question george

and anyone else with experience.....doing first caribou and ive just spent close to 2 hours in the archives but have not found what im looking for....im asking you george because you answered a vast majority of questions about bou in the archives signifying to me you've got experience with them...my question is this...i have a set of antlers that the customer harvested 10 years ago....he just aquired a cape and brought both to me to mount...(the antlers are full size, both cape and antlers coming from alaska if that makes a difference) heres my question...when mounting the antlers to the form it seems the skull plate is very narrow in comparison to the form.....is this normal for caribou? i have no issues with reconstructing skull area just wondering if this is normal b4 i commit as i havnt been able to find reference photos for skinned bou carcasses nor do i have access to a carcass to compare to as im in the south...any input would be helpful
thanks
eric

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Not to ME, it's not normal

The antlers of caribou seat just like whitetails do for me. I've only mounted one Alaskan as most of mine come from the Ontario and Quebec herds and even one or two Labrador strain. Big Bou's have big heads while younger ones are thinner, just like deer. I'm not AWARE of much anatomical structure differences between species, so you'll have to rely on others for that one. Your customer may have taken a smaller animal that the one you have the hide for. If that's the case, you COULD split the antlers and move them apart OR mount as is though you're bound to have a "dimple" between the antlers. Ideally, I call the suppliers and ask them to give me a mannikin with a X# of inches wide skull plate. Then they give me the mannikin number, and I request a hide to fit that sized mannikins. McKenzie routinely gets these type requests from me and I'm sure Dan Moon of Van Dykes can do the same thing. You just have to work it out before you WORK IT OUT. Good luck.

thanks

thought somthing like that but wanted a second opinion......appreciate your time
thanks
eric