ABOUT THE ARTIST

In the late seventies, immersed in a fast growing father-son taxidermy, David discovered his passion for wildlife art. By the age 20 he was well on his way to establishing himself as a master bird taxidermist. He then decided to try his hand at sculpture. He showed promise early and gained the support of his father and mentors. His early sculptures caught the eye of Loyd Woodberry, the renowned sculptor and taxidermist. Loyd also mentored David and would later say that “there was not a finer bird sculptor than David Hibler”. With some guidance from Loyd David took to sculpting like a duck to water. He began showcasing his talents with his break out piece “Mr. Bob” a lone bobwhite rooster in a look out position. He went on to make larger pieces, like “Nervous Nature” a whitetail buck, “Death From Above” a life-size owl catching a cottontail rabbit, “Spring Fever” three 1/3 life-size tom turkeys, and the piece that truly separated himself from the competition “Frightened Covey” a harris hawk ambushing three bob white quail. After “Frightened Covey” David, becoming increasingly busy with his family and the fast growing taxidermy, went on about a twenty five year hiatus from the bronze art. During that time he continued to refine his sculpting skills working on smaller cold cast projects and teaching his children the ways of taxidermy and sculpture.