The Competitors' Awards
Rules and Regulations
As a participant in the prestigious World Taxidermy Championships® competition, taxidermists who enter four or more mounts in the Master or Professional Divisions, will be eligible for six big cash awards, called "The Competitors' Awards". These awards will total $14,000.00 in prize money and will be divided as noted below.

Master Division:
$4,000.00 first place, $2,000.00 second place, $1,000.00 third place, $500.00 fourth place, $500.00 fifth place
Professional Division:
$3,000.00 first place, $1,500.00 second place, $1,000.00 third place, $250.00 fourth place, $250.00 fifth place

The Competitors' Award in each division will be awarded to the five competitors with the highest point total for four entries. Once these five highest scoring competitors (in each division) are determined, each competitor's four top entries will be grouped together. The five groups will be labeled A, B, C, D and E and all of the division judges will vote by secret ballot as to their selections of the groups most deserving of the Competitors' Awards. Their criteria will be accuracy, originality and difficulty. The purpose for this final evaluation by secret ballot is to allow for minor fluctuations between the judges in each category for determining scores that brought the entries there to begin with. The results will be known only by the competition committee to be announced at the WTC Awards Banquet. In case there is a tie, the money will be divided equally.

Taxidermists who wish to compete for this Competitors' Award can do so by entering four or more mounts in either the Master or Professional divisions. The entries can be in any category (birds, fish, mammals, gameheads, etc.) and if an individual has more than four entries, his or her highest four scores will be used. Unlike a "Best All Around" competition, the competing entries are not limited to being in four different categories, but may include multiple entries in the same category. Example: four birds from one competitor could accumulate enough points to be included in the five finalists.

Important: A competitor can only compete in one division for The Competitors' Awards -- Master or Professional. If a competitor has more than four entries in both the Master and Professional Divisions (refer to General Rules & Regulations, Rule 8), he or she must specify in which division he or she would like to compete for the money. In other words, you cannot compete to win awards in both divisions. Failure to specify will cause a forfeit of winning any of the Competitors' Awards. Any competitor entering four or more mounts who wishes not to compete for the prize money will be allowed to do so by signing an affidavit when entering his or her mounts.

Interpretations of all rulings or regulations (and any rules not provided for) will be decided by the World Taxidermy Championships® Regulatory Committee. If you have a specific question regarding the competition, contact Regulatory Committee Chairman, Skip Skidmore at Brigham Young University, 290 M.L. Bean Museum, Provo, UT 84602. Telephone: 801-378-5052.