I'm fairly new to bird taxidermy but I sure want to learn. I recently went to my state show and was amaized that some of the birds that looked fantastic didn't do so well. I guess my question is if I was to start competing what do the judges look for. What main areas should I concentrate on. Like I said I am just a beginer and I want to learn but I also don't want to look like fool. Any advice would be very helpful. Thanks
Return to Beginners Category Menu
competition birds are a big jump. get plenty of good reference photos
detailing feather placement and position of feet and necks. you are
trying to make the bird as lifelike as possible. i like to wrap legs
wings neck and crops with fine wood wool and thread. reconstruct head
with clay and set symmetrical eyes. also make good measurements of the
birds carcass such as neck length etc. leaving in wing bones and leg
bones will help in proper measurement in flying and standing mounts.
there is a great tape by stefan in the McKenzie catalog on mounting a
bobwhite quail. this technique will help with any competition bird.
Most failry good bird, that are in fact good commercial birds should take a low scoring second place ribbon or a high scoring 3rd place ribbon. Take a look at the books with color pics, then cut a 2 inch hole in a large piece of paper and look at what you see thru the hole, this will eliminate the back ground clutter that draws you eye away from the details of the bird.
You have to see where your weak points are. Pay attention to reference as John said . Do a bird and let the judge point out where you need improvement. Getting a good critique will give you a starting point don,t be dissapointed if you don,t ribbon. Competing will only get you better and gain you more knowledge. Area to concentrate on is feather and anatomical acurracy, controlling shrinkage and artistic presentation. Hope this helps now do one.
You will learn Soooooo much by doing so. even is say a three week period your mounts will improve Soooooooooo much. If you want to learn to do better animals you have to comptete and get the critique. The more critiques the better and better ytour work will get. Then all of a sudden SHAZAM you are there! Charging enough to make a good living. If Stefan can do it in northern CALIF. you can do it where you are.
Birds are one of the toughest categories to compete in. Other than WT deer here in OH there is NOT a tougher one. John Rinehart always says your commercial work should be able to get a third place at any competition. So good commercial work will NOT always score well, and that is why you looked at the scores on these birds as low. Bird judges seem to be a little harder than others on the pieces as well. I don't know, but maybe it is because there are such a high number of people that specialize only in birds, making them a little more knowledgable. The best advice you got was to mount some birds up and enter them. That way you can learn what YOUR weaknesses are. Your question, "what do the judges look for?" says it all. So many people wait until they learn how to mount a species and then enter, wanting to win. If they just took their lumps the first time they would be well on their way. Enter and you will know. Good Luck!
i never think that commercial work should be any different from a show bird just the habbitat the bird is in because that can get real pricey uneless the customer will pay i never spend any more time on a show bird then a customers other wise you are cheating on something i tell my customers the price i want just for the duck if they like it then i do it but i wont change my price just to get more work if you practice and get good there will be no different on show or commercial work just the bases will change the price i have won some firsts and live buy the way i mount a show piece is the way i mount a commercal peice get good at it and you will see that you really dont spend more time on a show piece but lust more time on making the habbitats
Bob, you need to use some periods in that post. One hell of a run-on sentence,(LOL).
i am not in to being proper on writing a letter but i am in mounting duck its not my falt that you cant spend the same a mount a time on a commercal or show piece i am just telling john what i think and it is just my opinion maybe you have cut to many corners with mounting ducks and its finally caught up to you or maybe you think you mounted a duck until you put it in a show but what ever i dont know everything that is why iam on here but i know that you shouldnt change the way you mount or materials you use when doing for a customer or show maybe you have a problem with the truth.....