The registration area
The 2003 World Taxidermy Championships (April 8-12) in Springfield, Illinois  was a truly
amazing show!
I learned so much there, through the many seminars, and the thorough critique that the judges
gave me on the mount I had entered.

For those of you who are wondering how I did... I got a third place on my tiger cub, in the
professional division, and I am very happy with that! I think the World show is, by far, judged
even harder than the Nationals.

The following is a collection of photos I took at the show, in no particular order.. There are
photos of competition mounts, me with my friends, and the trade show. I will be adding  photos
of more competition pieces later! All photos were either taken me or my dad, or Randal Waites.

To view a picture, click on the words. This will help cut down on picture loading time.
Standing in front of the Crowne Plaza
Me with my tiger mount
Another shot of me with my tiger
Me with Ken Walker
Me with Mark Haineault
My dad and I at the awards banquet
The competition area
Competition area #2
Competition area #3
Competition area #4
You can see my tiger on the table
Competition area #5
Bobcat sculpture by Chris Krueger
Deer mount by Chuck Partak
Deer mount by Dave Toms
A view of part of the deer head section
More deer
A close up of one of the master division deer
A cute little doe by Kurt Ainsworth
A bald eagle. Not sure if it's real or a recreation
Rare Black-footed ferret by Ken Walker
Another view of the ferret
Red foxes by Jason Snowberger
Ducks by Frank Newmeyer
Freeze-dried snowshoe hare
A whitetail judge giving a critique
Mounted koi fish
Ken Walker about to go on TV and talk about his panda
Here is a recreation panda! ...It won Best-in-world recreation
Squirrels by John Lager
A pronghorn antelope mount
Some type of parrot (?)
A beautiful pheasant
Roe deer shoulder mount
Ringtail lemur mount
Some of the shoulder mount sculptures
A baby bird mount by Simon Blackshaw
The skeleton section. There were only 3 entered!
Two tiny sparrows
My tiger with his ribbon!
Another shot of my tiger
Freeze-dried coyote pup
Bill Yox giving a whitetail critique
Me with some friends at the wind-down party..
Ken Edwards playing the piano at the party. That guy is amazing!
Me playing the piano at the party
Me with my parents... haha, just kidding.  Linda Haineault and
Randal Waites
John Schmit with his not-yet-completed wolf sculpture. He won
best in world!
The finished wolf sculpture
The live sculpting area
Sika deer sculpture. 2nd in world winner
Matt Thompson whitetail seminar
Small bear sculpture. 3rd in world winner
A view of the trade show (Van Dykes booth)
Another view of the trade show
Me with the Van Dykes Crew..
Taken at the Van Dykes hospitality party
Me at the Art. Rocks booth
Me with Bill Yox...
You blinked, Bill!!
Me and Bruce Rittel at the hospitality party
My dad and I checking out the fleshers at the Van Dykes booth
Me talking to Mark Haineault and Kurt Ainsworth.
My eyes look wierd!
This is a picture of a lady interviewing me for a book she is
writing. She traveled to the world show all the way from New
York just to get information for her book!
This pic was taken in the trade show.. that's Elmer Feltner
(Scrubby) on the right
Me signing a shirt for a lady
Here I am asking Bill Yox to sign MY World Show shirt
He used Mark's back to press on!
Ken Walker all dressed up for the banquet
Porcupine mount by Randal Waites