Gunners News
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Gunners News
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We've Moved............Gunners Taxidermy Inc. has moved to Nicholasville Kentucky just south of Lexington. We are located at 121-A Dewey Drive. Take 27 south from Lexington to Catnip Hill Rd. (Rt 3375) and turn right. Dewey Drive is at the top of the hill past Alltech. Gunners is in the third building on the left and is the first business in that building. Call 859-881-1594 for additional directions.
Here's What We're Doing Next.....We will announce our next hunt or next competition that we will attend on this page. Also, any new happenings will also be posted. You never know, YOU could end up on this page!!! Hunts 2008 February Ocellated Wild Turkey Special Bow Hunt Done March 17 Oceola Wild Turkey Holopaw, Florida Done March 24 Oceola Wild Turkey Holopaw, Florida Done March 29 Ocellated Wild Turkey Campeche, Mexico Done October 11-15 Elk Meeker, Colorado 3 Openings November 1-7 Elk and Mule Deer Meeker, Colorado 0 Openings November 12-16 Elk and Mule Deer Meeker, Colorado 0 Openings Please click on one of the hunts above for the info regarding each of these hunts.
'09 Hunts Hunts are starting to book up early and because it's hard to coordinate all of this mess and keep things organized and the quality where it should be, we are now taking bookings for our hunts in the 2009 season. February Ocellated Turkey Hunt Special Bow Hunt 0 Openings March 21 Oceola Turkey Hunt Holopaw, Florida 0 Openings March 28 Oceola Turkey Hunt Holopaw, Florida 0 Openings April-May Goulds Turkey Hunt Yecora, Mexico 3 Openings April 4 Ocellated Turkey Hunt Carlos Cano Cruz 5 Openings July African Safari Several Countries 5+ Openings There will be more hunts added though out the year. We will keep you posted as to the hunt and the availability......
Africa Hunt in '09 We're planning a hunt to Africa in the summer of '09. We have several hunters and non-hunters and are looking to add some more to fill out our camp. If you are interested in going and experiencing the Dark Continent contact Gunners Taxidermy Inc.. We have several who want to do a Plains Game Safari as well as a few that want to do Dangerous Game so we will be able to accommodate any scenario that you have in mind. I will personally accompany you on this safari and will coordinate all that is needed to have a successful experience. I look forward to speaking with you.......
Africa Update..... We have narrowed down the itinerary for the Africa hunt in 2009. There will be three groups going to Africa. The first group will be going to Mozambique in search of the Black Death, aka the Cape Buffalo. The second group will then come to South Africa and hunt the Limpopo Valley in pursuit of the many plains game that reside there. The third group will then come and hunt the Free State in the south in search of the many plains game of that region. We still have a few openings and have room for husbands and wives as several of the spouses are planning to come and participate. It will be a most exciting time and definitely an experience to remember......
Results of the Hunt Here we'll show the pictures of the successful hunters and maybe some of the not so successful ones. (I hope not). Early '08 Ocellated Hunt is Killer....... Joe Smith and Curtis Shockley tried their luck with the wary Ocellated Turkey during the special season in early February. What they found out was that it's better early than later. Joe took 3 nice birds which included two really nice mature toms and Curtis was able to harvest two nice toms in two days. He spent the rest of the week trying to collect one of the Brocket Deer in the region. Joe and Curtis are still in the process of getting me their pictures and we'll post them as soon as we can get them.
'08 Oceola Hunt as Good as It Gets..... Well, it wasn't too tough this year since birds were in abundance and they seemed to be very responsive to calling and decoys. 5 hunters tagged out the first day with only Charlie "Bags" Mondelli taking the second day to tag out. He told me he was trophy hunting.........Yeah!! Anyway, the second group which consisted of 4 hunters came in 4 days later and were done in 24 hours. We left many strutters in the field which means that next year should be as good or better hunting. The only downside is that we are already booked for the '09 season. If you want to get on the waiting list you can contact us and try for the '10 season. Don't wait too long because I'm sure it will book up soon.....
'08 Ocellated Hunt the Best Ever I have been to the jungle for the last 6 years and this years hunt was the most outstanding hunt to date. The birds were singing and it seemed everywhere you went you were on birds. What was so impressive was the quality of the birds taken. Four of the 12 birds had 2 inch spurs and the five other gobblers had at least 1 1/2" spurs. Only 3 jakes were shot and one was by mistake. Also, only one bird was taken out of the tree!! The other 11 birds were whistled into range and shot on the ground!!! In addition, 3 of the birds were taken with a bow which is an awesome feat. There was other game seen such as a Puma, Jaguarundi with kitten, Collard Peccary, Coatimundi, Brocket Deer, Muscovy Ducks, Black Bellied Tree Ducks and all kinds of lizards and butterflies. The jungle is quite an experience and makes a super adventure......
Killer Merriams Hunt in Nebraska On the spur of the moment, no pun intended, Shawn Whitehead, Charlie "Bags" Mondelli and myself took out to Nebraska in search of some Merriams Wild Turkeys. We found plenty but the birds had too many hens and the hunting was hard. We managed to succeed though and took several nice gobblers. Check it out!!!!!!
