Just wondering what some of you more experienced taxidermist look for when choosing a comp.whitetail cape.
Smiley
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I am not one of the more experianced competition person on here but I have been competing for around 7 years now so I will give you my input. I first look for a cape with as little damage as possible . I then look for one that is in my words preaty! It needs to catch your eye, bright whites and good contasting collors. size usally doesn't matter to me as I have lots of sets of antlers, diferent sizes to choose from. All this will not mean much in a competition if you can not put the animal back together corectly so the rebuilding of the animal needs to take precident over everything else. You must have the base layer or your form, earliners, eye muscle structure, ear muscle structure, hair paterns lined up ect. ect, correct or the best cape will get you no were.
Look for: no hair rubs around eyes, even perfectly skinned brisket, nice straight hair on ears, smooth circumference hair around antler burrs, thick eyelashes, strong white hair around eyes and nose trim, even white throat patch, no drag out damage on any hair, and no damaged areas. Starting with a great cape is vital to blue ribbon work.
Jody Green was the Judge. He asked "Whos Deer Is The One Mounted Up On Sheds?" I said "Mine" and he asked if he could bring it out and point out some things and asured me that I would get more critiqing than anyone there. Well, he went over my deer, and I just sank into my chair! I mounted a big non-typical buck, it had a bad overbite, and I mounted it on a head up form. I had pics of the odd deer before I skinned it, and did it open mouth.
First thing he said was, "this is a cool deer, but not a good one to compete with!"
Jody continued to say, "This is an old fighter, and has scares around his eyes, and ears. This buck has been breeding, and has a rubbed chest."
Jody went on to say, " compete with a young deer, that has no imperfections!"
I videoed the whole thing, as he tore my deer apart.
I learned a lot at that show, and at the Banquet dinner, I walked up to him and his wife and said, (jokingly) "Jody......You are the only man, I can honestly say, That ever broke my heart!"
Everyone at the table had a big laugh, and as they handed out the awards he thanked me for letting him pick on my deer.
Just pick out a pretty cape, with no imperfections, and try to bring that back to life.
Hope That helped.
Tony Johnson, Johnson Taxidermy Studio, East Ky
knowing Jody, I have never seen him single anyone one mount out, if what you say is true it would be a first.
First off picking the right cape is a big part, but don't let the minnor flaws keep you from using it. Mother nature is not perfect, I won best of catagory in the masters with a velvet racked white tail that had a scar across his face from just below the eye to the back of the ear butt, about 5 inches long. Remember that shorter the hair the more scars show and the older the deer the more scars it will have. Big open wounds and ripped ears are bad chioces unless you are mounting fighting bucks. Keep the inperfection to a minimum but don't discard because of a few minor flaws.
Smiley, I have just returned from a competition deer mount seminar by Allen Palermo himself that was hosted by the Texas Taxidermy Association. He pointed out that the three most crucial things in selecting your cape are the hide, eyes, and nose pad. Just like every one has stated, a good looking hide is well worth the search. Look for eyes that have a lot of white, and eyes that has the hair coming all the way to the eye lids. With the nose pad you want to find one that is full of difinition (a lot of bumps) Hope this helps.
Waylan