If you are using a form that calls for 32mm eyes is that what you use or do you go smaller?
I have noticed that the deer I kill have more of a boney protrusion below the eye than the deer I mount. I don't know if that is a good description or not does anyone know what I mean?
Thanks, John
Return to Beginners Category Menu
Are you referring to the bottom eye orbit? They vary, and one thing to be careful of...you referred to deer youve killed. Dead deer have eyes that sink into the socket as soon as they hit the ground. Theres no longer any muscle squeezing that eye in place or puckering the eye surface out. Just giving you something to think about. I use mostly 32's, if that helps you some...
to add to something to think about......
The bony protrusion you are referring to is called the zygomatic bone. Pronounced zygomatics would be the human equivalent of high cheek bones.
You will find the same characterisitc occuring in the domestic equine, even of the same genetic family, where some individuals will have greater or lesser protrusion. This also affects the downward cant of the eye. The lesser the protrusion, the greater the cant. You will find variations in forms because the sculptor most likely went with what he was familiar with.
Any one with horses can tell you that some horses will never look up if a person is in a hay mow over head, while others will look up at the slightest noise or motion. If the downward cants of the eyes are compared, I think you will find that the horses with the lesser zygomatic bones are less likely to look up, if at all. This also affects the way the upper eye lid covers the eye.
Just theory on my part, but I suspicion that this is one of the forms of "selective breeding" taking place in aeas that are hunted heavily from tree stands. You can about guess as to which is going to be the most likely to be taken out of the genetic pool.
Glen that hunters can select out genes for a trait like a zygomatic bone? I once read an article on deer genetics that made the point that because the evolutionary line is so long for deer and there genetics so diverse, it would be difficult at best to significantly alter the genetics through hunting pressure/selectivity. Since we see artificial selection as it is used to produce domesticated animals, (who have tighter gene pools and less diversity), we tend to think the same is for natural populations. Bill is the deer farmer, any thoughts here?