I took in a nice buck with a very disproportioned body. It was a deer taken during the rut....but this buck was not in rut. He is a big Illinois buck with a whimpy body an NO neck.
The measurements were 8" x 18" x 17"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/fireman104/Dons12-04bowdeer-1.jpg
I clicked the lil' orange button to get some advice and came up with the following conclusions....
A. It would be near impossible to get an 8" E to N change out head to fit on a little 18" neck.
B. Buying an 8" form would require me to remove 5"+ inches of neck off the form.
C. Buy a form that fits the neck and modify the face.
I went with "C" and now realize there is not enough clay in my shop to make the changes needed.
I slid this cape on a spare form I have with a 7 3/4" E to N and it was still a bit sloppy. I then compared the size and detail of each form and that really brought to light how much smaller the details are on the form I purchased for this cape.
I took a quick reference measurement around the bridge of the nose on each form and the face on the form I bought is 2" smaller in circumference.
I don't know what to do!
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If I understand you correctly , all that is needed is to extend the muzzle 3/4 of an inch ? That is done by cutting right behind the lip line and adding the desired amount of foam them bondo and pin back in place . Dont forget to make reference marks with a pen before you cut to align your pieces back up when securing to the form .The same process applies for adding circumference . Make your cut right down the middle and add desired material .Get a from that fits your neck size and alter the head a little . .
If you extend a nose by that much, you're going to have a mule faced deer. Sounds as if your deer was nutritionally challenged. Buy the neck and then buy a changeout head. I usually wouldn't recommend that either as the head size usually is a WIDER headed deer. If I were doing it PERSONALLY and that 7 3/4 inch form fit the neck, I'd paint that face heavily with glue, align the anatomical markers and "pack" the hide on the face until it fit. Deer skin has enormous elasticity and can compact at the same rate.
First, the deer aren't in rut yet here in Illinois. The peak will probably be mid-November.
And secondly, was this a special hunt or something? Is it properly tagged? Bow season doesn't start until October 1st here in Illinois...
....The deer was shot last December. The hunter was not in a hurry to get it mounted and I just got the antlers from him last week.
sounds like he has a big head and a skinny neck........may need to cut the head off and alter the neck(from the inside).....cut the board off the back of the form and alter the form by removeing the foam from the inside to keep your detail.....on the other hand ......this being a northern deer with long enough hair .....u may be able to just rasp the size down from the outside sinse the details wont show any ways .....hard to say what to do wth out inspecting the deer personally.i sometimes alter the forms of elk and moose by rasping the neck down and it works fine ......some of the shorter hair deer here in the south tho....i cant.anyways GL and I hope u find the right answer to your situation.
On a second Wolfe.....E-Mail me and lets make phone contact and i can explain to u better.......
get good reference
and go for it
once you do a couple the experience you gain will do wonders for you
just dont panic
think about what you want the outcome to look like
and go for it
you might even find you like the challenge and the art skills it requires
if you dont try youll never know how hard or how easy or how fun
let us know how this turns out
good shrinking or stretching or both paul e
I took a look at your photo.
The head IS large and has that blockiness that goes along with a mature buck. From the standpoint of head, buy a form with the 8" nose to eye measurement, and don't be skeered, now's the time to jump in. You'll also get the heart girth you will need by getting that size form.
Before going further, you didn't say if your test fit was a green cape, or a tanned cape. Most generally these post rut bucks will "let back out" two to four inches. You might want to consider that factor.
You could carve the neck down, or remember C=D x 3.142. How much would you have to take out of the middle of the neck to get your diameter?
You would have to carve and sculpt back in at the shoulders.
If you got to any of my posts, youd see I always suggest the same way. Now, mind you, I didnt look at the pic of your deer. Im assuming here, that its a big deer, big body, but no swell, so a large framed deer with no muscle, am I correct?
With that in mind, this is the easiest alteration there is, and the most simple to figure out. With all due respect to all my friends who posted above to help you, Ill offer you my advice too...
As with velvet summer bucks, and any other buck with no swell, buy the size form that SHOULD have fit him first, as though he was still swelled. This way you get the correct frame size. If hes got a normal heavy wedgie looking mature head with good antlers, and he measures 8 inches, and you can see by the pictures of him, plus the length of the cape that hes supposed to be big, buy that big form. Then just rasp away, or ERASE, the swell until it gets to his size. Those forms are sculpted for November swelled deer, on a frame equal to what the real animals are. Its really that easy. The only exception Im aware of is when the customer wants it to NOT look accurate to when he killed it, and wishes for you to make it look like it was swelled according to the season, and then youd have to try to buy the nearest sized swelled form closest to his current size, and kinda match it best you can. I dont do em that way, but some folks will ask.
For those of you that didn't look at the picture.....THE NECK IS SMALL!
My biggest concern is that after making all of the alterations (rasping a ton of material off the form) the mount will look just like his deer.
Normally that is a good thing...but not in this case. This deer is an awesome 8pt and mounting it as accurate as possible would result in a product that I don't want my name on. This mount will look like one of those native women that stretch their necks out hahaha
The customer had already caped the deer before he brought it to me so it went straight from his freezer to The Wildlife Gallery. If I would have caped it.....I would have noticed the odd measurements and might not be in the situation that I am currently in.
I can remember when my last batch of capes came back from the tannery.....this cape stood out like a "tird in a punch bowl"!
It had a 13" neck (dry tan). I thought I did good stretching it to 18"....but it really needs to go to 22+.
Thanks again for all of the great advice.
FYI....the customer decided he doesn't want a skinny neck on the mount so he will "eat" the cost of the first cape (tanning) and wait for a replacement which I will provide free of charge.