I've done many whitetail antler mounts, and am getting ready to do my first elk mount. I've noticed that the pedicals are extremely long in comparison to a whitetail skull plate. How do I go about getting coverage in that area with either leather splits or felt? I have 3/8" rope that I normally use for whitetail, but it looks like I'd have to wrap it around 3-4 times.
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I've found this to be the very best and most supple material to try on elk. After you finish the skull mannikin, paint the front of the mannikin and the front of the antlers all the way up to the burr. Lay and oversized piece of buckskin down and start arranging it around the anter. Paint glue around the rest of the way and overlap the back sides, cut a straight line down the backside of the pedicel and then finish the upholstery. Then I use the braid under the burrs and run it down the cut line on to the underneath side of the mannikin.
You could use flocking to cover your skull,then use the rope.
It works well and looks good too.
instead of braid I use a seperate piece of buckskin around the pedicals. I fold the buckskin down under the burrs to make that part thicker, depending on the elk I sometimes do it on the bottom also. Everything else is the same as whitetail.