This past weekend I rehydrated a salted deer and now is in the pickling process. Yesterday when I went to flesh it on the machine I noticed the front part of the chin is missing. I would guess it is missing at least 1 1/2 inches of skin. I know it was there when I skinned it off of the carcus. It really stumps me because I am not sure when this piece broke/tore off. Well anyway, I was wondering if this cape is salvagable by using a chin off of another cape. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Karen
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Someone is bound to tell you that, "SURE, you can fix it.", but my take is that it isn't worth the effort. Deer capes are easier to replace than to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to fix them and then being dissappointed in the results. Trash it and get a new one.
It would be too much trouble to fix it and have it look good.I would go ahead and start over with another cape.
Starting with a new cape sounds fine to me. It is the customer who I am worried about. I am just starting to get a client base and do not need any bad gossip already. I'm assuming I tell the customer now and ask how they would like for me to proceed? Either buy a new cape or return the antlers and all of their deposit? Am I going in the right direction with this?
Thanks,
Karen
We've had this discussion once before and there are two distinct sides. One is:"Why bother." and the other is: "If you're professional, you always inform the customer." I'm not professional then I guess because every hunter know his antlers but unless the deer has some distinguishing characteristic, one whitetail looks like another as long as size is maintained. Your answer should be the same as if you had a world record Desert Bighorn Sheep instead of a whitetail. I look back at my measurment sheet and go to the freezer and find one just like it. If you'd feel better by informing your customer, it's best to get it over with quickly and give them the option of a replacement at no cost to them or return of antlers and refunds.
Now that's the unvarnished truth. Some people do as I do and lie about it, others simply keep their customers informed. As I said, this one's on you. Good luck.
You can replace the cape and not say anything till the client comes in. Then you can tell him that and it sounds like you had a mouse in the shop and bit the chin off. In return I replaced the cape with this one and there is no charge for this. Sorry but it's unfortunate but these things can and do happen.
You don't have to tell him a thing either. Most clients don't care about the cape but as long as they have their antlers and the mount looks great they won't know a thing.
Personally I will tell them what has happened and just explain what may or may not of happened. It's a tough call but provide him the truth and a quality mount.
It is hard to tell what the damage looks like, so try to fix it like you would a bullet hole or a piece of hair slip. That is by cutting a larger hole in a football shape and do some carefull sewing or pinning together. It really should not take you more than an hour but then again I dont know what it looks like. Best