whats the deal

[brdhnt]

i use the y incision and when i am sewing up the back on a wt the ears are always to far back and i am having to much hide.  Does this mean the form is to small?

[Nina]

Did you try to "taxi" the hide around the ear butts? Usually they can get stretched out more than necessary during tanning/thinning and it may appear that you have too much skin but if the form measurement is right for the cape, it all has a place to go. You just need to move it around. 

[sixxfan26]

i use the y incision and when i am sewing up the back on a wt the ears are always to far back and i am having to much hide.  Does this mean the form is to small?

I'm glad you asked that question.. I am just beginning taxidermy and both times I have tried to mount a WT, the ears look like they are going to fall back behind the head. What's up with that?? I don't see how the form could be too small if the eye to nose tip measurement matches up well. (btw -- I haven't actually finished mounting one up so I can't say for sure how it would end up after all)

[Dennis Bragg]

Be sure to set the antlers right, not to low. Also use reference and build up the muscles enough on the skull, especially in the back or you will have slack in that area.

[John C]

Antlers vary on how they set on a head.

Now when fleshing a cape out and tanned properly you should have lots of extra hide in that area. this is part of the taxi in taxidermy.

I never use nails or other gizmos around the seam. I just use glue, this slack you have will allow you to more the forhead skin, the seam , put the eat butts where they need to be, you are fine, a cape should not have to pulled and pryed on to mount over the mannikin.

[fishslayer13]

Sounds like it could be a fit issue as John C is suggesting. Only thing I can add is when sewing up your cape dont pull the thread back toward you.
Pull them straight up .   You may be pulling the skin to far back when pulling your thread tight and hence your ears are in the wrong location.

[George Roof]

First rules for beginners:  Take good measurments, order the forms to match, make the hide fit the form not the form fitting the hide.

Many beginners tell this same story and the reason is that they continually pull the hide BACK on the manikin instead of making the anatomical markers of the cape fit the anatomical indicators of the manikin.   A deer's ears swivel in all directions.  Look at a GOOD reference picture and note the wrinkles in front of the ears.  The tanned or treated hide is static.  It will give you the maximum appearance though the form likely isn't.

Look at it this way.  If you check my avatar you see that I have a double (OK, triple) chin.  As long as I stand in that posture, it looks like a double chin.  Yet when I look down trying to see my belt buckle, I have a loaf of bread dough spread out under my chin.  Then when I look up at the ceiling, I look like Joan Rivers where even the dewlaps disappear.  Now where did all that skin go during those transitions?  NO PLACE.  The skin contracted and expanded to some degree.  Your mount can too.  Just MAKE THE SKIN FIT THE FORM.  That's what a good hide paste is for.

[Ed Chambers]

Look at it this way.  If you check my avatar you see that I have a double (OK, triple) chin.  As long as I stand in that posture, it looks like a double chin.  Yet when I look down trying to see my belt buckle, I have a loaf of bread dough spread out under my chin.  Then when I look up at the ceiling, I look like Joan Rivers where even the dewlaps disappear.  Now were did all that skin go during those transitions?  NO PLACE.  The skin contracted and expanded to some degree.  Your mount can too.  Just MAKE THE SKIN FIT THE FORM.  That's what a good hide paste is for.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Sounds like a new way for doing cosmetic surgery.  No Knife, no scalpel, no stitches and of course no doctors.  Just visit your local taxidermist and they will inject hide paste or epoxy into the problem area, pin and card you,do a little sculpting and check on you for a few days to ensure no drumming has taken place.   Ed.

[Yeager1]

Go to the front of the deer and grab an ear but with each hand and pull them gently up towards the antler burrs. I try to leave a gap the width of a ball point pin or so between the ear butts and the antlers. I also insert a wire down into the ear butt down into the form to hold the ears in position while they dry.

[fishslayer13]

I look like Joan Rivers where even the dewlaps disappear. 

Thats funny right there !!

[Scrubby]

Along with John and Geo it is a matter of taxi the hide and proper ear muscles one big problem with beginners is not enough study and reference. Not a ding on anyone but trying to help you figure out your problem. If there is too much hide and your ears want to come back towards you then the ear muscles are inproperly built. Now if you put too much clay in there it will be tight and the ears will want to move back towards the rear also, out of being too tight . I try to set my ears before closing the Y incision that way you can look at check from the front to make sure your ears are proper.

[Monkey Man]

First rules for beginners:  Take good measurments, order the forms to match, make the hide fit the form not the form fitting the hide.

Many beginners tell this same story and the reason is that they continually pull the hide BACK on the manikin instead of making the anatomical markers of the cape fit the anatomical indicators of the manikin.   A deer's ears swivel in all directions.  Look at a GOOD reference picture and note the wrinkles in front of the ears.  The tanned or treated hide is static.  It will give you the maximum appearance though the form likely isn't.

Look at it this way.  If you check my avatar you see that I have a double (OK, triple) chin.  As long as I stand in that posture, it looks like a double chin.  Yet when I look down trying to see my belt buckle, I have a loaf of bread dough spread out under my chin.  Then when I look up at the ceiling, I look like Joan Rivers where even the dewlaps disappear.  Now where did all that skin go during those transitions?  NO PLACE.  The skin contracted and expanded to some degree.  Your mount can too.  Just MAKE THE SKIN FIT THE FORM.  That's what a good hide paste is for.

lol, well put George.

[hobo]

George, very well stated using an example that is easily understood. Thank you for the clarification

Mike

[sixxfan26]

I can't speak for the person who started this post, but...

You guys are all talking about the ear position, etc. AFTER the ear butts have been made, attached to the form....I think you are missing our point. I personally am referring to the TEST FIT stage where the ears seem to fall too far back on the mannikin, even when the muzzle portion of the cape fits well. Is this normal? I'm assuming everything, including the ears will fall into place once you actually start mounting the cape.

[George Roof]

Sixfan, a "test fit" is always for the face itself and for the girth of the neck.  The ears will always flop down the back because of the reasons I listed.  You simply cannot position the ears properly in a test fit.  Your nape area is open, so you've already shot the atlas measurement all to hell with that situation.  This ain't rocket science.   If the face fits and if the neck fits, then your job is to MAKE the ears fit.  Deer are anatomically the same and I've yet to see one with ears coming out of their spines.  As Bobbi Meyer and Glen Conley discussed ad nauseum in an earlier post, the ear is actually connected directly to the brain by the aid of an auditory nerve at the end of the auditory canal.  The length of that canal is only an inch long.  If your ears aren't directly over the brain cavity, then you've simply screwed the pooch.  This is one case where you CAN'T allow the skin to dictate what you do. It HAS to be the anatomy when it comes to ears.