Bryan Eppley - Whitetails

Most of you have likely heard of Bryan Eppley, 13 time world champion sculptor, as well as a former owner of Buckeye Mannikins. Now with his son Rudy Eppley, Bryan is operating Ohio Taxidermy Supply and continues to sculpt some of the industry's most accurate whitetail mannikins. His knowledge of whitetail anatomy is immense, and we are very fortunate to have him join us this year.

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.

Todd Kranau - Gameheads/Mammals

Todd Kranau has been a taxidermist since 1991, and in that time he has become one of the true talents in the industry. Todd is known for his outstanding gamehead work, as well as his creative lifesize scenes. Having won 10 Best of Show awards, 5 Wasco awards, North American Gamehead Champion and World Champion Gamehead in 2001 Todd has established himself as a real threat to win anytime he chooses to compete. In addition to being a strong competitor, Todd is an extremely experienced judge. In 2002 Todd began his judging career, and since has judged many shows including IL, OK (2), WY (3), CO, NM, CA, NY, KS (2), the Western Regionals, and the 2005 National Show. We are excited to add MO to that list this year.

Randy Pike - Amateur

Randy is one of our founding members of the MTA, and has been a judge for several MTA shows. Randy has been a taxidermist for 35 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 fifth and final judge, in an impressive lineup of judges.

Bryan Eppley - Whitetail

World renowned whitetail sculptor and taxidermist Bryan Eppley not only is judging our whitetails this year, he is also passing on his knowledge by giving a seminar on mounting a whitetail. Bryan will cover some of the skin alignment issues and problems we run into when doing deer, and what to look for when taxiing the skin and adjusting hair patterns.

Deer. Length 2 hrs.

Carmen Helmer - Hands-On Bird Mounting

Participants will bring a prepped bird and supplies, and Carmen will go through the steps of mounting that bird together with them. Due to limited time, we are forced to limit this seminar to 6 people. Those unable to participate are encouraged to attend and observe. Length 4 hrs.

Todd Kranau - Competition Techniques and Business Basics

In addition to judging this year's mammals and gameheads, Todd will be going over some competition techniques for the serious competitor. There are things that must be done to take competition pieces to the next level, and Todd will go over a few of those in detail. Even though some of the discussion may be geared toward advanced taxidermists, everyone can benefit from the knowledge Todd will share on the business side of the industry. Todd had this to share about his seminar: "My objective is to make this trade more recognized as a form of art. ...Associations are a great tool to promote the artistry found in taxidermy and through my seminar I hope people will come and learn." Length 2 hrs.

Kail Shumaker - Hands on Painting Duck Bills and Feet

Kail is the owner of BackWoods Taxidermy, a wholesale bird taxidermy service with waterfowl as the specialty. He is acknowledged as one of the finest bird specialists in the country. His techniques are tested and proven to be fast, efficient, highly accurate and dynamically artistic. In keeping with this year's Hands-On theme, Kail will be instructing and leading a hands on painting seminar. This ties in perfectly with Carmen's mounting seminar, because participants can bring their injected feet and artificial heads and finish them at the show prior to mounting them with Carmen. Length 2 hrs.

Dan Helmer - Hands On Finishing and Eye Setting

Dan is an extremely talented fish taxidermist and judge. I would encourage anyone that does fish to bring a dried fish ready for finish work along with some eyes and sculpting epoxy, and do it at the show with Dan. You will likely learn more by doing it yourself once, than watching someone else do it a dozen times. Length 2 hrs.

H.A. Nixon - Stories, Jokes, and Other Things H.A. Knows

H.A. is one of our founding fathers. If you know H.A. there is really no explanation needed, but for those of you that don't know him I strongly encourage you to attend this session. H.A. has done it all, from hunting, trapping, taxidermy and everything in between. His stories are always a pleasure and that is what this seminar is all about. H.A. plans on just hanging out and visiting with anyone and everyone that chooses to attend. Guaranteed to be a fantastic time. Length - However long H.A. is willing to talk!

Devin Amelunke - Mounting an open mouth small mammal

Devin is one of the most talented taxidermists in our association. He has won Best All Around at MTA shows more than any other competitor, and it's not even close. Devin has won countless other awards over the years as well, including the coveted Breakthrough award. Not only is he a great taxidermist, he is also a taxidermy judge, and excellent taxidermy instructor. Devin puts on one heck of a seminar, so I would suggest not missing out on an opportunity to learn from one of the best. Length 2 hrs.