Exclusive Excerpt from Best of Competition

"What you're reading right now, the premier edition of Competition, celebrates the exciting arena of competitive bird carving with informative feature stories and highlights of last year's contests in breathtaking color photographs."

So wrote editor Cathy Hart in her introduction to Competition 1988. This first edition was actually rather modest in its coverage, including only four competitions and one exhibition. Two of the competitions, the Ward World Championship and the Louisiana Wildfowl Festival, are still in business 30 years later. Another show, the California Open, closed its doors after its 2017 show, and the North American Wildfowl Carving Championship in Livonia, Michigan, ended years ago. The one exhibition featured in the issue, the Masters' Show in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, is another one for the history books.

The debut edition of Competition also featured a photo essay on the late, great John Scheeler, as well as articles about competition in general, and results listings.

Check out the opening spread below for a sneak peek at what Best of Competition has in store (to be released in July 2018).