Field to Wall
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sambo3006
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Outstanding buck for an OTC tag!
RobertD
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OntarioHunter
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We just finished this wall mounted pedestal of a buck I shot back in 2018. Not a monster but we needed something to practice before tackling two client projects waiting in the wings. Looks like I had my finger on the lens. Oops. This is my only fur mount in fifty-six years of hunting. I'm a cap or euro guy.
glass eye
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Just a fork
RobertD
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My God @glass eye that is an incredible, weird-in-an-awesome-way buck. "Just a fork" indeed
Wildabeest
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That’s a brute!
Kiwi
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OntarioHunter
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Very nice buck! A real beaut. Something amiss with that mount though. It's apparently not your cape? Your buck had a nose scar between the eyes and the cape that was mounted has white raccoon eyes that your buck did not have. Not sure what happened with the skull cap. Looks like taxidermist spliced in some too long body hair around the horns. But again, that is an extraordinary buck. The span is unbelievable.
Kiwi
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Thanks, I think lol
I didn’t notice any of those differences! I haven’t seen the deer in the flesh (it’s still stuck in WY) but I agree from the photo there appear to be differences.
Hilljackoutlaw
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What happened!?
glass eye
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Looks like a different cape. The original has a very dark cap with hair flush to the antler burrs, while the mount has a lighter colored cap with blonde highlights and long hairs extending above the antler burrs.
OntarioHunter
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Did the hanger pull out? I don't see one on the back of the mount. The commercially made ones are crap. I make my own.
OntarioHunter
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The colour differences could partly be due to different lighting. But something is definitely not right about the hair around the antlers. Unfortunately amateur cape skinners often botch it there. I'm thinking the taxi had to do some patching because the cape he ordered was screwed up. And look at the fur in the armpits. What's up with that? Hard to tell from the photo but it looks like taxidermist added unnatural wrinkles for dramatic effect. We see a lot of that. Kinda the artist's signature. Or could just be cowlicks. My buck had a lot of those.
glass eye
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Some deer have long hair above the antler burrs and some are flush with the burrs because when they scraped their antlers they did it all the way down and the long hair get chopped off against the burrs when they rubbed. Some don't rub all the way down and they remain long.
It's a different cape.
Ps. The "armpit" hair on the outside of the shoulder shouldn't be there. It needed to be taxied inside the pits. Dark hair outside, light hair inside. A deep slot needed to be cut into the form to fit all that skin inside.
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Hilljackoutlaw
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Thats a bummer. Made me go look at my couple mounts to make sure they are secure.
@Gatekeeper you took this thread to the next level.....field, wall, FLOOR!
I hope it will end up looking like it never happened.
I hope it will end up looking like it never happened.
OntarioHunter
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Thanks for the info on reasons for cap hair differences. I never noticed it being that long but we are new in the business. I finished up the back end of my mount (daughter left the project hanging ... literally) and had some trouble with the armpit fit. I got it right eventually (I think?) but it was a challenge. Making the slot deeper would have done the trick. Thanks for that. Why didn't I think of it? Instead there is now a slight wrinkle of hide deep in the armpit, but not noticable unless you know it's there. See anything amiss with my mount? I'm considering hair gel to try taiming some of its cowlicks. Conditioner didn't help. Deer's left antler is a bit high but that happens in nature sometimes so not a big deal. Lesson learned. We were lucky to have a great cape to work with. Very late in the season so he was well furred and no slippage. I shot him just behind the shoulder. Daughter actually patched exit hole but I wound up pulling it behind the back of mount anyway. Glacier Tannery in Kalispell skinned and tanned it (I tipped him for showing me how to skin it properly). They are GREAT folks to deal with.
OntarioHunter
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Gatekeeper, if you had that rack measured, take a copy of the paperwork in when you have the mount repaired. That will help them immensely to get the spread correct.
glass eye
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Ontario Hunter, the only thing that jumps out at me is the bulge at the base of the neck. Perhaps it's a camera illusion but it appears like the hide is bunched up there. Also evident by the shortened white throat patch.
Hair gel works good on unruly hair and sometimes carded down too.
Also I wouldn't try to get rid of natural cowlicks, they were there when it was alive, like it or not. Trying to iron out natural cowlicks only makes them look worse. Whitetails are notorious for them and sometimes in strange places. Just go with it. Groom with it, not against it.
Good luck and enjoy the work.
Hair gel works good on unruly hair and sometimes carded down too.
Also I wouldn't try to get rid of natural cowlicks, they were there when it was alive, like it or not. Trying to iron out natural cowlicks only makes them look worse. Whitetails are notorious for them and sometimes in strange places. Just go with it. Groom with it, not against it.
Good luck and enjoy the work.
