I have mounted nearly a dozen wt.deer so far & have tryied different eyes & have noticed the 32mm base eyes have different iris sizes.According to Research Mannikins web site mid size deer should have an iris size of 28mm & larger for larger deer & smaller for smaller deer ,which leads me to (Tohickon IQ 32mm base has an iris size of about 25mm)thats front to back of eye.That would seem to be for a small deer but the base would be for large deer or should I be using there 34mm base for a large deer?.Reasearch manikins also recomends measuring each deer for iris size.I am not attacking tohickon but useing them for comparison as they all seem to be different in one way or another.Any sugestions would be apreciated!
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Iris "size" is a negligible factor in any eye. Deer don't come in "standard" sizes but, unfortunately, that doesn't lead to the best idea in manufacturing. Eyes differ drastically by name brand and had you been around this industry 30 years ago, you'd have seen that the only "standard" was brown, hand painted with blue glint. There was no scleral tissue. The 32 is the "standard" and a 34 is for a large LARGE deer. I'm not attacking Research either, but they're just confusing the issue by implying anything as a "standard". If you like their forms and their eyes, go with them, but the same can be said about Van Dykes or the John Rinehart forms that come with eyes. It's all a matter of preference. I prefer the shape of the eyes more than I do the colorations.
I thought that I would copy & paste what I read because I think I have made it sound like Eye selection is standard.Sorry
written by Mike Frazier.
Step 1 - Selecting the "correct eye)
Most would say that coloration would be a number one concern, while eye color is important, my view is that you should pay attention to the size of the iris and try to match the size of the manufactured iris to the correct size of the deer you are mounting. My experience in measuring deer over the years is that a midsize deer has an iris size of about 28 millimeters. Larger deer have larger eyes, and smaller deer have smaller eyes. I would urge every taxidermist to measure actual specimens as they come into the shop, until you become comfortable with making the call on iris size. Don't fall into the trap of depending on someone else to dictate "proper size) (after 30+ years, I still measure each head I get my hands on!).
But if you read that, you'll see that Frasier is guilty of doing exactly what he's telling you to avoid. "Don't fall into the trap of depending on someone else to dictate "proper size) (after 30+ years, I still measure each head I get my hands on!)."
It always amazes me how some people can get so sold on themselves and their methods that they speak down on others with the same perceptions of THEIR work. If he was doing deer 30 years ago, I guarantee you he wasn't measuring ANY eye iris's. They were ALL IRIS back then.