which would you suggest doing for your first mount. deer or squirrel?
i have practiced and can skin both. but don't know which to do first.
any suggestions are welcome.
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Stephen, I did a squirrel first (climbing). I ordered a good video for each from Bill Atkins. These videos show you how to skin, flesh, prep, mount, sew & finish your mounts. I thought they were great for first timers. These videos show the Dry Preservative Method, which I think is good for your first mounts. You can always learn to tan them after you learn the basics. Good Luck & let us know how it went.
I did a couple squirrels first and had a real tough time understanding the eyes, lips, nose, and ears, turning and tucking ect. everything was just too small. I went to some larger coon and coyote rug forms and it started making sense. By seeing things on a little lager scale and being able to actually get my fat fingers in them , it made my smaller squirrels and such a whole lot easier to understand. hope this helps. Also definately get good videos and books, knowledge is everything.
Stephen, I agree with Chris, you can order the complete kit from Van Dykes. This was my first mount as well. It's a great way to get started and they are easier to come by! Good Luck! Todd
i have videos on both and watched them over and over. my theory was squirrel first based on cost alone. i mean let's face it you mess up a squirrel your not out of alot of money. but i want to do a deer also. i have several of both. just wanted to get some opinions. all of the post above have been helpful. thanks
Squirrels are easy to put together, but doing a DECENT one is tricky... i think you'll get more satisfaction out of mounting a WT doe first. Also, as stated above, everything is smaller on a tree rat.
They are alot smaller but alot more abundant to get. Also I did a squirrel first and found it to be relatively easy and had great result. Don't do one holding a nut, have't seen one mounted that looked good. If you can do a "good" squirrel a deer seems a breeze.