05.15.07
Unfortunately I think I have broken a record .. seven months without an update to my journal!!
That is not to say that I have not been doing any taxidermy. Quite the opposite! I have gotten in more work than ever. The business is really taking off... I am still working on finishing up the deer heads I got in over deer season as well as lots of other small projects.
We are beginning work on a new shop for me. This will be my 4th shop that I have had built since I began taxidermy! Hopefully I will be in this one for quite a while. We are building it at our house, which will really allow me to work more and maintain a closer watch on everything. Considering most deer are shot right before night fall, I usually get calls from customers right after dinner. It's hard to always "be there" for customers when my shop is 15 miles away. This deer season, the shop will be at my home and I will be available pretty much all the time. The new shop is going to be 12' x 28'. While not huge, it will be a big difference from my current 10 x 20 and it will have a designated "work area" and "show room" so that the two do not have to blend together. Simple changes like a set of 6-foot doors (as opposed to my current standard door) will be great. I can now do bear and elk without having to worry about things like getting it through the door. I'm ready to take in some LARGE animals! Although I think I'd still have to turn down elephants ... ;)
Last week I became the new owner of a colony of dermestid beetles. A local taxidermist near me who is getting out of the business gave me the whole setup. They are housed in a 4-ft chest freezer and there are thousands of them. I put a piece of meat in there the first day I got them, and when I checked back a couple hours later, it had vanished. I now have them working on cleaning a bobcat skull. I can't wait to clean off all these skulls I have piled up in the freezer. I have in the past used the maceration method to clean skulls, but it is so smelly and takes a while. Now I can clean skulls with ease. I also want to try articulating a skeleton, which I will eventually do.
My latest taxidermy show was the World Taxidermy Championships in Reno, Nevada! I went all by myself, and it was my first plane ride ever. Everything went over fairly smoothly despite some high winds as we landed in Reno. I had to ship my mounts to the hotel which really worried me .. I'm not sure if it was the fault of UPS or the hotel, but both boxes were quite crushed when I went to pick them up. Amazingly, the mounts were fine.
I roomed with Trina Curry from California. It's too bad she lives all the way across the country, because I think she has more in common with me than anyone I have ever met. She is 22 and is just getting started in taxidermy. We became instant friends and had a great time.
I took two mounts, a baby red fox and a spotted skunk. I ended up scoring seconds on both of them, with the skunk getting an 88. That's just two points away from a first ... my judge, Ken Walker, really loved the mount and said he wanted to give it a blue ribbon, but three people judged it and they had to averaged the score out. Having a world champion like Ken talk so well about my mount was as rewarding to me as actually getting a blue. Trina took three mounts, one of which was her FIRST mount ever, and she got thirds which was great! Here we are with all our critters...
Closer pictures of my mounts..
I also had previously mounted a grey fox pedestal with glowing eyes to be shown at the "NITE-EYES" trade show booth. There were five mounts in the booth with glowing eyes, each with their own little box and curtain so you could peek in and see the glow. Here I am with the pedestal..
10.13.06
Time for a long update!!
These past couple months I have completed several very interesting pieces.
Here is a Canadian elk shoulder mount that I just did. This made the big red stag that I did in April look small! The hide was very heavy for me to work with, but in the end, made a beautiful mount. I tanned the cape myself (that's where the hard work came in - the mounting went fairly smooth) and drove to the Mckenzie warehouse to pick up the form. Something of this size would either be cut in several pieces for shipping, or cost a LOT to ship. Being 40 miles from the supply company can really come in handy sometimes.
Another piece I did was a pair of swimming otters. This was done by running a 3/8" threaded rod through the bottom otter form and into the top otter, before mounting. The hides were then wrapped around the forms. The bottom otter has an open mouth.
Lately I have been doing alot of sub-work for a fellow taxidermist in NY. He sends me some of his small mammals when he gets an overload of work in. A sampling of some of the taxidermy I have been doing for him...
