Mark Gonnering - WhitetailsMany of you

Many of you are likely already familiar with the name, but this will be the first time Mark Gonnering has judged the whitetails at the MO show. Mark is no stranger to success in the world of whitetail taxidermy. Some of Mark’s success in the competition room include a Breakthrough award,  National Champion, North American Champion, and won 2nd in World with an open mouth whitetail. Mark has judged many states, including Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. 

Cory Caruthers - Birds

Cory Caruthers is known as one of the best bird taxidermists in North America. Cory comes to us out of Iowa, where he owns and operates his own taxidermy studio Wildlife Illusions. In addition to operating his taxidermy studio, Cory also has his own line of bird heads and bodies available through Matuska Supply Company. Cory is extremely accomplished on the competition circuit with several major awards to his name, including five 1st place ribbons at the World Taxidermy Championships as well as being a two time North American Waterfowl Champion. We are excited to welcome Cory to judge our show this year.

Brian Olson - Gameheads/Mammals

Brian has been a taxidermist for 32 years. Brian enjoys working on mammals, gameheads, whitetails, and base work/habitats in his shop in WI. He is considered an expert among his peers at all mammals and gameheads, as well as birds. He has won countless ribbons & awards at the state, national & world levels over the years. In 1999 Brian won a Best in World title at the World Taxidermy Championships held in Springfield IL. Brian is still an active competitor, more recently winning National Champion in 2014. Add to that 3 more best of shows and 5 WASCO awards, Brian has proven to be a worthy competitor. He has judged several shows in the past (IA, IL, WI, and CAN), and his critiques are clear and precise. We are excited to welcome Brian to MO and look forward to having him in our lineup of judges.

Tom Matuska - Fish

In 1973, Tom Matuska began his taxidermy business in the basement of his home. Because of his love of nature and strive for perfection, the lifelong dream of becoming a taxidermist soon became a reality. Business flourished and it wasn't long before the Matuska Taxidermy Studio grew into one of the most respected studios in the Midwest. In 1984 Tom started his school, Northwest Iowa School of Taxidermy. Like the commercial studio, the school soon became recognized across the nation as one of the finest training facilities available and to date has trained hundreds of men and women from the United States, Canada, Mexico as well as several foreign countries in the "Art of Taxidermy". Teaching taxidermists for 30 years makes Tom a perfect candidate to be one of our judges, and winning Best of Category at the World Taxidermy Championships in 2011, and also winning national champion in the collective artists division at the 2011 NTA show makes him more than qualified to judge our fish and reptile categories. Those that don't already know Tom will find him to be extremely engaging, quite knowledgeable, and an excellent teacher.

Garland Lessley - Amateur

Garland has been a long time member of the MTA. After competing for years, Garland has now thrown his hat into the judging ring, and what better place to get his feet wet than right here in his home state of Missouri. This will be the second year we have had Garland judging our amateur division.

Mark Gonnering - Whitetails

World renowned whitetail sculptor and taxidermist Mark Gonnering not only is judging our whitetails this year, he is also passing on his knowledge by giving a seminar on setting eyes and building earbutts. Because this will be an extremely in depth hands on seminar, we will also have a couple of other whitetail experts offering assistance. Length 2 hrs.

Length 2 hrs.

Cory Caruthers - Birds

Recognized as one of the best waterfowl taxidermists in the nation and a very good teacher as well. Cory will demonstrate the methods used in his studio to mount a flying duck.  Length 2 hrs

Length 2 hrs.

Brian Olson - Mammals

Brian is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to mammal taxidermy. In this seminar Brian will be going over some of the finer details of bobcat manikin prep, that are often overlooked by taxidermists, including molding and casting your own feet.   Length 2 hrs. 

Length 2 hrs.

Sam Gaylord - Home Tanning

Sam Gaylord is one of our nonresident members from Iowa. While he may not live here in the state of MO, he is still a dedicated member of our association and we are fortunate to have him share some of his tanning knowledge with us. Sam operates a very successful tannery, along with a taxidermy shop and archery shop. Sam will show us why the world of home tanning doesn’t have to be so confusing and intimidating.  

Length 2 hrs.

Tom Matuska - Fish

National Champion fish taxidermist Tom Matuska will be giving an extremely informative seminar on fish replicas. Tom will go over his method of molding and casting custom fish replicas.   

Length 2 hrs.

Garland Lessley - Casting Reproduction Mule Deer Antlers

Length 2 hrs.

Sherri Graham - Finger Knitting

Geared towards the women at the show, but open to anyone that would like to attend. Sherri will teach her methods of creating really cool pieces from yarn without the use of knitting needles. If you would like to participate please bring a skein of yarn.  Length 2 hrs.

Length 2 hrs.