My Favorite Taxidermy at the 2022 Dallas Safari Club Convention

The Dallas Safari Club convention was at times overwhelming – the biggest trade show I’ve ever attended, with all sorts of exoticism pulling me in 12 directions at once. More than anything, though, it was the taxidermy that stood out to me. Since Hanna and I started investing in (some might say shamelessly hoarding) fish replicas as decorations, I’ve developed strong opinions over what makes a great replica, the proper process for ordering one, and what I want out of my future art. Nevertheless, I was ill-prepared for the breadth of what I saw at the convention center in Dallas. 

Up until now, I’ve always been content with single fish replicas, sometimes with a bit of habitat or the lure in its mouth. The all-out efforts of these vendors, however, mean that I’ll have to up my game. While I don’t intend to add a polar bear or a wildebeest to our already-crowded-and-too-small abode, simple replicas may no longer cut it. Here are some of the ones that stood out.

One of the first pieces that stood out when we walked into the show was this mountain lion standing over a fresh elk kill, prepared by Safari Studios in San Angelo, Texas.

Nothing screams “America” like a Bald Eagle and a grizzly battling it out. Brush Country Studios in Cypress, Texas built this scene.

How about this leopard going after an antelope, courtesy of TrueLife Taxidermy in Granbury, Texas? Reminds me of our 2016 trip to Africa, where everything seemed to be in the process of looking for something to eat or trying to avoid being eaten.

True-Life Taxidermy in Middletown, NY, put together this bear getting ready to pounce on salmon, which created flashbacks to my two epic trips to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park.

In this case, the second animal was implied. The porcupine got the better of his potential captor. This one came from The Wildlife Gallery in Blanchard, Michigan.

Double Nickles Taxidermy in New Braunfels, Texas, should call this scene “Utter Terror.”

I almost missed what turned out to be one of my favorites, a gator snapping down on a gar, in the booth of Florida’s Lightsey Family Ranch.

And of course no life is complete until you’ve seen a stuffed monkey in chaps on top of a saddled goat.