Grey fox on artificial rock
Hanging opossum
Raccoon
Coyote shoulder mount
Trio of red foxes
And lastly, a deer head for a customer. This was the last one from last season.. now I'm waiting to recieve new ones for this year!
07.24.06
Robby and I were married on July 15th.. I just returned back from the honeymoon a couple days ago and am finally updating my journal!
After the wedding, we headed to Florida. We went to Ft. Lauderdale first and spent the day out on Dania Beach. The water was very clear compared to the carolina beaches I had been to and we had a great time swimming and just laying on the beach. After that, we went to the Billie Swamp Safari in the Florida everglades. We did all sorts of fun things there, including riding an airboat and going on a safari in a "swamp buggy". There were alligators everywhere in the swamps! Our next stop was Orlando, where we went to Disney World one day and then Epcot the next. It was very hot, but then again, you have to expect that in Florida in July! I didn't want to come home but now it's nice to get back to taxidermy!
05.31.06
Earlier this month I attended the Taxidermy Mini Course at the Surry Community College in Dobson, NC. I went to several seminars over three days and entered two mounts into the competition.
One was a tiny orange kitten (domestic) that I mounted in a sleeping pose and put in a basket with a ball of yarn. The kitten won a first place, Best of Category, and the McKenzie "Best Lifesize Mammal" award! I also took a red fox which scored a third place.
My next taxidermy show will be the NC state show in early August.
04.06.06
I have been extremely busy with taxidermy lately. Oddly enough, I seem to get in more work during the spring than I do during hunting seasons. I can't complain, though! I've had a lot of interesting projects lately.
To start things off, here is a photo of the completed twelve rats that I did for Disney World. They are now down in Florida in the Pirates of the Carribean display..
Here's a few of my most recent customer pieces:
A lifesize coyote...
A red fox and grey fox mounted together. This piece is not quite finished - once finished, the grey fox will have a "dead" mounted fox squirrel in its paws
Pedestal Bobcat...
A huge whitetail deer..
Today I mounted a red stag, a huge animal closely related to an elk. The antlers were almost too heavy for me to even lift onto the form! It was definately the largest animal I have ever done. Here's a few shots of it, before and after mounting...
Me holding the tanned cape -- It's huge!
The stag after being mounted
Here I am with the mount (along with my new puppy, Hunter!)
02.21.06
Well the last month have been very exciting for me, in the ways of both taxidermy and non-taxidermy.
Robby and I bought a house last week! It's an older home on 2 1/2 acres, with a barn and lots of trees! It's in Statesville, just a couple miles from where I used to live. But it is so great to actually own a home, rather than rent! The previous owners painted the walls all primary colors (yikes!) but once we have the time we will be repainting it more like a cabin, with natural tan and green shades. A perfect place to put all my extra mounts!
The last few months have really brought a lot of cool jobs. First the 12 squirrels for the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", then the 8 squirrels for the advertising shoot.. and now I am doing 12 large RATS that will be part of a display at DISNEY LAND this Spring! They are doing a "Pirates of the Carribean" display, which will be a "ship" you walk through and look at pirate artifacts, etc... part of that display will be the rats, which would be found below decks in a pirate ship. Pretty neat!
01.11.06
I am finally back! No, I didn't forget about my website.. I have just been at a very busy point in my life.
After working at Animal Control for over four months, I decided to give it up. As much as I enjoyed the job, I realised that I would have to choose one job or the other and that choice was obvious. It was nearly impossible to work there from 8 to 5 and then attempt to get any taxidermy done and I could tell the business was suffering. So I resigned from the job right before the new year and now I am back to doing taxidermy full time. I leave that job with many good memories and only wish that there were more hours in the day so that I could handle both.
Here's a picture of those squirrels that I mounted for the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"...
The movie is set to come out this July.
I just completed a batch of eight squirrels mounts for another company which, I believe, is using them for some type of advertising. They were mounted in various positions, including several that I had to custom alter. One such pose was a sleeping pose. I took a squirrel form in a laying down position, and altered it to where it was curled up on it's side, sleeping. It was surprisingly easy and turned out great.
