The deer forums have been kinda quiet lately.
I've just finished a couple more mounts for some friends. There are a few sections of stubborn hairs on these mounts. I've tried everything to get them to lay down but I just can't seem to make any way last long. I sprayed the area with hairspray and combed it in and then carded it down for a couple of weeks. When I pulled up the cards, the hairs stayed in place but within a couple of days they were back to curling and sticking up again. Is there any good way to defeat this now that the mount is dry? I need to learn how to prevent this in the first place. I can't allow myself to give these mounts back until the problem is fixed. It would be unacceptable for me to give something back that I feel is less than the best I could have done.
Thanks!
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A couple of things come to mind as I read your post. 1) are you getting a form that fits your deer properly? 2) are you doing any sort of grooming before the deer is completely dry,dictating the directional flow of the hair patterns? I work the hair patterns from the time I mount. I've had to use watered down hair gel before but usually need no more than a little show sheen. Perhaps someone has a different perspective. Good Luck! Jeff F.
go to a farm, livestock, equine store and ask if they have grooming products for show cattle. They have good products to help groom the hair that put a little shine to the hair but not the "just got out of the shower- wet-hair gel look". To me hair spray is too sticky and the least amount of foam dust, dirt dust, or saw dust slings to the hair and looks bad. But like jeff said, prevention is the best product to use on it.
Thanks for the responses. Jeff, in response to your two questions, these two I just mounted fit nicely to the forms. Regarding the grooming as I mount the deer and shortly after while it is still wet: I did everything I could with it as it during these stages because I knew that would be the best chance to do so but I couldn't geet them to lay flat then either.
After Safetee Acid pickling and tanning with EZ-Tan, I oil the skins with Pro-Plus. However, I do not wash or tumble them. Of the five deer mounted so far this year, only one turned out with perfect looking coat. Could this be contributing to my problem? Sounds like it would be.
are the problem areas and are you doing any sort of shaving? And what about nuetralizing?(acid swell) And BTW Griz, the show sheen I mentioned is available at most farm supply stores and is exceptional for final grooming. Jeff F.
I have had luck in the past using a little spray adhesive. Lightly spray area, allow to set about 1 minute, then stroke with the hair pattern. After hair lays down take a little thinner with a rag and lightly cut the tack off of it. Spray gloss will also work.
This is a last resort technique only, good luck.
Jeff, the sections are in front of the shoulders and slightly on the shoulders. I did not shave this skin. However, I do neutralize with baking soda in water before tanning. It does not seem to be an issue of the actual skin bunching or poorly lying down that would redirect the hairs in an unnatural direction, but rather the hairs themselves are fanned out and curling.
I'd call that a good starting point. If a cape isn't shaved then the tanning process is less likely to properly tan the cape. This leads you wide open to shrinkage issues.(causing hair disfiguration) Rittel tanning products are exceptional so that's a good starting point. You might try sending a cape out to a good tannery and seeing if you experiance the same troubles. Just some thoughts. Good Luck! Jeff F.
your curling hairs are most likely coming from areas where the hair is just on the verge of slipping. its caused by lack of proper care for the cape, either before or during tanning. go over some of the areas and give a little tug on the curled hairs. i would bed that at least some of them will come out with very little effort.
they could have seen improper field care. also, if you arent shaving your capes, you may not have pickled long enough for the solution to penetrate completely through the skin. or.....it may be too thick for your tanning oil to completely penetrate. also causing the breakdown of the epedermis....thus causing your curled hairs.
Last post-- " surprised no one said this already"
I've had this happen twice and couldn't figure it out completely at the time it happened. The first one it happened on top of the head on one of my first mounts. I didn't have a flesher at the time, spent way too much time trying to hand shave, did not know enough at the time to keep wetting the skin and hair sides with bactericide, so the scalp was left pretty thick, and slippage was starting in this area, even though it wasn't major slippage. As the mount dried this area began to curl and partially stand up in funny ways. I hit it with hair gel and let 'er fly . It helped slightly but did not solve the problem. This is my own deer so it did not go to any customer. Several taxidermists have told me of similar problems in the same area.
It also happened on a competition mount with a green cape that I purchased and which was beginning to slip when I thawed it.( STOP ROT was not yet available) I had gained a lot of experience from this forum by this time so I treated it gently, heavily salted it twice and let it dry hard, rehydrated it completely and also shaved it uniformly after pickling. As the mount was drying most areas had tightened up pretty good except for some localized areas on the shoulders at sides and top. When completely dry the hair in these areas sort of stood up more than the surrounding areas. It is an early Oct. cape so the hair is fairly short , therefore the problem is not too noticeable. I could not fix it no matter what I tried. I took it to several shows and it did very well and two of the judges asked me what happend in those areas. I could not explain it at the time. I believe I was docked about a half of point for "grooming" in both instances.
At a recent show in the east,(I did not enter the deer in question)I spoke to a tannery expert about the problem and he explained about the partial or "beginning to slip theory. The curl occurs because the hairs are loose and can twist slightly, giving the impression of "curl".It made a lot of sense to me because he described the exact problems I had experienced.
Regarding the first deer, I had it in the pickle for two days, but I didn't shave the scalp any thinner when I took it out. So I now feel the pickle probably did net penetrate adequately, nor did the tanning materials, so some of the hair apparently got a little loose. In the case of the second deer mentioned , I pickled it for three days,shaved it uniformly and put it back in the pickle for another day, then thinned it more and put it back in the pickle for another day before neutralizing and tanning. In this case I believe the problem started right from the beginning with the partially slipping green cape. In hindsight from what I know now, I would not use an "iffy" cape for a competition mount but would look for a good one with no slippage starting and do the best I can on fleshing, salting, pickling, neutralizing and tanning with the best materials I can find, based on the info I've gained on this forum and through My own trials and experiments with many different materials on test hides.
I sure have learned a lot by posting this question. I now know there will be changes in my process for this coming season. Looking back, I know what to do different next time.
Regarding the slipping, I was going to say something about that because I remember reading a post a while back about poorly aligning hairs possibly being a result of bacteria.
Everything makes a lot more sense now. I hope others will read all of the contributed info from Jeff, Ed, Griz and others.
Thanks again!