mounted my first deer head & pleased with it. my second is a short haired muzzel loader buck 1 1/2 yrs. i ordered the edge mannikin (love the detail) hoping to get the stretch but can't. the face, ears line up nicely but the neck all the way down is short. should i forget this one or should i rasp it. seems like a lot of rasping. i 1" short at the axis, down to 3" short by the back. i thought maybe someone could give me a suggestion on this. thanks.
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All you have to do is carve the manikin untill the skin fits on there nicely
Not to be an ass, but sounds to me your form is just too big. Order a form that fits your deer, or even a hair smaller, and this will stop the problem.
my first buck was the same way, I rasped and cut till it fit, it sure looks ugly now. In hind sight, I should have gotten a smaller form.
going to a small form may not be the right thing to do. An early season buck will not have a full neck like a mid november buck. Both deer may have the same head measurements, but 3-6 inches down the neck there will be a big difference. Don't be afraid to rasp the form down to meet what you need. One key thing is that you only rasp the back of the neck and the sides, do not rasp the front (to hard to reshape). It is easy and don't be afraid to try it. Alot of guys will tell you, just order a smaller form, that is not always the answer. Example- FORM 7 3/4 eye to nose by 22x 24 1/2 neck, but your cape is only 7 3/4 x19 1/2x 21 1/2. Now the form is the smallest neck size with the eye to nose that you need, Should you go to a smaller form with and eye to nose that is 7 1/2x22x24 1/2 and stretch the nose? The answer is NO! The head size alone on the smaller form will throw you off. Rasp that form down to fit your skin.