Now that I am doing taxidermy full time I am trying to supplement my income with Ebay sales, something I haven't done for quite a while. So watch Ebay for some new auctions soon!
I have gotten in quite a few deer this year, plus some bobcats, fox, and coyote. I have also done a few oddities, such as an albino squirrel and a pet ferret.
10.17.05
I recently completed a very interest project.. I mounted 12 grey squirrels for use in an upcoming movie! All the squirrels were mounted to look "dead". Some were hanging from their feet and others were doubled over. They are going to be used in the movie "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Origin"! I am not sure when the movie will come out but it is currently being filmed. I had to get the squirrels and mount them in less than one week - I had to work fast but I got them all done in time! I will post a picture of them soon.
09.11.05
Lots of things have happened during the time since my last update...
We finally finished my new shop, so everything is up and running now! We got the vinyl floor laid down and nice new countertops put in and it looks great. Although the floor space is the same, it looks bigger than my other one because the ceiling is a bit higher. I am so glad to finally have a shop to work in!
I recently took on an additional job at the Iredell County Animal Control. I work there from 8-5 on weekdays, but I can still do my taxidermy on the weekends and in the evening. I decided that it would be too hard to make a full-time job out of "mammals-only" taxidermy, and I really had no desire to try to go full service and offer birds and fish. So I think this job is the answer. I am really enjoying it, too.
Three weeks ago I cut myself very badly on my fleshing machine. I was sharpening it up when I slipped and my thumb landed on the blade as it was running. It completely cut the tip of my thumb off. I had to go to the emergency room and get six stitches in it to hold the tip back on, but the tip ended up not healing back and fell off after the stitches came out. It has taken a long time but it is slowly starting to heal back. I am sure it will never look quite right though... I will definately be wary of my flesher from now on! If you care to take a look at the damage, click here. Beware, it's a very graphic photo...and it was just as painful as it looks. This was taken one day after I cut it.
8.05.05
Last weekend was the annual state taxidermy show! I took my world show pieces, the coyote and the bobcat. The bobcat recieved a third place (which shocked me since it recieved a second place at the World show - Something isn't right about that!), and the coyote got a second place. But later on at the awards banquet, my coyote won two awards! It won the Van Dykes Award for "Most creative and original presentation" as well as "People's Choice"! The Van Dykes award came with a $50 gift certificate, so I can buy some more forms!
7.28.05
I know it has been ages since I last updated my journal! My new shop is nearing completion but I have been able to get a lot of taxidermy work done, despite not having a shop to work in.
In the last month or so I have mounted an otter, a deer head, lots of squirrels and a bobcat. I have also been working on tanning many deer capes. Unfortunately that has to be done outside, and with temperatures reaching records of 100+F here, that has not been an easy (or healthy!) job to do. I am trying to hold off on the outdoor work until I can work in the air conditioned shop.
Next week, a local newspaper - the Iredell Citizen - will be running an article about my taxidermy! I will post the article when it comes out.
I am getting ready to go to the North Carolina taxidermy competition tomorrow! I will be taking the same pieces I did to the World Show - my coyote/fawn piece, and the bobcat playing with feathers. I have fixed as many problems as I could on them, as well as adding some new things to the coyote base to "spruce it up". I caught a beautiful green dragonfly, ran a wire up one of the grasses and attached that to it. I looks just like it has landed on a grass. I think it adds alot to the base.
I will update the journal soon with my results from the state show!
6.12.05
I completed my move to Statesville earlier this week and we have been working on a new shop for me. The building is going to be the same size as my old shop and is going to be out at Robby's grandparents farm. They offered to let me have their tack-room to do taxidermy in until Robby and I get married and can build a house and a shop of our own. The building was very rotted, though, so we have to rebuilt it from the ground up. So yesterday, we spent the day tearing down the old boards until all that was left was the concrete slab. Next weekend we will frame it up again and should hopefully have it ready for use in a few weeks! In the meantime, I unboxed all my tools and set up a few card tables to do some small work on. It reminds me of when I first began taxidermy, back when I would do it on table in my bedroom. At least this way, I can still mount small animals like squirrels and mice. That will give me some extra income at this time when it is needed the most, as well as keep me busy (without taxidermy, I don't know what to do!)
