I've mounted alot of deer heads and never had a problem.But I have a head right now that's giving me a ton of headaches.I measured and measured and ordered the correct form I needed but no matter how I try and try the cape will not pull togeather and the shoulders.All facial features align perfectly nad the upper neck fit is great but it just won't come togeather in the shoulders no matter what I do.I actually bought 2 different manufacturers forms just to compare but both fit the same way.I've never had a whitetail shoulder give me this many problems.
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without looking at what your up against and what tanning process you went through its hard to say
ill try to give my opinion on a couple of things
first is can you push it fwd(stack)that should help a little
2.did you sweat the cape and is it neutralized properly
3.how did you stretch it back to shape
a.did you hand stretch it
or b.did you happen to try the George tire tube trick
there is a trend toward these bigger and bigger shoulders on some forms that dont look correct or at least if not seen deer with steroid shoulders like on some
its probably to late to use something like shrink tonic from Glens whitetail desighner systems but Glen might be able to help
i probably did not help much but maybe i gave you a few ideas as to what happened
give us some more info on the tanning process you used and how and when you measured the cape
paul e
A few things to remember. All deer forms are sculpted from actual deer be it a photo, deer carcass, or a living deer. Just because you tried two dif mfg's of forms doesn't meen they were sculpted from deer from dif. areas of the country. The forms could both be from northern deer with larger shoulders. These don't fit southern deer very well.
Most capes can be made to fit by using a bit more glue to help it move into position, and by pushing the skin "up" tward the neck.
I like to tack down my brisket and arm pits and then pull the seam together and pin it to make sure it doesn't move. After the seam is sewn, I taxi the skin into it's place around the shoulder to line up the hair patterns. Card if needed to show details. Just make sure to use a lot of glue to give the skin something to slide on.
Hope this helps! Joe
Have run into the same problem more than once.I know this may sound strange, but... a 7'1/2 X 21'1/2 cape (as an example) may NOT necessarily fit that same size form. Try ordering a form with a inch smaller neck size than what your cape measures. This will help your cape fit at the shoulder. I now order all my forms an inch smaller than what my TANNED cape measures. Solves many a problem. Much easier to mount and makes for a higher end quality mount.
in my shop i keep on hand several different size forms to prefitt each cape ,then tag each cape with the customer # and form # then freeze, and order the correct form , this saves a lot of time $ and headache ,but i do understand your problem been there more than once that's why i do the prefitting, you can alter the form ,
thats exactly what i do myself
i hate suprises when im about to slide the cape on
ive got about 6 different sizes i use to test fit
it doesnt take all the fun out of it
just the fun id like to leave behind
great info
glad to hear about something else for a change like taxidermy on here
refreshing
paul e
The cape was wet tanned from Micro-Tan so as far as I'm aware they use liqua tan.It was shaved well and I did stretch it by hand.The cape fits well on the neck behind the ears and at the atlas but at the shoulders I need another 2 inches.I'm going to take it back out of the freezer and remeasure it and then order a size or so smaller to see if that helps out.I really appreciate all the great little tidbits you guys gave me Thanks!I should really try the inner tube trick.I would have to partially stitch the cape up for it to work though because it a long incision.