'07 Elk Hunt Shoots 50% on First Season With the weather cooperating somewhat the boys hunting the first season this year were able to connect on some nice Elk with everyone having a opportunity on harvesting an animal. Some of the hunters had chances at Cows but were waiting on the horns that just didn't show up. Never the less we had a 50% kill on three nice bulls and one cow for just eight hunters. Pretty good for Elk hunting anywhere!!!!! It was snowing pretty hard when we left so the third season should be good this year! I'll post the results of that hunt in November........
2007 Elk Hunt a Tough One on 3rd Season... After the snows that took place on the first season we were expecting some good hunting on the 3rd hunt but the weather changed for the worse and the animals didn't move as well as we were anticipating. We were into elk the first two days and managed to harvest 3 nice bulls with one being really extraordinary. There several opportunities missed but that's elk hunting. The weather continued to warm up and the elk just didn't move after the warm up. The mule deer hunting was good as usual with a couple scoring above the 160's. Hopefully the weather will cooperate next year and the elk hunting will be better......
Unbelievable Polar Bear Hunt!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to Chase Fulcher on his beautiful Polar Bear taken in the Resolute Bay area of Alaska. An avid bow hunter, Chase was able to harvest one of the most prized trophies in the Northern Hemisphere and with a bow and arrow!!! The crew had taken a seal for bait and the bear was coming in to investigate when the guide turned the dogs loose and the chase was on (no pun intended). Two well placed shots and the bear was down and Chase had his trophy. Again, congratulations on a superb trophy bear Chase!
Costa Rica for Awesome Fishing ........... A few of my buddies and their wives took an adventure to the coast of Costa Rica and discovered a paradise. After flying into Liberia, we were transferred to the coast to the Grand Papagayo Resort by Occidental that was to be our home for the week. There was a lot to do outside the resort but our main concern was to fish. The ocean currents were not in our favor but we still managed to catch some trophies and bring back a couple of memories that won't soon be forgotten. If you're interested in such an adventure, contact Gunners and we can make all of the arrangements.
Check out these Cats....................... My hunting buddy Alan Johnting and I decided a couple of years ago to give Mountain Lion hunting a try. Well, you have to be careful what you wish for! Alan and I bagged two nice cats in the north west corner of Colorado with outfitter Paul Janke and Lone Tom Outfitters. The conditions were perfect with about a foot and a half of snow which gave us an opportunity to find tracks easily. The dogs were able to get to the lions quickly and both lions were shot on the ground and not out of trees and both were taken with archery tackle. It was pretty exciting to be a mere 8-10 feet from these cats while they were on the ground. Paul and I were trying to get the dogs tied up to provide a clear shot and not run the risk of hitting one of the dogs with an arrow. I will probably go back next year and get another adrenalin rush in Colorado....................
Results of the Competitions We'll list our accomplishments at our competitions that we attend here.
Shawn Whitehead is a Grand National Champ!! Shawn Whitehead recently won the Masters Best of Show at the Grand National Wild Turkey Taxidermy Championships at the NWTF National Convention. As shown below, Shawn put together a killer piece that incorporated an Osceola turkey that he shot in Holopaw Florida along with a Gator that he also took on a separate hunting trip. Shawn is the head bird taxidermist at Gunners and we all want to congratulate him on this fine accomplishment.
Gunners wins big at the National Taxidermy Association Convention!!!!!! The NTA's Taxidermist of the Year Award!!!!!! Harry and Shawn Whitehead each took a turkey to the National Taxidermy Association Convention and Competition last week and entered in the Award of Excellence Division. Both of us did very well with each entry earning a first place (blue ribbon) in the Award of Excellence. This was the first time that Shawn has entered in this division and to come away with a first place is great. ( You have to score a 95 or better to get a blue ribbon in this division). I fared a bit better with a first place also but in addition I received the Frank Newmyer Award which is the highest scoring bird in the whole show (I scored a 97) and also the North American Champion Turkey Award. I was very satisfied with these accomplishments when they announced my name for the recipient of the Taxidermist of the Year Award which is the highest award that the NTA gives at the show!!! It feels good that all of the hard work finally paid off.
Gunners Wins another Judges' Choice at the Kentucky Taxidermy Association Competition Harry Whitehead was fortunate to win another Best of Show at the 25th annual Kentucky Taxidermy Associations Convention and Competition on August the 26th at the Lake Cumberland State Resort Park in Jamestown Kentucky. There were several nice pieces at the show in the Masters Division and it was an honor to have been chosen for this award. In addition, Harry also won the WASCO Award. I'd also like to congratulate Gerry Wethington on his Breakthrough Award for his awesome Fox Squirrel mount. Gerry and I have been friends many years and have been neck in neck for major awards at this show seems like every year. Keep up the good work Gerry!!!!!
I'd also like to recognize our judges for this show. They are pictured below. If you can't make out who these guys are I'll give you a hint. The back row is from left to right, Shane Smith, Matt Thompson and Fred Vanderburgh. The front row are our special guests that we can't identify at the present. Ha Ha!!!!!!
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