5.30.05
Amy's Taxidermy is moving!
On June 6th I am moving to Statesville, NC. To all my faithful local customers, it isn't too far away - Just 60 miles north. We are in the process of working on a new shop for me and it should hopefully be done within a month or so. That means I will have to take a small "taxidermy break" for a month, but I will update my journal just as soon as I have any new information!
5.12.05
I recently bought a pair of bobcat hides to mount and sell on Ebay! There seems to be a fairly good market for bobcats on Ebay, so I can use these to supplement my income. I bought these Texas cats from a lady online. They came case skinned and raw, with the skulls still in, but I fleshed and tanned them and now they're ready to go! Here's a picture of them before fleshing:
One is smaller with more prominent spots and the other is very large with lighter coloration. I'm sure both of them are going to make great mounts.
I just mounted a grey fox yesterday, and now it can be found on Ebay. Here it is...
4.20.05
I have put together some "behind the scenes" photos of the construction of the running water base...
1) This photo shows the base after the woodwood was finished. It was made out of plywood and moulding, stained to a dark oak color. No habitat work had been done yet. I sat the coyote and the fawn on the base to envision how it would look.
2)In this photo, I am beginning to build up the sides of the base. Several layers of plastic were laid down first, then layers of crumpled paper and urethane foam were built up on the sides. After that was complete, mache was put on top of the foam to smooth it.
3) Now the "stream" was ready to be built. I laid down fiberglass mat and covered the bottom and the sides of the stream with fiberglass resin. Small pieces of rock were mixed in to give a realistic riverbottom look. In this photo you can see where the water comes out at the back. On the inside of the base, there is a water pump which pumps water up a hose and comes out at the back.
About that time, I learned a valuable lesson -- to always wear glasses when working with resin! As I was adding the hardener to a cup of resin, the dropper bottle of hardner broke and exploded in my face. It got in my eyes and burned my eyes and skin. But I washed it out quickly and didn't have any problems afterwards other than bloodshot eyes for a while. I was very lucky, since I read later that contact with resin hardener usually results in blindness.
4 & 5) Once I added leaves and grasses, the base really started to look great! In this photo, everything is finished except for the bottom pond area.
This was a really difficult project and nothing went as easy as it sounds. I had to fix leaks at least a dozen times. The first time we ran the water through, there were leaks at the front of the stream. Each time I would fix a problem, it would seem like there would be another. Finally, in the last five days before the show, I fixed everything and there hasn't been a leak since. Thank goodness, as I was stressed to the max! A leak at the competition would be terrible.
Here's some pictures of the fawn mounting process:
First, I cut off all four legs of the fawn form. 1/4" tubing was run up one of the legs, through the throat and out the mouth of the form. Once the fawn was mounted, the tubing hooked up to the main water pump. Using a flow adjuster, the water flow can be turned down to a drip. This makes it look like the fawn just lifted his head up from drinking, and water is dripping out of the mouth!
Here's the fawn with the legs inserted in the skin, getting ready to be mounted.
And the finished fawn:
Here's a picture of me mounting the coyote..
Robby and I at the World Show with my coyote piece
I'm back from the World Show!! It was an awesome show that I will never forget.
I took a coyote, a bobcat, and a mouse. The bobcat recieved a second place (85) in the professional division and the other two got high thirds (78)! I was very excited to recieve a second place at the World Show. Now I will try to win a blue next time!
My seminar on Wednesday night went very well. I was nervous at first, but I was fine once I got started. There were alot more people at my seminar this time than last year at Nationals -- all the chairs were filled up and people were standing up in the back! I mounted a climbing up, open mouthed grey squirrel.
