I'm still trying to find time to start my first duck mount. I'm curious if there is a problem skinning out the head and getting skin from around the bill over the skull? A book I read said to remove the lower mandible to reduce the size of the head. I would think that if the real skull is too big to get the skin off, the artificial would be too big to get the skin on. Any info on how you folks work this would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Kirk
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When artificial heads first came out, the same genius who wrote about removing the lower mandible must have been involved when he told us to take a pair of pliers and CRUSH the skull. Well, it you do either, just exactly how are you supposed to get the artificial head WITH the mandible and WITH the skull back inside the skin? So just go slowly. A ducks mouth can open immensely and when you clip the skin close, especially that fold at the crack of the lipline, it will easily slip over the head. I usually slip the bottom skin over the lower mandible first and then work my way up, but ALL the edge has to be incised and pushed rearward before you try to remove the head.