The deer around here don't fit most forms I've used very well,however they seem to fit northern deer like a glove.Does anyone make a good form for southeast deer?
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Your statement just doesn't hold water with me. I've been mounting deer for over 40 years and I know that a skin from a deer in Timbuktu will fit a form from Puckum. You aren't measuring your deer properly. NOW, having said that, some southern tier deer do have more delicate faces, but only because they are, by and large SMALLER deer than the nothern tier deer. Several suppliers (Joe Coombs, Danny Foster, Ben Mears) do sculpt and market smaller deer forms with smaller faces. That's the Alabama 10 pointer that only weighs 110 pounds field dressed. But if you kill a 200 pound deer in Alabama, it will fit virtually any forms that have matching measurements.
Luther I reside in the great state of Tn and as you have stated the forms for these deer are sometimes hard to get the correct fit, but fortunately I have found a place that is very close by that sells deer forms the fit great. Noonkesters Taxidermy Supply , you will find them listed under the suppliers, they are located in VA but their forms work great on TN deer
so that my statement will hold water.#1 I know how to measure a d@mn deer I did'nt start doing this yesterday.#2 Yes a deer from Timbuktu will FIT a form from Puckum,BUT it wont fit it CORRECTLY.I just finished a shoulder mount,and it fit nicely from eye to nose,and the neck fit just right,however I had some loose skin under the eye kinda like the face of the form was not quite right for these deer.I have mounted deer from IL.IA.SD.and they all fit the forms perfectly in every way.Blah Blah in short TN deer are not JUST smaller.Their faces are different .
A deer is capable of eating a damned apple or an ear of corn in a single bite. Where the hell do you suppose that extra skin goes after it swallows? A buck with a 19 inch neck will end up with a 22 inch in less than a month. Where the hell did all that skin come from? When I hear that BS that I need a deer killed in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, because one killed in Atlantic City won't fit, I still say it's BS. If your tan is off, if your pickle is too strong, if you don't stretch your hide, and a dozen other scenarios they won't fit the form "like a glove". They weren't meant to. The form is only a tool and it's up to YOU to alter it to fit properly IF NECESSARY. The story of a deer not fitting the form is as old as taxidermy is. It was BS when it started, it's BS when it's repeated. "Snap-On" taxidermy has spoiled this industry. Ask Gary Pegg or Samantha in Australia what THEY do or Kiwi in New Zealand where you still have to make your own forms. See what they do when one of their hunters comes over here and shoots a whitetail to take home to them.
I have no problem making any forms work with these deer.Good enough for one man may not be good enough for the next.I strive to produce the most anatomicly correct mount possible for the deer in my area.I simply thought someone may specialize in southeast deer forms.It was a legitimate question.If I had wanted your OPINION,I'd have posted this under INDUSTRY instead of DEER.Now git on back over in yer yard and lay down by yer bowl boy.P.S. thanks to my unknown neighbor in TN for the info!
But IF YOU NOTICE, I DID GIVE YOU suppliers who make delicate faced deer more tuned to southern whitetail species. I simply forgot about supply Mike Noonkester Supply also making a southern tier species. And you DID ask for an OPINION. You wanted to know who made those deer and in MY OPINION, I gave you the manufacturers. Unfortunately, many beginners also read the other categories and I'd hate to see them start down a path of BS believing that they have to find a Tennessee form to fit a Tennessee deer.
BTW, do you know why the University of Tennessee has orange for their school colors? They can use it at the football game on Saturday, when they go deer hunting on Sunday, and for the rest of the week when they work for the highway department. (The original joke was about Clemson but I thought I'd change the name so I could share the wealth.)
Did you hear about the guy who's gonna build the worlds biggest zoo?
I worked with a guy who was an Alabama fan so I'm full of these.
watch it with those Alabama jokes.
Kings forms out of MS has great forms that work with southern deer. I live in north AL and they work great for the deer I mount. There # is 1-800-488-3337 or 622-286-5133 . Randall
I live in middle Tennessee and mount plenty of deer killed in these parts. I also mount many killed in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and even a New Yawker. Deer in Tennessee have for the most part more delicate features than say an Illinois deer that have faces like a black angus steer. That being said I find that I can find a good fit for most bucks from McKenzie, Rinehart's, Noonkester or several others that I have used. A little work her and a little work there and they look good. It seems to me that a mature buck in TN with a 17" neck will look just like it did alive on a 17" form and the same will apply to a monster 24" Illinois buck on the same brand / model maniken with a 24" neck. It is mostly relevant to size.