Before I go any further, I have to tell you about what happened after the seminar. I had gone to the show with my boyfriend, Robby, and his mom... After the seminar, I was getting my things together and Robby came up and proposed to me right there! He got on one knee and pulled out a beautiful diamond and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised and happy.. of course I said yes! After that, my mounts could have scored a zero and I wouldn't have been upset.. I felt like I had already won the world prize! We are hoping to get married sometime next summer. Here is a picture of the ring (although it doesn't do it justice at all - it was hard to get a good picture of it). It is a marquise diamond set in white gold with a citrine and a ruby on the sides (our birthstones!)
Now.. getting on to the mounts..
My main entry was a large piece that I have been working on for months. It is a coyote "stalking" a young fawn. I did not have the fawn judged because of several small problems with the mount (I just knew he wouldn't score well). The coyote is standing up top and a stream (with real water!) runs between his feet. It waterfalls over the edge to a pond below where the fawn is standing. The water fills up in the pond and drains into a tub in the bottom of the base where a water pump cycles the water back up to the stream. The fawn has 1/4" tubing run up through the form and it comes out his mouth. When the water is turned on, water drips out of the fawns mouth and it looks like it just lifted its head up from a drink of water. As an additional touch, we even put live fish in the pond. Robby came up with the concept nearly a year ago, and we began working on it about six months ago. Much thanks goes to his dad, who did all the wood work for me (I couldn't have done it without you!). Once the wood base was done, it was up to me to do the habitat. And it was no easy task. I spend weeks building up the stream and pond area with foam and fiberglass mat and resin. We ran the water through the base quite a few times only to have it start leaking in areas. After many days of patching leaks and discovering new ones, I finally got it fixed! I have never attempted a project of this size and although it was stressful, the end piece is very rewarding. This is a beautiful piece to see in person and the sound of the water flowing is so relaxing. Although it only scored a 78 at World Show (I had hoped it would do better), the judge pointed out several problems with the coyote that I can try to fix and I think it will do much better at state show in July. Here are a few pictures:
My best scoring entry was the little roadkill bobcat that I mounted! I mounted him in a playful position. It looks like he just pounced on a pheasant and all he got was a few feathers. Here are a few pictures I took after I mounted him (I'll post some better ones later - these were before the nose was painted). I was very pleased to score an 85 with him, as bobcats are usually judged hard in competitions.
My other entry was the field mouse with a nest full of babies that I took to state show last year. I decided to take her at the last minute and I am glad that she got a high third.
At the show, there were some trappers selling whole frozen animals. There were all kinds of animals for sale - huge bobcats, fox, mink, otter, etc. I bought myself a silver fox! It is almost jet black with some silver markings around its face and on the back, and the tail has a bright white tip. It will make a gorgeous mount and I will try to have it ready in time for state show.
The World Show was such a great show, even better than in 2003. I can't wait for the next one! There were around 800-900 pieces there and there was some of the best mammal work that I have ever seen at one show.
Now, it's back to getting customer pieces together!
2.21.05
The March issue of Field & Stream magazine is out and there is an article about me in it! You can also see the article online. Click here to view it!
It is just a little over a month until the World Show and I can't wait! I am getting ready to do the habitat work on the base for the coyote and fawn... there just isn't much time left!
Here is a picture of the last woodburning that I did. I really enjoy doing these.
2.09.05
Yesterday I bought myself a woodburning kit at Walmart since that was something I had been thinking about trying. My kit came with a woodburning pen and two round basswood plaques.
Here is the first one that I did yesterday - a pair of quail:
And the second one that I did this morning:
I really enjoyed doing this and can't wait to practice some more!
2.06.05
Today one of my best customers, David Crowe, brought me a river otter to mount for him! This will make a very cool mount. He will be mounted laying on his belly. Here's a picture of it before skinning:
It almost looks like it's mounted. It was far from being mounted, though.. otters have ALOT of fat on them to keep them warm in the winter. Especially the tail - there was a good 1/2" of fat all the way around the tail bone. I spent an hour and a half skinning and fleshing it. But now it is perfectly fleshed and it's on to the Krowtann bath, otter! Normally I always do a dorsal incision on any of the animals I mount, but I did a case incision on this otter. I cut between the two back legs and all the way down the tail. Otters are so long that it'll just be a matter of cutting the front legs of the form off and putting them in first. Then I can just slip the rest of the body right in.
