I have a customer that brought in a feral hog weighing 550 lbs. the other day. He wants a shoulder mount with an open mouth.
My problem is the measurements. Eye to tip of the nose is 9 1/2 inches. The neck measurement is 42 inches tight to the ears. Now I have found a form with a 42 inch neck measurement but the eye to nose measurement is 12 inches. My question is how would I cut the face down a full 2 1/2 inches with an open mouth form? What about the jaw set? Would I also have to cut it down to fit? What would some other options be?
I have searched the archives for the past two days with not much help on a problem like this. I would like to know what some of you would do in a situation like this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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Unless you are adept a re-proportioning the snout and other head details, you would be better off packing out the neck to fit, rather than trying to re-sculpt the snout and possibly more. If you can get a 9 1/2-9 3/4 or even 10 X 33 or so, the pack out wouldn't be too bad. It would probably work out to around an additional two inches on the neck diameter (1" all around), but the head would fit....
Just a thought
it is much easier to increase the neck size then alter the head. You are talking not only the eye to nose length alteration, but most likely the whole head would be too wide and too thick as well.
Still a beginner but as a Florida boy I've worked on my fair share of hogs. I would also bet with a 9.5 by 42 measurment and 550lbs you will be packing out those cheeks also.
You are absolutely right. I am going to have to pack the cheeks out tremendously. That's why I was thinking of altering the head because it has a short wide nose and face (and fat). But I just couldn't see it being possible to take out 2 1/2 inches of the face and it ever looking quite right.
Cur and Evelyn, thanks for the info. I guess that will be my best option. I just hope I can pack it out enough to get my measurements back. This is a good customer and he already knows what it measured.
I did find a 10 x 34 form in WASCO. Maybe I can get that one to work?
This is going to be a very interesting job, indeed.
Feral hawg, son........some farmer lost that Hamshire off'n a truck.....
I call it a feral hog and some around here just call them wild hogs because they were introduced here some time ago.
The guy shot this hog in the river swamps. It is jet black with long course hair that is fairly thin. He also has fairly large ears and a thick mane. It is a typical looking hog for around my parts in S. Georgia, except you usually don't see them that big. I'm not sure what the original strain was at one time, but one thing is for sure, there is definitely alot of domestic pig in this dude.
BTW, the shield is 1 1/2 inches thick. Looks like I am going to have fun for a while on the fleshing machine. My back hurts just thinking about it! LOL!
And I CUT THE HEADS. When I get one of these wayward Berkshires, I order Noonkester's largest form and then cut the muzzle between the eye and the corner of the mouth. You can pull almost 3 inches out of there alone. Then you MUST buy a replacement nose and a smaller jawset. I ain't much into pumping up hogs.
for your response George. I was unsure if you could pull that much out of the facial area. I've done 1/2 inch on deer but this one had me wondering.
Once again, thank you all for your responses. You have been most helpful. May everyone have a wonderful new year.