I have mounted two Whitetail Deer shoulder mounts and on both of them the mannikin necks were to big. I have a video that I go by and the neck measurements are taken with the hide still on. Does this have anything to do with the problem I am having or is it something else. Do I need to take the measurements off the skinned animal or subtracted anything from my measurements with the hide still on.
thanks for any help,Doug
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Are the measurements the same before and after tanning? If not blame tanning.
Just learn to adapt the way you measure to the way you order forms. If you are always ordering forms an inch too big around that is an easy one to figure out. I measure with the hide still on. It could be as simple as you aren't pulling the tape tight enough.
Doug, If you measure over the hair you need to pull the tape pretty snug. I prefer to take a meat measurment myself. Now, often the tight fit is not due to mis-measuring but rather failing to thin the cape skin down well enough to get good stretch. You did not say how you prepare the cape. If you are sending to a tanner know this--lots of them don't thin the capes very well at all and getting good stretch requires you to finish thinning the cape. If you are tanning it yourself and things are too tight ,same thing- thin the neck skin and that may be all that's needed. If you are using DP you definitly will need to do lots of shaving of the skin.
One thing about neck sizes is that the bigger the neck the more forgiving of measuring errors a cape is. Small deer with say, 16" necks just can't be much bigger than 16" but a big 23" neck can go another inch easy- it's a percentage thing. Point is when you are doing small deer know that you aren't going to be able to make them into big deer so stick to actual measurement or even a bit less. Enjoy, Aaron H.
I rehydrate the cape, stretch it, then lay it out nice and flat on the floor and measure it. They you know whatever form you buy will indeed fit.
measure the neck with hide on, then again with the hide off. There will be a big difference, at least an inch. The thickness of the skin makes a big difference in the neck circumference.