2.05.05
Last Sunday I picked up a roadkill bobcat just a few minutes from my house!! My dad had spent the weekend with us and was headed back to Camp LeJeune. He called me and told me that he had seen what looked like a bobcat laying on the side of the road. Robby and I went to check it out, and sure enough, it was a bobcat! What a find!
It's a small cat (measured 1 1/4x14x23) but it is in perfect condition and has fairly good spots for a cat from this area. I am tanning it right now and I hope it will turn out well. Hopefully it will not slip, since it layed on the side of the road all day. Luckily it was a cold and icy day.
Since I will be mounting the roadkill bobcat for myself, I have decided to sell my large "mantle" bobcat. It is currently listed on Ebay, ending Wednesday the 9th. Click here to view it as well as my other Ebay auctions.
On my way to the bank the other day I saw a huge possum on the side of the road. I normally do not pick up roadkills, especially animals like possums, but this one looked really big. So I pulled my car over and grabbed one of the trash bags I keep in the trunk for that very purpose. I didn't take a good look at it when I put it in the bag -- I was in a hurry; people driving by were giving me some strange looks. Upon closer inspection back at my shop, I discovered that the tail was messed up. Not from being hit by a car, but from a fight. The last 6" of it was black and shriveled up. Possums really are yucky animals. I ended up just throwing it away, except for I kept the canine teeth. They were huge -- larger than coyote teeth! I don't know if that's common or not, but I though it was cool. I added them to my tooth collection (I have begun collecting the canine teeth from a lot the animals I skin, particularly the ones that have crushed skulls). Currently I have teeth from bobcat, fox, possum, coyote, raccoon, and even black bear.
1.29.05
Time for an update!
I know everyone likes pictures, so here's some of my most recent projects...
Small red fox pedestal
Trio of bobcats for customers!
Here's a recent view of the left side of my shop. It occured to me yesterday that the pictures I show in the "My Shop" section of my website really look nothing like my shop does now. I now have a year and a half's worth of clutter in my shop. I try to keep it as organized as I can, but there is only so much you can do with a 10x20' space. I'm running out of space big time!
Crazy, isn't it? The elk head in the picture was not mounted by me. A customer brought it to me and wanted me to take the antlers off the mount and switch them out with a larger pair. That was a pretty easy job. He came and got the elk as soon as I put the new antlers on -- no room in my shop for something that big to be just sitting around!!
In the bottom left of the photo you can see my new full-size Rawhide flesher! I am still keeping my small Dakota, but this one is capable of doing much bigger hides quicker. I got it from a nice lady who's dad was a taxidermist. He passed away a couple years ago and she was looking to sell most of the stuff that was in his shop. I was able to get a lot of new stuff for my shop, which included a wire wheel bird flesher (since I want to try birds soon), a new airbrush (Badger double-action), many bottles of airbrush paints, and lots of misc. tools, mammal forms, eyes, and panels!
Today it is exactly two months until the World Show. I can't wait! The big news is that I am going to be teaching a seminar there, too! Click here to see the lineup of seminars. My seminar is on the second day into the show, Wednesday night. It looks like I will be doing another seminar on squirrel mounting, like I did at the Nationals. I am very honored to be giving a seminar at the largest show in the world, since there were only a limited amount of spots available.
I mounted my competition coyote on Wednesday, and it turned out very well I think. No pictures until after the show, though ;)
Well, I'll tell ya what.. I'll post a picture of my coyote before it was skinned!
See how thick the fur is? That's what sold me on this coyote. It has very good quality, thick fur.
