Posted: 9/5/06
Local taxidermist wins
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
There are a lot of beautiful deer mounts in the Willard taxidermy studio at 3898 Cork Hollow Drive in rural Brownsville.
But there is only one national champion, and it shows. Itís hard to describe, but the deer looks more alive than other mounts.
The shoulder-mounted deer rests on top of a branch on a table. A rock, some pine cones, and a sprig of red cedar lay beside it.
Its head is turned to the right, but its eyes are turning slightly to the left, and its left ear is cocked that way too.
Maybe it just heard a squirrel, Jim Willard said when he showed me the deer on August 31.
The rack is interesting too, and seems to draw the eye in. Itís not one of those magnificent ones, perfect in every way. The lower tine on the right side is dropped down.
The judges at the National Taxidermy Associationís annual convention in Billing, Montana, July 19-22 liked what they saw too: They named the mount the winner of the 2006 whitetail closed mouth division.
The award means a lot to Jim Willard, who mounted the deer. Willard has won state awards four different times, including a best of show in 1998.
ìThe words national champion sure means a heck of a lot more than state champion,î he said while salting down a bear skin at his shop. He not sure if a Minnesotan has ever won a national whitetail award in the contest, which has been going on for 35 years.
ìAnd now I canít even keep the deer,î he added with a laugh. Thatís because it belongs to Don Robley, who shot it last November about 200 yards behind the building Jim and I were in.
There are plenty of big deer on the Willard and Robley properties. They are in their fifth year of doing quality deer management. ëWeíre starting to see some beautiful deer,î Willard said. One way they do that is by shooting every doe they legally can. The goal is to get a ratio of one doe for every buck.
Willard explained some of the fine points of the winning deer that I missed in my assessment. Judges will check for a seam on the back. Theyíll look for accuracy inside the nostrils. Willard shined a flashlight up one, and pointed out little red blood vessels in the septum. The flow of the orbital skin in the eye, the angle of the eyelashes have to be just right.
Coloration of the nostrils has to be correct. The nosepad too ñ it was rebuilt using a syringe and glue so that it looks full and plump. The chin hairs are transplanted in, and the whiskers borrowed from a squirrel. ìIíve got a drawer full,î Willard said.
Willard has judged five state contests, so he knows things like this. He also gives a lot of credit to a game head course that he took from Joe Meader of Solon, Iowa, in 1999.
ìWhat about the antlers?î I asked.
ìAntlers do nothing at these competitions,î Willard said. ìYou can win best of show with a doe.î
Willardís winning deer will be pictured in the next issue of Breakthrough magazine. He is proud of that, and he pipedreams about being on the cover. He plans at competing at the world show in April of 2007 in Reno, Nevada.
But heíll do that with a different animal. ìHeís on top, you let him go out on top,î Willard said of his national champion.
Willard Taxidermy moved to its present site in December, 2003. The Willards had a shop called Wild Images a mile west for 2-1/2 years prior to that.
Jim Willard started the business in 1987 in Monticello, Minnesota. He and his family moved to rural Brownsville in 2001.
Willardís daughter, Katie, 20, is also an award-winning taxidermis, and was featured in The Argus in May of 2005.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com