I have a cape that I went to put on the form this morning but it's way to long, the brisket isn't any where near the bottom of the form. What do I do! It has a long cut and I was thinking of sewing it up, getting a car tire tube, putting it in there and blowing it up as much as it will go. Will that shorten the hide by taking it out on the sides? I'm reading in the archives and there is really no for sure answer yet. I'd like to get this deer done today so please help!
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It isn't the cape being too long or the form being too short. (unless you are using a neck mount form) It's that you dont have it taxi'd into the right spot. If the form is the right size then put the center of the brisket where it needs to be and pin it. Then pull the cape up around the shoulders and make sure that it is going to meet.Put a couple of pins there to hold it in place. Do the same all the way up the neck. Now that it is all in place, start taxiing the skin around til it fits. I had one last week where the brisket was about 5 or 6 inches behind the form. It all fit. Take your time and have fun.
you can push the hide toward the neck
some call it stacking the hide
you can do this to a point but not so much as it starts to wrinkle the skin
there is a limit to the taxi stacking you can do
you will notice a cool thing when you start to push the skin up
the neck will look a lot bigger than when you started
so you will get that benifit as well
i like my capes cut with extra skin so i cann pull on the rear without having to worry about the hair coming off and so once i get it on i push it back up "stack it" to make it look bigger
on some deer it looks great
on some the look is not as good
i think youll have to decide
if you measured it correctly it should work
the skin is very forgiving and flexible in deer
paule
The form and the hide are the same size but from what I read in the archives it happens when the hides are being tanned that they stretch length wise so to counter act it you have to stretch it sideways. The skin dosn't come close to meeting on the neck so I guess I'll just have to stretch it side ways to straighten it out. If that dosn't work I'll try the "stacking" thing, sounds kind of neat. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the input!
I did everything I could and I finally got the hide mounted. It was the most miserable hide I have ever worked with but I got it on, had to do the stacking, the inner tube, alot of ripping and pulling but it's on and it looks ok. Thanks for the help!
i bet you noticed it made the neck look considerably bigger
thats cool when it works out
paul e