I am still struggling a bit with the ears and I can't seem to find the right reference pictures.
The ears look OK in the first picture but something that I can't put my finger on is bugging me with the second picture......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/fireman104/100_2139.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/fireman104/100_2141.jpg
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your placement of the skull cap appears to be too far back. Looks like too much space from the eye to antler burrs, and the angle of the main beams appear to be laid back too far. That's causing your ear to rotate upward when you lined up the scutiform. It also looks like you need a fraction more height on the skull plate (probably just on the rear section) to get everything lined up.
An OLD rule of thumb on a mount is that if you draw a line from the center of the nostril through the center of the eye, that line should bisect the center of the ear butt. By moving your antlers too far back, you've made that placement impossible. When you get the animal in your shop, besides the usual measurements, take a measurment from the nose to the antler tips and from the nose to the antler burrs. That way, the skull plate will match and the antlers will be pitched at the proper angle.
everytime i measure a deer i measure frome the corner of the eye to the tips of the beams and to the tips of the brow tines. the more you can come up with with measurements the closer you'll be when setting
Good info! To date, I have only been measuring from the nose to the tip of the main beams. As a beginner, I got this info from a Rinehart video. He said that the nose to tip measurement was all that is needed as long as I cut the skull plate in the middle between the eyes and the burrs.
From now on, I am going to take all of the measurements listed above, plus take a digital picture of the deer for reference when installing the rack.
Thank a million for the info
just in case I get a form that is slightly shorter or longer in the face than what I originally measured. The front corner of the eye never changes in regards to everything else. I measure from the front corner of the eye to the front of the antler burr (on each side), the front corner of each eye to the main beam tip on each corresponding side and that's about all you need to get the antlers on in the correct place.
Glen, George, and Craig all have merrit.
I like to measure from,
A. E/N (corner of eye to tip of nose)
B. N/B (tip of nose to base of skull)
C. N/T (tip of nose to tip of antlers)
D. E/B (back corner of eye socket to antler burr)
E. L/L (lenth of lips, sounds stupid but you would be shocked at how far off this can be on a form)
F. J/B (bottom of jaw to top of "beak" half way between eye and nose)
G. E/E (back corner of eye to base of ear butt)
H. B/S (neck at base of skull) both over hair and after tanned.
I. N/N (neck 3" down) both over hair and after tanned.
J. E/L (lenth of ear) "from V to tip"
K. E/W (width of ear) at widest part)
I also measure the form and ear liners, then alter as needed.
My point is, if you can think of a place to measure, then measure it. It will only make your mounts more accurate. Hope this helps. Joe