A 10-year-old girl won the North Carolina Sportsman’s Amateur Best-In-Show Award at the N.C. Taxidermy Association’s annual meeting in Burlington.
MacKenzie Matthews of Indian Trail, granddaughter of taxidermist Tommy Hall, won for her mount and painting of an Eastern box turtle. She also earned the Joe Morgan Reptile Award.
A 5th-grade student at Fairview Elementary School and daughter of Brandi Hall and Brian Matthews, it was her first time entering the competition.
“I asked her if she wanted to compete and showed her a few things when she said she did,” said her grandfather. “I was really impressed — and I think the judges were too — with her air-brush painting of the box turtle.”
Hall, who captured the NCTA’s 2009 Fur, Fin and Feathers award, had caught a box turtle and showed the reptile to her.
“She remembered the colors and did a really good job of painting,” he said.
Kevin Hastings’ mount of a bluewing teal captured the North Carolina Sportsman Professional Division Best-In-Show award.
Keith Bowman’s mount of a whitetail deer won Masters Best-Of-Show honors and the Breakthrough Award.
Neal Pate’s goldeneye duck took the Wasco Award, while Jeremy Morgan captured three awards — the N.C. Trappers Award, Van Dyke Original Award, People’s Choice Award — for his life-size bobcat.
Bryan Stillwell’s turkey earned the Ed Andrews Award, an honor named for the late N.C. Wild Turkey Federation official and state organizer.
Matt McLain captured the Jeff Hatcher Award, while Mitchell Boysinger’s largemouth bass claimed the Polotranspar Award, and Chris Barnhardt wont he McKenzie Distinguised Service Award.
“Our seminars featured Harvey Whitehead (bird specialist) and Shawn Whitehead of Kentucky (turkey and duck specialist), while Fred Vandenburg of New York gave tips about deer taxidermy,” said NCTA official Randy Dunkley of Hurdle Mills.
The competition featured two days of seminars and 95 entries from the state’s top taxidermists that were judged by the seminar speakers and NCTA members.
“We added 15 new members, which was a plus,” Dunkley said, “and we had 125 attend our awards banquet and dinner.”
Aspiring taxidermists may join NCTA by visiting its web site at www.nctaxidermist.net.
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