Last weekend went to my first Taxidermy convention and entered a mouunt. When going over the score sheet with the judge he said that I should be able to lay something flat over the deers eye and it should touch the eye brow, eye lid and the eye. In looking at reference photos and other taxidermists mounts I can't see how this would be possible and the mount look right. Maybe I'm not understanding correctly. Can anyone else explain this to me better?
Thanks
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he meant upper eye lid not brow
It is good to see that competition has people thinking. You have to remember, most of your judges are seasoned competitors and have been to the top of the mountain you are climbing. One thing that caught by attention about your statement was "other taxidermists" do it that way. Using "other taxidermists" as your reference is a major mistake. Taxidermists all interpret nature as something different. They all make mistakes. Nature is your best and only form of reference. Good 3D cast, an excellenct photo library and the live deer are your best sources of reference. You did mention you couldn't see it in photos. So, I sent a free reference photo your direction -via- email. The judge's job is to get you to the next level. Sounds to me like he has you thinking and studying your reference. He must be doing a good job. Good Luck in you future of competition. It is tough and a lot of fun.
many years ago. I had the same question you have. After attending a workshop this spring I was told that this is not the case. Depending on the deers age, attitude and the time of year the deer was taken or the look you are recreating all have an effect on the deers eyes. As Mister Bauman said the more reference you have the better.
Good luck,
ks
I think you will have a hard time finding very many deer that the "straight line rule" will apply to. However, if the sum total of the skull shape is "right" to allow for cant and angle, it is possible. The degree of pronounciation of the zygonator bone will dictate cant, that in turn will dictate where the bottom eye lid will be located. Another thing that will affect this "rule" will be as to where the eye socket is proportionately located in placement. A higher eye socket with a zygonator that is less pronounced will cause the eye to take a more downward cant.
You will find some genetic families to have VERY pronounced zygonators. These very pronounced zygonators will have minimal downward cant of the eye ball. By the same token, if you look at LIVE deer with this attribute, and look at them from the top of the head down, you will see that part of the eye lens will extend out past the eye lid and brow.
The only "rule" I have found to be true regarding whitetails is that all deer from Ohio have an O under their tail.
Copy and paste the url below, it's long enough that a typing error might occur...
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/wildlife/photolib/two_whitetail_deer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp%3Fa%3D458%26q%3D162298&h=1312&w=2000&sz=145&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=V6Hojw6Y_iFMlM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwhitetail%2Bdeer%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGLD,GGLD:2004-17,GGLD:en%26sa%3DN
You'll want to click on the doe photo that shows the doe standing there lookin' at ya.
Thank you all for your input, Thanks especially for the reference photos. And you're right the competition is a lot of fun and a great learning experience. We met a lot of nice folks and had a great time.
Thanks