I took a look at some books at the library the other day and noticed alot of the cuts being made were dorsel cuts. There were squirrels, coons, MT lions, and bears laying flat and they were all dorsel cut. Why? It looks like it would have been eisier to hide if had on the belly. I have just started my hand in this trade and have only worked with fowl so if the reason is obivous please disreguard my ignorance they didn't explain it in the books I read. Thanks.
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I advocated ventral or case cuts any day over dorsals.
start doing alot of lifesize mounts you will come to realize how much easier the dorsal cut really is. However, not all pieces will work in this situation, but 99% will and you will save alot of time in sewing up. Certain forms and manikins are just easier to work with a dorsal incision.
I do a lot of lifesizes and I never reached that conclusion.
will save you a lot of sewing. you wont have all those points of skin that come together in the armpits and are impossible to get to in most cases. anyone whos been in taxidermy for a few years and knows anything about lifesize mounts should be smart enough to advocate dorsal skinning over ventral.
From my perspective, "anyone whos been in taxidermy for a few years and knows anything about lifesize mounts should be smart enough" to figure out how to sew skin back together and SINCE the dorsal of most animals is most visible, any mess ups in sewing underneath the animal is superfluous. And to make a brainless statement like "less sewing" may be true on SOME lifesizes, but foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mink, muskrat, raccoon, the tube cut works great if you're smart enough to cut the legs off the form and reattach them as you're mounting.
Why is it I get the eerie feeling that you were the "bd" in an earlier smartassed posting?
Danny, In taxidermy there are many methods that yield similar results. The dorsal cut SOMETIMES allows you to mount to a form without cutting off the legs of the form--the skin slips on much like us putting on a pair of jeans. Sewing up that cut requires you to take care with your stitching so it does not look sewed. I use dorsal cuts on long haired critters pretty often but I use belly cuts too as well as a cut down the side of a critter laying on it's side. For me it depends on how I plan to mount the animal as to how I skin it out. Enjoy, Aaron H.
Use many incision to skin animals for mounting. It depends on a great many factors. for instance if a hunter has gutted a bear, and cut it all the way up to the neck. Then it is a bit late to worry about a dorsal cut. Suppose a hunter brings me an un-gutted bear and is looking for an upright full body mount. Then by golly I am going to dorsal cut that bear. the underside of the bear on that pose will become the prime viewing area. Now, if I am doing a full body Impala which usually has sparse hair. I would not think of a dorsal cut, Unless I planed to mount it lying on its back. When considering the incision one should consider the pose, the amount of hair, their personal preference, the time involved in the chosen process, as well as most importantly the outcome in terms of quality. Striving for top quality, with the minimun amount of time invested is always on the forefront of my mind.
except every thin haired animal - maybe there is someone who can dorsal skin a mt lion and then hide the seam but it sure aint me - all kidding aside i try to dorsal skin e'thing that i can but some things NO ONE can hide the seam
I have sewn the ventral incision and partially up the leg just enough the allow the legs to slide through and then make my dorsal incision. I know it is alot of extra work but some of the long haired animals catch the glue more so than others. I would have to favor the dorsal incision over ventral any day. Its also easier when you have to tuck the skin in your releif cuts.