I just mounted a deer head that was the toughest thing I've ever seen. I thought there was something wrong with my knife when I rough fleshed the shoulder and neck part of the cape. It dulled my Chicago Cutlery knifes like I've never seen before. When I went to open the ears, my ear openers would not even budge the things apart. I had to knife both ears open. I cooked up the flesh off the hide for my puppy and he treated the meat like chew toys instead of food. He'd walk around with a chunk of meat in his mouth like it was chewing tobaco. Of course the cape had a giant bullet hole through the front and back of the neck. When I went to sew them up, I had to shove the needle through the hide with plires. It was the same thing when I sewed up the mount on the form. The buck was also an odd sized thing with a 24" neck and a nose to eye of just 7-1/4". I had to shorten the nose of the form. In total the mounting proces took me three hours longer than normal. What a beast. Can you imagine how that buck would eat?
Return to Deer Taxidermy Category Menu
w/ a cape that i fleshed over the weekend. This deer came from Iowa. I dulled 3 blades doing the eyes, lips and nose and couldn't keep fleshing knife sharp.
I started with some cow hides I know why no tanneries want to do them.
I had problems like that myself. The guy shot and gutted his deer and hung it in a coler for several days after I caped it outthe skin already had a tough leathery feel to it. He hung it from the back legs so the blood went the head. I think that is what created the problem.
!