Many times I've seen and heard taxidermists telling folks "Don't worry about the eye to nose measurement". If you are beginning this trade, don't pay any attention to that. It can be very dangerous.
Now, before these old pro's get their shorts in a wad, let's get this straight. If you have a deer with a 7 3/4 inch nose and a 21 inch neck, let's suppose (rightly in most cases) that no supplier carries that form. However, they DO carry a 7 x 21. The skin on the nose is quite supple and you can "scrunch" and taxi the hide so that your deer will fit that particular form perfectly.
BUT THEN, your rich uncle goes to Alberta or Manitoba and kills one of those Irish elk from their praires. He drags the cape of this 250 pound field dressed monster into your shop. It has a 26 inch neck on it. If you DON'T think about that nose measurement you are in tons of trouble. Most likely that deer will have a 6 3/4 to 7 1/4 inch eye to nose. The form you're going to get is going to have an 8 1/4 to 8 1/2 eye to nose measurement. You are in for some very serious modifications on the form. A change out head won't work here, because these deer have wide foreheads and a change out will look like a mutated mess.
Do yourself a favor. Even though 99 out of 100 deer you get will not cause you this problem, all it takes is one to ruin your day. Take ALL the measurements. (You can't take too many measurements. You can always discard the ones you don't need, you can't ever be sure of those you never took.) Then when you get ready to order a form, you can easily decide if you need to go up or down, or modify a form before you ever start stretching skin.
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Am I guilty, or do I just feel that way?
Of course, George is right, the more measurements you take, the better
off you'll be(especially beginners).
On shoulder mounts, the eye/nose is important. (I skip it on whitetails from my area, because I know enough about them to mount with only a neck measurement)
however, I realize that this forum is visited by many people who are
not as experienced, and I shouldn't set a bad example.
So, Make sure you get ALL the measurements before you order a form.
(Did I make amends,George?) lol
bye
Dave
I have said this right along, even if just out loud and not in print enough. The eye to nose LENGTH in itself isnt super critical, but...its the only means that we have to judge the frame size of that deer. Head widths, depth, etc. When I need a heavy headed deer, I can go up one eye to nose measurement and that neck size, then cut the muzzle down slightly, and PRESTO! a shorter deeper head. Some say they dont use the eye to nose, even some well known guys. Im not one of them. Im measuring...
Measure EVERYTHING is my advice. For you beginning fellows/gals, draw up some forms (paper) showing the side, top and back of a deer head (neck included). Photocopy off about 100 of each drawing, and when you get a head in pull them out and make notes about every measurement (use calipers, draw dots, use rulers, draw lines, etc.) you can get (paying particular attention to neck dia., eye to nose, etc.) Throw these diagrams in the customer's file and then when you get your form (I prefer to order smaller than my measurement rather than larger - i.e: 7 1/4" for 7 3/8" rather than 7 1/2") make that form as close as you can (just a wee bit smaller - adding hide patches doesn't come off very well for me) to every measurement you took. Not only will this be very accurate for that particular deer, you will learn a great deal about what you can and can't do with a given form (do not be afraid to invest in learning in the beginning, and do not throw away your 'screwed up' forms - in the future with your accumulated experience you will be able to put parts of them to use - change outs, etc.)
As you progress, you will come to know more about your particular region, as does Dave Taylor (see above), and you will learn which measurements are really important for YOU. Personally, since my clientel come from all over (not one region in particular) I order a form with the head measurements (any suppliers can specify in their catalog, and any I have on file from measurements I have taken of forms of suppliers in the past - yes, I do measure new forms when I receive them in new sizes or from new suppliers) as close as I can come - remember the deer's head pretty much stays the same throughout the year, its his neck which swells and such (rut, early fall, etc.) and since I am an avid student of musculature, I find building up the neck works better for me.
Besides having every measurement available when you build the mount, the measuring process really makes you study THAT particular deer, elk, etc. (they are not all the same and subsequently don't all fit into precise categories - like people and pants, you buy the size that best fits, but for a custom tailoring you hire a professional) . . . and that is where you learn a great deal; you are the professional.
Good luck, all.