So now I have the coyote and fawn mounted, although I'm not sure if I will have the fawn judged. Still deciding on that one. I'm pretty sure that's not all I will be taking, though. At first I wanted to mount my button buck lifesize and take it, but I now realize that it just isn't possible unless I rent a trailer to put it in. So I think I'll save that for state show. I'll probably mount something small to take to the Worlds. I've been considering doing a bobcat but that's just an idea right now since I don't even have a bobcat yet. I want to buy one that's really spotted, like a Texas bobcat. But for a well spotted cat, one can expect to pay between $150-200! So I might just mount something like a squirrel (imagine that!)
One more piece of news -- there will be an article about me in the March issue of Field and Stream magazine! Some photographers from New York came to my shop a few weeks ago and spent five hours taking pictures of my mounts, and me in my shop! I can't wait to see what the article looks like. The issue will be available mid-February!
1.09.05
I have mounted several animals in the last few days. First was a very small bobcat, about the size of a house cat. The guy shot it while deer hunting, with a large rifle, and blew a five inch diameter hole in the side and out the belly. This would be bad enough on a large cat, but this was a small one so the damage was more extensive. Amazingly, I was able to piece it back together and you can hardly tell where it was shot. It is in a walking pose, and I will post pictures of it when it dries (the fur is still a little wet)
Today I mounted a red fox pedestal for a customer. He had wanted a full body mount, but there was something wrong with the back legs of the fox. The skin was almost hairless and very scaley. The front half of the fox was perfectly fine, though, so I turned it into a pedestal.
Projects for this week: Two more bobcats (one lying on a limb, one open mouth, standing up on a rock) and deer heads! I've got four customer deer capes in the freezer, wet tanned and ready to mount. I also got in another deer head earlier this week; a nice 8 pointer shot by a young boy. That's what I like to see -- deer heads coming in even after deer season is over!
I'm trying to get the majority of customer mounts finished so I can concentrate more on my competition entries. Unlike the past years, I have decided to keep this years' competition mounts as much of a "secret" as I can. Robby and I have a really great, new idea for the coyote base that we have never seen done much in competition before, so I can't reveal anything about it yet (for fear of someone copying the idea). But I will take photos every step of the way when I do the mounts, and will post them on the website as soon as the competition is over...only 79 more days...
1.02.05
It has been a long time since I updated my journal -- sorry about that!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I sure did. Robby gave me the best present anyone could have given -- a LIFETIME NC Sportsmans hunting license!! I was so surprised; now I never have to buy a hunting license for the rest of my life! (Thank you, Robby!) :) I also got a great gift from my mom and stepdad, James - a Moultrie Feeders Gamecam. I set it up on a tree out by the woods and hope to get some pictures of deer and other animals out there. James also bought me a vise to put in my shop so I can quit hurting myself. I have had several accidents lately while trying to hold something and drill it at the same time.
I have been really busy with hunting season. I did not get in as many deer heads as I had hoped, but I always get in alot after season has ended. It seems like alot of hunters shoot a deer and either can't decide if they want it mounted, or don't have the funds at the time. Then they put it in the freezer and bring it to me later on in the year.
I am beginning work this week on my competition entries for the World Show (Mar. 29-April 2) I have decided not to give much detail about the entries until after the show, but I am planning on doing a coyote, a whitetail fawn, and my button buck (lifesize)! The show is less than three months away now and I can't wait!
I have done alot of small jobs lately that I do not normally do. I repaired a set of 8 point antlers that had been broken when the deer fell off an ATV. All the tines were chipped, one tine was completely missing, and the beams were scuffed up badly. Using apoxie sculpt and a tiny from a spare rack, I was able to repair the antlers and it is hard to tell where the repair was even made! I am also fixing a deer head (not mounted by me) that fell off the wall and broke one antler completely off when it hit the ground.
My dad and I reorganized my shop and put in several new things such as new, more efficient shelving, and a sink! Yes, it's hard to believe, but I have never had a sink in my shop. I have always either had to go in the house or use the hose outside, both of which were inconvenient. Now I have a nice sink in my shop which will help out ALOT!
I also bought myself a new gun recently. This will be the last one I add to my collection for a while (I have been spending alot on hunting equipment). It is a Remington 1100 12 ga. shotgun. I am going to use it to hunt dove before the season ends Jan. 15.