So I'm new to taxidermy and I found this nice skunk pelt on Etsy for about 30 something dollars. I've seen these beautiful pieces of work which are some wolf headdresses on Deviantart. I've tried reaching out to them but it didn't work, and I've tried reaching out to other headdress makers but they are very vague. But besides that, I want to create something like those wolf headdresses, head on top and keeping the rest of the body like a cloak behind. Some taxidermist said to put some straps on it and it'll go on perfectly, but because this is going to be my first pelt I don't want to risk messing it up. A baseball cap will do they said, but I'm not sure since this will probably be a small specimen. Another question, do I sew on the straps or hat or whatever I'll use as a base or use some other form? I have a hot glue gun and I'm not sure how that'll do. Thank you
Well, he'd better be a big ass skunk. It usually takes 3-4 large skunk pelts to make a full cap. The primitive cap for headdresses was made by cutting off the pads on the front feet and sewing them together. Then fold the face down over the feet and tack it to the feet. This allowed sort of a skull cap with the back legs hanging down by your ears and the tail running down the back of your neck. To make the classic "coonskin cap" style, you first cut a band of hide about 3-4 inches wide that will completely wrap around your head. It's best to cut a pattern out of card board. Staple it together and make sure it is snug around your head. Then lay it down on another piece of cardboard and form an oval with that band. Trace out a circle about a half inch larger than the band oval. Cut out that oval. Turn your skunk hair side down and lay the oval BEHIND THE FACE. Mark the hide with a sharpie. Cut away the sides of the oval leaving the head and back/tail in tact. Remove those outside quadrants. Take the 3-4 inch strips and start sewing them (hair to hair/inside out) to that oval marking. Tack it to the hide when you get to the back/tail area and then resume sewing when you get to the open quadrant. Sew the band together under the face and then fold the face down and tack it to your band. Now you have a beanie style cap with the face and strip running down the center. If you have a big head like me, you can see why I'd need 5-6 skunks.
Thank you, You know I think I'll try the primitive cap first! And I recently looked at the pelt again and I saw that it was 30 inches. It's not that bad at least for me but I still worry that it'll be too small anyways. But are there any good examples ( because I can't find any ) of these primitive caps? Also same question, is a hot glue gun good for things like this or do I stick with sewing and such? Thank you once again
I actually don't know of any photos that explain the primitive hats. There was once a book entitled "The Mystic Warriors of the Plains" that had sketches of these head dresses. I was taught that way years ago and I've seen them that way at these "Mountain Man" get togethers. NEVER, EVER trust hot glue or super glue or any other type of glue to hold. Tanned hides have a residual oil and eventually the bond of hot glue is going to break. Stitch only.
This pretty much shows what George is talking about. Unless you have one of Bob Wendts mutant monster skunks, you are going to need more than one .. or have a real tiny head. https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-Mountain-Man-Fur-Hat/ Note that the above uses a fox which has a fair amount of skin to play with. There is also this, which has a lot of broken pictures. If you Google skunk skin hats or skunk fur hats .. and similar terms there are videos online too. https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/lets-make-a-fur-hat.12785/ The skunk hats I have seen that I liked best had the stripes running from front to back across the top and included the tail. That will probably take 3 hides to make an adult hat.
Okay yea I see now. I didn't get the skunk pelt but rather a fox head ( just the skin and fur ) and now I'm trying to find a way to make that into a little headdress or hat. It'll probably be much more bigger to mess with even though its just the head piece.
I ordred plans for these caps from Dixie Gun Works. It had patterns that were much like seamstress patterns for small, medium and large. One set was for full cape coyote and the other was for traditional coonskin cap.
They came out great. My wife being a seamstress helped, however, it was easy enough that I could have done it myself.
