NO GUTS, NO GLORY! The mother of all competitions.

Joe, when I was up in Alberta at Ken Walker’s he told me about one of your meetings in which you Ken and some others were involved in. It involved adult beverages and the organizing of some secret society.

 

Ah, the good ole days!

 

Greetings Joe,
I had heard directly of that challenge/experience twice. Tom Duran told me of a squirrel mount of his that was destroyed (I believe it was not an experience he enjoyed). Jack Wilson, the bird taxidermist from Ontario I spent a bit of time with in 1985, must have attended but not competed. He told me that there was a Belt Buckle that the entrant won - is that true?
I appreciate your postings here though many consider your presence antithetical to the NTA and state competitions. I don't see it that way, but then I have only competed once in the last 25+ years. Without skin in the game, I have no leg to stand on so I rarely comment on these competition threads. An live ASOB competition would certainly be entertaining to see.

 

I have fond memories of watching several ASOB competitions. We hosted it a time or two at the Missouri convention. It is the ultimate challenge of putting your best work forward because if it failed to make the cut it was destroyed. Each person that had an entry sat at the same table and each bird was passed down for a verbal critique. You got the chance to verbally defend your bird but you also got the chance to comment on all the others. Bob, Greg, and Gary were all quite witty and very knowledgeable and the comments were absolutely hilarious. However, there was a lot to learn about bird anatomy by listening carefully to their critiques.
The birds were verbally critiqued by each participant, and each person made a thumbs up or thumbs down vote. If the majority were thumbs up the bird was set on one side. The "thumbs down" went on the other. All of the birds that made the final grade were then grouped side by side for comparison and each person again verbal compared the birds against each other. Not against a score sheet of criteria but a direct competition to determine what the best bird on the table was. Then a vote was made to determine the winner. They didn't care what second and third place was, just the winner of the group.
The birds that were "thumb down" and had not made the final grade were then destroyed as they were deemed to be "not worthy" of existing if they did meet the bar of a superior taxidermy representation of the species. There were plenty of gasps and groans when a head was pulled off or the bird was flattened with a hammer.
I have a video of the 1991 ASOB that was held out our show with a ringneck pheasant. Dennis Arp mounted a bird and he had a good idea that the bird would not make the grade so he sculpted very realistic human breasts on his foam bird body. They were very well painted as well. This fact was not revealed until the bird was torn apart and destroyed and we all laughed until we cried.
The winner received an ASOB (traveling) belt buckle and the rights to name the next specie of bird. They chose the species carefully because the winner was responsible for helping to find good specimens if needed. This kept someone from naming an obscure specie that no one could get their hands on.
The ASOB was the ultimate "put up or shut up" competition judged by your peers. While highly irreverent it was also a very serious attempt to determine the best bird taxidermist for that year. It made you put your best work forward knowing that if it failed the bird would pay the ultimate price. Along with the destroying of a few birds, some egos were also bruised.

 

As I recall, Bette and I were never to win, because we were WOMEN. Imagine that, but those late night meeting were the envy of those that could not manage to get away from their spouse and join in. There were always a few good jokes shared, and sides were sore from laughing well into the wee hours. Mike & I always said we should record them, so we could re-laugh again. I have a photo of Bette & I laughing over the sharp-tail ASOB that year.

 

Joe, Thanks for posting that editorial. I have all of the old TR's but hadn't remembered reading that. I'm glad that my fuzzy recollections of the events are somewhere close to what actually happened.
I had not remembered that Vic was the final winner of the event. I do remember his bird though. It was called Oops! A bobwhite that had tripped over a branch and fallen on it's face. He captured the animation wonderfully. I also remember that Randy Pikes's entry was called "avalanche". He didn't think his bird would make the grade so he put it in a glass case and filled the case with artificial snow up to the throat of the bird so all they could judge was the head. As I remember it didn't survive the ordeal. I think Frank Newmeyer and Sallie Dames also had entries that year.
That ASOB was held at the World Show when it was in Georgia.

 

A fine group of people there!

 

AH, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen & Ken.

 

I sure miss Jack we had so much fun mounting grouse back then

 

This is a good post Joe. I hope it is read by many.
Best, Scott

 

I,m sorry that I'm jumping in on this thread so late but I'd like to add a few things to the conversation. After talking to Don Frank and looking at the trophy I discovered that my gut feeling after reading the post saying that I was the last winner of the ASOB was incorrect. I was not the last winner. I won the trophy in 1989. At the world show that year the bird was a quail and it was falling off an old Box Turtle shell. Randy Pike did in fact as Don said earlier competed with a bird. It was in a nice class case filled up with snow to where only its eyes and top of the head could be seen. Well, the piece titled AVALANCHE!! did not have good showing that night!! I will say this, when we took the glass cube off the bird and all the snow covered the table Randy's bird could have placed in any state show and
maybe even won a few. The last ASOB held was in fact won by Missouri taxidermist Jim Whinnery with a Ring necked Phesant. That show was held in Missouri in 1990, It was Jim's second ASOB win.
As a side note, the famous Sally Dames competed with a quail the year I won. Her bird survived and did not suffer the same fate as Randy's "AVALANCHE" but was turned over to me, as a prize for the great victory!!!!! ...........until I found out the bird she competed with was one she had mounted for her father. I gave her the bird the next day........HEY!!!!WE ARE ASOBS NOT JERKS!!!!! At least not all of us.
I have some insights on the other three ASOBS I was in but that will have to wait until I get my income taxes finished.

Vic Heincker, ASOB

 

This whole thread has me intrigued but I can't help but wish to be able to view pictures of these winning birds. If they are/were the best of the best and should be held in that regard. It would serve as motivation for someone such as myself that doubts that my birds would even make it past the first round. I understand that many of not all were destroyed but surely there must be pictures of them before they met their demise.

 

Three bears, we are trying to find pictures but the ASOBS were held in the 'pre cell phone era" so every one was not taking photos and videos at every thing they attended. I myself have hundreds of photos of beautiful pieces I saw at shows back to 1983. I think it would be fun for us who's been around awhile if everyone who has photos to convert the paper photo into digital and post them on taxi-net. It will certainly give the younger taxidermists a better idea
of the history of our industry and see some of the excellent work that was created with a lot less resources than we have now. I will try to post some when I can. I will call out Fish Master by saying I know he has a video of the 1991 ASOB I hope he remembers he has it, but he did conk his head when he fell off the stage...and he did cut his finger....trying to pull my perfect piece off the habitat!!! Those were good times......Right Don?

Vic .....ASOB