I may be a moron or maybe I just haven't figured out how to measure yet, but I just tried to put a wt cape on a McKenzie 8600 form and it doesn't fit. All measurements A thru D work,(6 3/4- 17/17/19) but after that there is a 5" gap between the skin edges at the shoulders.I know I can order a smaller form, but I'm afraid I'll get it and have the same problem at the shoulders again (maybe to a lesser degree though.) I ordered the split cape off this site last week-maybe a piece of hide missing at the shoulder?I checked the archives for this specific info, with " no results found". Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks
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Your problem is common when that is done. Think of it this way. I'm a fat guy and I wear XXL T-shirts. I might fit into a large T-Shirt, but you can bet the farm that the hem of the shirt is going to be up around my navel someplace. Same thing with your hide. As the bigger necked deer are mounted, the hide will have a tendency to ride up (AS IT SHOULD). I usually cut my hides from the center of the back to a point directly behind the front legs. That gives me some T-shirt room.
Capes tend to stretch lengthwise after coming out of the immersion tan, especially if you're like me and let them drain over a bucket hangin by a pants hanger through the Y-Cut and mouth.
I end up having to stretch them width-wise prior to mounting because of that.
I've actually had a situation similar to yours where there was a 4 inch gap in the back near the shoulders when I test fit the cape prior to getting the width pulled back into the cape. After your immersion tan, lay the cape on the table fur side down and grab opposing sides and pull every inch of the way from the base of the neck to the very back of the cape.
Getting the width pulled back into the slightly damp cape means--like George said--it is important to have more cape than you need initially, as you can always trim but cannot add those extra inches. In fact, in my flyer, I encourage customers to make their cut around the deer at least 6-8 inches behind the back of the leg, and then a cut on each side underneath to the back of each front leg down to the knee and around the leg just above the knee.
Heck, I can't think straight tonight, but I hope you get the jist! LOL!
-Jeff W.
man what a wicked 'mental visual' I just had! Yikes! Ha!
Just giving you a hard time... I'm a member of the "XXL" club myself!
Where is your cape from? I've had some problems with Texas deer fitting some McKenzie forms. They are just made to fit larger northern deer and our deer don't have the shoulders to fit. Normally gets real tight at the neck junction into the shoulders. For these, I go with the Texas series from Noonkester. Good luck.
Les
I had to rasp my form down in the shoulder area on one mount that I had done. I like Buckeye forms myself. Try one on your next mount and see what you think. These are also sold by McKenzie. Hope this helps.