Beau Mead receives blue ribbon, mount awarded best of show

At the Iowa Taxidermy Association?s annual competition, which was in Marshalltown on March 31-April 1, Mt. Pleasant?s Beau Mead got exactly what he wanted ? and more.

In the past, Mead has always come back to his mount to find a second-place ribbon. This time, he walked in and saw instead what he was hoping for: blue.

Mead received the blue, first-place ribbon for his entry in the professional class of the whitetail/game head category: a mount he did from a deer shot by 10-year-old Logan White of Mt. Pleasant.

But it didn?t stop there.

Later that night, he was honored with the ?Best in Show? award as well.

?I was happy with the blue ribbon,? he said. ?Now I?ve got a great big purple ribbon, too.?

There were about 50-60 people competing, and only three of them received a first-place ribbon, Mead said.

?I?m pretty happy about it. I?ve been trying to get into the best category ever since competing ? that?s the point,? he said.

With another blue ribbon next year, Mead can move into the ?Masters? class of the competition.

Mead has been doing taxidermy since 2007, and it is a full-time career for him right now.

He worked in construction before taking an interest in taxidermy. A hunter and fisherman himself, Mead decided to attend taxidermy school in Spirit Lake.

After moving to Mt. Pleasant with his wife, Ann, he set up Beau Mead?s Like-Life Taxidermy business, which has been taking off ever since.

Now, there?s no time for construction work.

Mead doesn?t only mount deer. He will do big game mounts, fish mounts, small game mounts and game bird mounts.

?This (taxidermy) is keeping me pretty busy,? he said.

And it shows no signs of slowing down.

Next up for Mead is a move to Manchester, where his wife has taken a new job and is already living. He expects to get everything taken care of in Mt. Pleasant and join them there in about three months.

Beau will continue his taxidermy work in Manchester, but still hopes to serve the Mt. Pleasant area as well.

?It?s only an hour and half (from Manchester to Mt. Pleasant),? he said, ?So people can meet me halfway, or I can make the trip back here if I need to.?

He plans to have a freezer available in Mt. Pleasant for current customers, with the hope that area hunters will continue to hire him for his award-winning work.