I have a tricky situation. I am going to practice on my first deer. Being that I decided to do taxidermy 6 months ago, I have no deer to practice on till now. I told every person I know that (including game and fish) that I would like any road kill that they come across to practice on. My first subject I collected was hit by a car. Little damage was done to the deer, infact I dont even know how it died. The deer is a spike in velvet and has a very pronounced hump on its nose. I was informed by my dad, who works for gme and fish, that the hump is caused by a fly larva that gets in the deers nose at an early age and causes the bones to grow irregular. Needless to say I want to mount the deer b/cause not many people have seen this before. My questions are what will be the best way to rebuild the nose area and the deer had a small case of road rash on one cheek that is about the size of a nickel. Is there a way to cover the rash up or do I leave it there. It did not burn through the hide it only took some hair off.
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But unless this was an abnormal BULGE rather than the classic Roman nose, it's a common trait for piebald deer. When I get one in, I simply rough up the bridge of the nose and pour foam on it. Then I carve it down to give it the appropriate effect. If you'd rather have something more substantial, you could flatten the nose completely and glue a block of mannikin foam in place and do the same thing.
Just mount it on a properly sized form. It'll fit, and the bulge will work out. Better that than skipping a few grades in taxidermy 101..
It may still have the blow fly larva inside and these are not a pretty site. The larva dont do damage to the skull but burrow under the skin and in the throat. They are big maggots.