I just got my last years mount back from the taxidermist and to me it looks awesome, i was just wondering what makes a quality deer mount, how do i know if he did a "good" job to me it looks good but i havnt paid that much attention to deer mounts in the past and i was just wondering what to look for in the future when i look at taxidermists mounts to choose a good taxidermist. If you could give me some tips on judging mounts and perhaps showing some pics of your own as examples that would be greatly apreiciated. thanks.
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if you think it looks awesome thats all that matters, because it is on your wall and you are the one that has to look at it. if you think he did a great job, then he did!
Did you take it to someone with a reputation for doing quality work?
Can you see the seam, is the skin around the antler burrs without a gap.
Is the skin up against the eyes?
Look at a photo series of live deer, look at the ear butts, no gap around the mouth. Does the nose look real or like a raspberry, are the eyes symetrical, the ears, are the ear butts close to being level in the same place.
Now that you have looked at a few things, look at the photos of live deer, they are NOT symetrical in any respect. So why do we expect symetry in our mounts.
look alive? If so, then it's good.
Here's a very satisfied customer who thinks his deer mount "is awesome" and now want's to play "judge" and look "up this, down that, in here, and down there" and will therefore discover a multitude of DEDUCTIONS and then become a very uncomfortable(dissatisfied) customer because the job he thought was great now isn't all that great. Your taxidermist, like almost all of us, did the job for a customer...not a judge. Let it be Scott.
i did not want to judge this deer i can clearly see that it is a good quality mount in my book anyway and thats all that matters, i was simply wondering what kinds of things to look for if and when i get another mount done.
In my opinion A good deer mount Will 1. The eyes are positioned correctly, 2-the nose has some depth not just plugged with something. The deer has color , 3-inside the nose has a fleshy color, around the eyes are not just painted black, 4- the ears are even and full also have color. This is a good question by the way, I see way to many people and taxidermists think mounts look great, when they really are garbage, ecspecially with birds.
Who pay attention to detail!
Scott, I'm glad you are happy with your mount and congratulations on your deer. When I look at mounts I look for the briskit area to be properly positioned, the eyes to appear equal, the ears to look natural, and a general clean look to the hair. Most quality mounts will include a septum and nostril detail and in the ears there should be no visable fillers. The back seam should be smooth and the overall look of the deer should appear "soft". Now, like JOhn C. said, the real live deer aren't like this. They have cowlicks and scrapes in the hair, odd ears and crooked noses. They often hold their mouths in a funny way and they seem to think that's normal. If we mount a deer the way some are we lose the return business we depend on. Next time you see your taxidermist tell him/her how much you like the job. -Aaron H.