Well, It's been an interesting past few months.

I spent a ton of time working on my competition piece, and in the end, I was unhappy with it (go figure). I was kicking myself the whole time I was doing the finish work, mainly because I knew I could do better.

I almost didn't take it to the World Show, but in the end, I'd already paid the fee so I figured I'd better do it.

The World Taxidermy Championship has all kinds of divisions; Youth, Novice, Professional, Masters, Collective Artists...

I had planned on taking the muskrat piece, which consisted of two muskrats in a water habitat, and a perch. Two days before the competition, I was getting all of my mounts together and preparing everything for transport, when everything went wrong...

I was screwing the perch down to the board for transport, from underneath, and had the plywood rig propped up between my desk and my table. It was nice and secure... and I was right under it...

I was trying to set the screw, when all of a sudden, the perch came off and hit me on top of my head, then smacked me on the nose, bringing tears to my eyes instantly. I heard it crack when it hit my face, and I was sure I'd broken my nose, but the cracking sound turned out to be one of the pectoral fins snapping off.

It landed on my carpet, and busted up three (very noticeable) scales on the belly.

Turns out the mount attachment screw was stripped... and it wiggled off while I was messing with the screw gun...

I can fix it... with some apoxy sculpt, paint, and patience, but I knew I couldn't get it ready in time for the show. So it had to sit this one out. I ended up taking my First mount ever, the Fisher. I made a decent wall hanging base for it, and got it loaded.

I roomed with Amy Ritchie at the Silver Legacy, in Reno. I had a blast. She was showing me the ropes regarding competition, and I probably wouldn't have gotten through it without her. She entered under Professional, and took 2 seconds... Both of her mounts were adorable!

I also got to meet Ken Walker!!! Such a cool guy, he actually critiqued my pieces and gave me some tips for my future mounts. I met so many people, my head was spinning.

Originally, I had wondered if I should enter in the novice division, but a month or two before the show, I chose to just go for it and enter in professional. I'm glad I did. I learned a ton, and ended up placing 3rd with all of my entries. One muskrat was one point away from a second... I just had to add that, because Amy said it would get to me... She was right ... :)

Here's a link to the World Show Results... From taxidermy.net
My name is under the professional Division, on the List of "All Ribbon Winners" page!

Well, that's all for now... I'm getting some more small specimens in the near future, and I'm preparing for my State show and the NTA comp.

Cheers,
Trina

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