giving up...

A cash cow is a metaphor for a dairy cow that produces milk over the course of its lifetime and requires very little maintenance. In business, it’s defined as a consistently profitable product whose profits are used to finance the rest of your business. In taxidermy, it is defined as whitetail deer. They are your most reliable source of money. With an estimated 30...

There are 40 or so triggerfish species in the world with 6 living in the tropical waters of Florida and the Caribbean Sea, ranging as far north as the Carolinas as the summer waters warm. Triggerfish live mostly in the shallow water around wrecks and reefs but can be found as deep as 300 feet. The queen triggerfish is the most colorful and interesting of the triggerfish....