Clint Rickey- WhitetailsM

Clint has been doing taxidermy for 17 years.  In 2003, he started Rickey Ridge Taxidermy in Dodgeville Wisconsin. His area of interest is shoulder mounts. He has had “a lot” of competition success including 2017 2nd in the World Whitetail Deer, and 2019 Best in World Whitetail, and 3rd in World GH. He has been judging taxidermy for the past 4 years. We are very excited that Clint is coming to judge our whitetails this year.

Dave Ferguson - Gameheads/Mammals

Dave is the owner of Dave Ferguson Taxidermy Supply and has been doing taxidermy for 26 years. His areas of interest are molding, casting, sculpting and new product development. Dave is an expert in those areas as well as western big game life-size product development and ear molding.  In December 2019, Dave traveled abroad to share his taxidermy knowledge. Dave is very knowledgeable in all areas of taxidermy, and we are pleased he could join us and judge our mammals and game heads.

Tim Gorenchen - Fish/Reptiles 

Tim has been doing taxidermy for 14 years and when it comes to fish, Tim knows his stuff. He’s a major player in competitions, winning 3 Breakthroughs, 4 WASCO Awards, National Champion, North American Champion, 2017 & 2019 Best in World Coldwater Fish, 2019 NTA Champion and 8 state champion titles. Get those fish mounted up, you don’t want to miss an opportunity to learn from one of the best.

Lance Johnson - Birds 

Lance joins us from Hunter North Dakota and has also been doing taxidermy for 14 years. Lance is an expert in finish work and enjoys creating movement, attitude, composition and flow in his taxidermy work. He is a WASCO award recipient, 2 times a National Champion Bird winner and has won 9 state championship awards. Lance is a great judge and we welcome him to Missouri this year.

Whitetails Through the Judges Eyes with Clint Rickeyany of you

Seeing a whitetail through a judges eyes. Looking at a score sheet and interpreting reference. Clint will pull a Whitetail mount out of the showroom, (With the consent of the competitor) and use it for a tool to show what he is looking for on a mount. There will be no JUDGING of the mount only pointing out the places he's concentrating on. How to take criticism from a judge to make you a better taxidermist. Length - 2hrs.

Hands-On Sculpting with Dave Ferguson

Hands on sculpting utilizing a black bear change out head that has one side finished and a replica of a skull on the other so you get to sculpt that side to match the other. Then after sculpting you will set the eyes and ears. Cost is $50 per participant, includes head, clay, ears and eyes. Limited to ten people, need to contact Bruce Scheeter at 573-334-1548. Anyone not partiucipating is invited to watch. Length - 2hrs.

Fish Through the Judge's Eyes with Tim Gorenchen

Using the score sheet to see what the judge is looking for. Going line by line on what needs to be in the mount by using reference as a study guide to improve these areas. Length - 2hrs.

Waterfowl Balance with Lance Johnson

Using reference on setting up the feet and Mannikin for balance and attitude of the mount. Finishing and painting duck heads and feet and turkey feet. Working with the real skull and setting eyes in it. Length - 2hrs.

Habitats Using Habitat Rock with Marcus Detring

Using Habitat Rock to go from visualizing the project to completion. Marcus will build, foam, seam and paint a rock to look like a "soft" rock. Dale Manning will supply 15 small rocks for participants to paint, and also a rock panel to build a rock with. This will be a hands on seminar. All supplies will be provided. Please contact Bruce Scheeter at 573-334-1548 if you'd like to participate.