My friend and I were thinking of mounting a jackalope out of an eastern cottontail. We normally just clean the rabbits with no intent to keep to much of the hide intact and I was wondering if there was a good way to dress them for a full body mount. Also how should I work the antlers out? We\'re planning on cutting a chunk of the skull plate of a 4 point deer out so it will fit on the form and just screw it on like a normal antlered critter. The thing I cant figure out is how/whether I should cut the skin to fit around the antlers. One last question would be on how to keep the skin snug around the antlers. The method I normally use (and I assume you guys use) on deer is to nail it on. With rabbit skin being so thin I was thinking that might not be the best way to do it and was thinking perhaps pins, but those won\'t penetrate the skull plate. What's the best way to go about this?
Thanks in advance.
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Cut the antlers off just below the burr, drill into the base of each antler and epoxy a short piece of all-thread leaving 1" or so sticking out. Mount the skin without cutting any holes. Once you have the rabbit done cut 2 holes just big enough for the all thread where you want the antlers. Drill into the form deep enough for the all thread, fill with epoxy, insert all thread, position anlers and let dry.
Skin the rabbit either dorsal or belly, do not cut past the neck.
Others may do it diff. but this has worked for me.