i am going to enter a deer mount and a walley mount at the michigan show in march. i have never entered anything. i am mainly looking to learn from this, and have some really great taxidermist tell me what im doing wrong. if i win anything i will be all the happier with that bonus. my question is this. if i have good mounts, without habitat, such as just a shoulder mount, or just a wall mount fish, do i still stand a chance to get a ribbon if my work is good. is there separate catagories for those with and without habitat added. this is all new to me and i am very excited to learn from it. i am also excited to become better at what i do. i spent a lot of time this year on the quality of my mounts and i feel it shows. just look at my work last year compared to this. been doing it 11 years but this year im trying to do it right. lol. let me know your thoughts on show mounts and what to expect. thanks in advance.
bob
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when you compete it is not at all about the habitat. in wisc we have commerical, open, and master division. a one sided fish mount is only allowed to be entered in comercial, open (professional) only your mount is judged ( by the way this is the catagory to enter as you learn more then in commercial) now in masters habitat is a must as this is judge as it is part of the artistic piece. so go and have fun learn and i recomend entering in open/professional instead of novice or commercial to get a better learning expierence out of it!
Collin
Did you get your show packet yet? You need to get this, it has instructions and directions about the show. You can go to the MTA site and get in touch with someone there. There is a youth, novice, professional, masters and masters of masters divisions. If you are doing deer for the public and taking money, enter in the pro division. If nobody shows up but you in your division, you stand a real good chance at a ribbon. However, this is not the case. If I remember right, in the pro's, they only give out one blue ribbon, the rest red and white. You start out with 100 points, and the judge starts knocking points off for what they see is wrong. Do not worry about this. Habitat or none, all deer heads will be in the same category. If you have a perfect deer with no habitat, it will beat a habitat deer with flaws. Therefore, it is up to you if you want a habitat or not. Best advice is not to think about ribbons, just show up and have fun.
this show is all about the learning. a ribbon would be nice, but my main focus is learning. i did recieve my packet from the mta, and still had questions on it. thats why this post. i have one deer i did this year that is done like i do all my mounts now. i am happy with the mounts i do now, specialy compared to previous years. i have one fish mount to enter that was my third fish i mounted. i was planning on entering them both in the pro division so as to learn the most. thanks for the advice so far. any more tips and advice would be much apreciated.
thanks again
bob
Bob,
Your mounts will be judged on anitomical correctness, not habitat (at least at the pro and novice levels). Will habitat come into play. Only if you are trying to tell a story with the mount. But a bare wall mount is fine.
A little correction on Mr.T's post. Blue ribbons are awarded to blue ribbon mounts. There are, or can be, many blues in every catagory no matter what the division. The only exception is the Masters of Masters division.
My feelings are that habitat never hurts, but when it comes down to it, it should not matter to the judge. They are looking at the mount. But, at the same time, bad habitat could distract from the mount and may cause the judge to take it into consideration. You will be judged on the attachment of the mount to habitat. A weak attachement will cause you to lose points.
Doug