when measuring a whitetail neck do u do it with the hide on or off? I shot a big 10 this year and had a pretty big neck and measured with the hide off and got 19 by 21 and i know thats not really big so do i measure it with the hide on? that would give me a couple more inches i would think. N-E was also 8"
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Tell you hide off and measure around the neck meat. I think George Roof uses a small measuring tape pulled tight around the neck, hair on. Some also measure the skin after it is tanned. Either of the three ways will get you in the right spot. It sounds like you are trying to get the neck as big as possible. But you need to be careful and get a form that fits the skin you have otherwise you are going to have problems.
If you just need the measurement to inpress the boys at the office, go ahead and loosely measure the deer with the hide on. If you are wanting the measurement to order a form for, then hide off is the way to go. Some taxidermists will try to stretch the hide out and give the customer a bigger neck. I prefer to just measure the neck with the hide off, and order the form that replaces the actual neck of the living animal.
i have had the best luck measuring the meat. if you don't have that, measure the neck after tanning per the suppliers instructions.
If some taxidermists "just need the measurement to inpress the boys at the office, go ahead and loosely measure the deer with the hide on", be so kind as to tell me why YOU wouldn't loosely measure the skinned out meat? That's a load of crap. My measurements with the skin on are just as good as yours are with the skin off and 47 years of doing it tells me my method is working. My briskets align, my ears are on the top sides of the skull and I don't have drumming. I've often wondered how people measure just the skin. Do you just let the tape lie loose or do you cinch it down a little, a good bit, or a lot? Regardless of the method you use, it won't take but one or two tries for you to make the necessary corrections in your methods.
A tight tape around the hair on will give you what you need.
I find that after fleshing and thinning I need to add one inch to my mannikin measurement or I get alot of slack skin.
I dont see how people get an accurate fit measuring the meat of a deer. You have to take in consideration of the thickness of the dermal ayers keft on the cape you will be removing and thinning down before mounting.
Hands down, the only way to get an EXACT measurement is to measure the neck meat. End of story.
got um from the little ones to the monster
its like the easy button
just take it off the head and slip it on the head
i start with the measurement over the hair
and pick the form that matches
if its a littl small i try the next biggest if its a little big i
try the next size down
i hate suprises when the day comes to mount that trophy up
takes some of the fun out of it i guess
but theres still a lot left
paul e
If you are measuring before skinning, the measurements will be pretty accurate if you pull the tape tight, but as i am not doing as many pieces as he is (i only get to do about 25 to 30 a year from friends and relatives) i have a bit more time to work with. Tanning can have adverse effects on capes and i have seen the measurements go both ways. I've sent a 20" neck cape out and after rehydrating and sweating it, i only got 18" out of it. Conversely, i have sent out an 18" and gotten as much as 1 to 2 inches more out of it. It all depends on the tannery you are using. Since i wait for them to come back before ordering, i can get an accurate measurement, order forms in bulk, and have the capes repaired and frozen by the time the order gets to me.
I used to order my forms as soon as i got the cape off the deer but i stopped doing that. Some tanneries have a heavy back log of work and i would get the capes back as late as 8 months later. Trying to be the busy beaver i would mache the racks onto the forms anticipating mounting. Of course then i wound up with 25+ forms in the shop and no room to move.
Bottom line, if i were doing this commercially, i would go with George's way. Since i'm not nearly as busy, i can get away with mine.