LIVE from the Texas Taxidermy Competition

[BWH]

Excellent work! I’m sure some amazing creativity & artistry. Bravo…. I love it!

 

[K-man]

Thanks for the pictures! Really cool stuff there.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Buck Wild, thanks for sharing the experience with us.
There are some exceptional cats in there! Makes me excited to try calling them again this winter!

 

[outwestidaho]

Nice ! Thanks for taking the time to post .

 

[buck wild]

Although I don’t have a full run down, sounded like the buffalo ran off with the most awards. Really cool back story to the guy that did it but it’s not my story to tell. In sum, he’s a young guy from Austria, spent some time in South Africa and Zim, came over the the US to intern as a taxidermist and despite reaching out to over 10 large studios, only one gave him a chance. Crazy. We spent quite a bit of time talking before anyone knew who he was. I had to explain to him how he was going to win everything but he didn’t believe me .

On a bittersweet note, I did win People’s Choice original art with a bronze a did but there wasn’t a whole lot of entries in that category.

 

[Mort Hill]

Thank you for taking the time to share. Love it!

 

[Still alive]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share. What a great event. Awesome mounts.

 

[Jaegger]

@buck wild … thanks for the cool posts, pics, narratives, etc. It is abundantly clear Taxidermy is not merely a mount w/ many displays developing into emerging art pieces.

I added a note to calendar as Texas appears to be the front runner on our Forever Home Short List in 2024.

 

[cpr0312]

Thanks for sharing the weekend with us! Some nice looking mounts, always nice to see new pics of taxidermy!

 

[buck wild]

Ok, last update….I think .

As I reported buffalo cleaned up with the overall show awards.

 

[wesheltonj]

He did clean up. Where does this guy work?

 

[buck wild]

He did clean up. Where does this guy work?

Ha. If it were only that easy right? He is going back home to Austria next week. He hopes to come back next year sometime.

 

[MarkB]

Thanks for sharing @buck wild, lots of outstanding mounts. Best of the best on display right there.

MB

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Ha. If it were only that easy right? He is going back home to Austria next week. He hopes to come back next year sometime.

His buffalo looks amazing. Curious what shop ended up giving him a chance.

@gizmo you were at the show as well right? Anything catch your eye?

 

[buck wild]

His buffalo looks amazing. Curious what shop ended up giving him a chance.

@gizmo you were at the show as well right? Anything catch your eye?

I know the shop but I am not going to disclose it for various reasons.

 

[gizmo]

His buffalo looks amazing. Curious what shop ended up giving him a chance.

@gizmo you were at the show as well right? Anything catch your eye?

Yessir, there was an Aoudad that won blue in the professional division. That was the best Aoudad I’ve ever seen. The pics don’t do this justice

 

[buck wild]

Yeah it was good also, I just wasn't a fan of the head roll (for various reasons) although I understand why it gets done in competition.

 

[gizmo]

Yeah it was good also, I just wasn't a fan of the head roll (for various reasons) although I understand why it gets done in competition.

I agree but she did a real good job on it. It was my favorite piece of the show.
your Sika looked really good. You did a bang up job on it.

 

[Aaron N]

Yeah it was good also, I just wasn't a fan of the head roll (for various reasons) although I understand why it gets done in competition.

I noticed a few of the mounts had odd head poses (at least to me). Were these to show off customization of the forms?

 

[gizmo]

I noticed a few of the mounts had odd head poses (at least to me). Were these to show off customization of the forms?

My take on it is as follows
It boils down to artistic interpretation in a lot of cases. When I approach a piece the first thing I try and establish is “what story” is the telling. Also some of the different head positions do have to do with “customization” as well. Getting some “bonus” points for modification. For me some of the different head angle go back to the “feel” of the piece and the story it is telling. I tend to modify heads and stances in my work pretty frequently. I think when it’s done properly it adds to the overall flow and feel of the piece. Sometimes it’s about getting your eye to travel through a piece in the way you want the viewer to interpret the piece.