I'm preparing to do my first boar head mount and have a couple of quick questions:
1) Do you flesh & pickle & tan the cape the same way you do deer capes? (I have a couple of videos, but they use capes already prepared/tanned...)
2) Are there any "gotchas" or "tricks" that I need to know about before I start that could help/aid me along?
Any suggestions and/or comments appreciated. Thanks.
Darrell, I just put up 7 of the critters, but I had mine tanned at a tannery. I did flesh and removed the shields myself. Cant answer your tanning question because I send every thing out for tanning. But as far as the mounting proccess, I thin the eyes, lips and nose, bondo the ears, clay the ear butts, set the eyes and paste the form, then slide the cape on. I taxi the skin in place, tuck the eyes, then the lips and nose,then staple the skin to the back board and set the ears. I assume it will be an open mouth. I prep, paint the inside of the mouth and throat, and install my jaw sets before I start the mounting process. There are two ways I have done the lips; 1. Thin, trim and roll them over the form. I use ZAP to hold them in place and use a few pins to help. 2. Cut a groove in the form and tuck the lip, just passed the hair line. With both methods I use apoxie clay to blend the lips into the jaw set after the head dries. You may need to trim any areas of the lip that curls up. I color my clay first and then paint to blend. I also add a 1/8 inch layer of clay just behind the nose and use it to add some wrinkles. The best part is there is NO sewing and they go fast. I mounted four heads last Saturday in 9 hours. I did have the forms ready to go. Good luck!
Hi Darrell, The above info is great.here is a couple of tips.
when fleshing ,thin the skin to you see a texture like a golf ball.
It's really not that bad.The back shield is another story.,just make sure you have a shape knife because the shield really dulls them.As for tanning I,do same as deer ,but you should degrease... todd
try putting a 1x4 in a vise and bending the hide over it. if you start a cut to the skin at the shield you can pull the hide down one side of the bourd and cut bettween the shield and skin and the shield will point up in the air. carefully cut the shield off in one peice by bending it sharply over the 1x4. if you try to whittle it off youll be sharpening all day. good luck
I flesh over 300 boar a year..I use a machete for all but the nose and ears and eyes! Check out www.geocities.com/hogflesher for a few tips!