I keep having trouble with the ears on deer , the hide fits the form good untill i am mounting it when the ears end up being too tight , and to far back, where i can't pull them foreward, so i can't move them at all . But everthing else fits good . thanks for any help i get Your friend in taxidermy Tom H.
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I have started just getting rid of the ear butts on the form all together and just using the ones on the ear liners. if I need to I will add a little clay and make up the rest of the butt that was taken off the form. Joe
Tom H, Here's what it is. When you put the skin on the form--get the face fit right, position the briskit next, now work all the neck skin and shoulder skin forward on the form until you have free movement of the ears in all positions. This is where the cape skin needs to be. Many folks start sewing before getting the skin in proper place and then can only get the ears to lay back with ear butts on the back of the head. Ear butts do not belong on the back of the head. Look closely at reference photos of a deer, see that there is some muscle on the back/base of the skull-you have to rebuild all of the meat you removed from the skull plate and that's a fair amount in the rear skull area. Once you rebuild it becomes obvious that you need more skin to come up to cover that and when you bring it up from the rear you free up those ears at the same time.All of us have deer in our past with ears too far back. Once you start to see the difference you won't ever have this problem again. Enjoy, Aaron H.
Thanks guys i'll try that next time i'm sure it will work, just makes sence. Thanks again guys