Larry Schumaker - Whitetails

Larry has been a taxidermist for 37 years. His area of special interest is Whitetails. He has won over 100 ribbons & awards at the state, national & world levels over the years. His most recent win was Best of Category and Best of Show 2007 in the Missouri state competition (Pat Wagner as judge). He has judged in the past, and his critiques of whitetails are clear and precise. He is always willing to share his knowledge with others. He is wonderful at explaining techniques, etc. We are happy to have Larry back as this year's judge.

Carmen Helmer - Birds       Dan Helmer - Fish

In 1985 Dan and Carmen began their career in taxidermy and since then have created award winning masterpieces in waterfowl, gamehead, and fish categories. Today they are ranked among the top taxidermists from around the world and compete at the state, national, and world level taxidermy shows, winning countless blue ribbons in the Master category.  They have been awarded numerous Best of Show awards and a total of twelve Wasco awards; Dan with four and Carmen with eight.

Mitch Webb - Gameheads/Mammals

Mitch started in taxidermy in 1999 and opened a full time studio in Green Forest Arkansas in 2001. He began competing that same year.
Lifesize mammals and whitetails are his favorite to work with. He has been active in the Arkansas Taxidermist Association, and once held the position of vice president. Mitch is currently the president of the ATA. Between lifesize and whitetail Mitch has won 19 best of categories. He is the two time Southern Regional Champion with both lifesize and a whitetail. He has three peoples' choice awards and one Breakthrough Award. He has judged numerous state shows around the south including Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana and Kansas. Mitch is a nice addition to our judging lineup, and we welcome him to Missouri.

Randy Pike - Amateur

Randy is one of our founding members of the MTA, and has been a judge for several MTA shows. While normally Randy handles the Amateur judging, this year he will be doing the fish judging as well. Randy has been a taxidermist for 34 years, and is an expert in all areas of taxidermy. In 1988 Randy won a Best in World with a yellow perch. He has also earned a Second in World short hair whitetail. Randy has done a lot for the taxidermy community, and for the MTA. He is well known for his talent as a judge and teacher, and has the natural ability to help taxidermists understand when critiquing a piece. Randy is our fourth and final judge, in an impressive lineup of judges.

Larry Schumaker - Whitetail Anatomy

Larry is a fantastic whitetail taxidermist, and long time member of the MTA. Larry will be going over whitetail anatomy with a focus on earbutts and eyes. Earbutts are probably the most common area of mistakes when it comes to whitetail taxidermy, and hopefully Larry will help shed some light on the subject and take everyone to the next level of deer taxidermy. Length 2 hrs.

Carmen Helmer - Mounting a standing duck

Known for her artistic flare and beautiful waterfowl, Carmen will put together a standing duck in her seminar. Sometimes the most simple things get overlooked, and Carmen will demonstrate how to tie up any loose ends with her no nonsense approach to bird taxidermy. Length 2 hrs.

Mitch Webb - Mounting a Bobcat

In addition to judging this year's mammals and gameheads, Mitch will be mounting a bobcat during his seminar. Mitch is very talented when it comes to mammals, and learning his methods of mounting arguably the most difficult small mammal would be beneficial. This seminar is a definite "don't miss" for any taxidermist that does mammal work. Length 2 hrs.

Cole Cruickshank - Casting a Fish from a Bondo mold

Cole will pick up where he left off in this hands-on seminar that will be an extension of the workshop in January. Everyone that molded a fish in January is invited to bring that mold to the show and cast their fish. Molds will have to be prepped before hand, so contact Cole and find out exactly what needs to be done. If you don't have a mold, or didn't attend the January workshop feel free to sit in and watch how fish casting is done. Length 2 hrs.

Dan "Psycho" Hudzik - Mounting a Snapping Turtle

Dan is one of our "adopted" members from Illinois. Dan is an accomplished reptile taxidermist whose achievements include 2 State Championships in MO, 1 state championship in Ohio, and a Blue Ribbon at the 2009 World Taxidermy Championships. Dan will be demonstrating how to mount a turtle using the fill method. Length 4 hrs.

Jimmy Lawrence - Painting a Smallmouth Bass

Jimmy Lawrence of Baker Florida (big bass country) will be joining us to demonstrate his proven methods of painting a Smallmouth Bass. If you do any fish work at all, the methods Jimmy uses would be beneficial to know and can be used on any type of fish, including warm and coldwater species. Length 2 hrs.

Dan Helmer - Skin Mounting a Crappie

Dan is an extremely talented fish taxidermist, and is known for his outstanding crappie mounts. Crappies are notoriously difficult fish to mount, and Dan will explain how he tackles this challenging fish. From the novice fish taxidermist to the expert, this seminar has important information for everyone. Length 2 hrs.