Short Y Incision

just remember. we dont bounce as good as as we did when we were younger. be careful

 

That's right ! I am learning how to fall gracefully.

 

Lol buddy I’ve been doing a T cut for decade and longer. For me I find it so much easier than a Y but that’s my opinion. I sew from the bottom up and this that have seen me do this like how it’s done.
My fat fingers hate to work sewing behind the antlers lol. Capes go on just as easy as a Y cut does.

 

SO, Frank, tell us how you get around working under the antlers with a T-cut if fat fingers are the problem. Everything I have is fat, including my head but working BETWEEN the antlers tends to be like working "under" them and you still have to address that ear butt.

 

Short Y and Sawsall all the way! I push the nose down into a half of a cement block and it holds for me to cut the antlers off.

 

I'm with you Frank. I can't answer for you but to answer Georges question, how do it is I rebuild the ear buts often times prior to even inserting the ear liner pop em in the freezer and when ready I glue em in , after the cape is on the form. sew it up and by the time I'm done with that the clay is soft enough to blend to the form. Other times I just do it like I did when I used the Y cut. glue liners in add clay to ear butt area, set ears close to where they belong, sew it up and carry on.

 

Hmm let’s see if I can
Throw skin on, clay in ears and eyes, paste bring up skin. Place earliners in the clay as the skin wraps around the antlers.
Now all I have is the center of the antlers to deal with to sew. Much easier on fat fingers

 

Happy Birthday young feller!

 

I too am a "T" man.

 

WHAT...no "A" ?

 

That too!

 

I get capes in that look like they were cut with electric hedge clippers. Had one use a chain saw to cut the skin in half
This year since I moved I have got the worst condition capes in ever.. they leave the deer head out until the ears are dry, had one where they cut the head and skin off at the first vertebrae and wanted just a head mount,cut the capes too short or they are just rotten.

 

that A cut is a gimick

 

Maybe, but in my world the T & A go hand in hand.

 

Here is the answer to all your questions.

DP
https://fleshingmachines.com/high-quality-whitetail-taxidermy/

 

ditto. I always start by skinning as far as I can go from the bottom, cutting off as much of the neckmeat as I can with a butchers handsaw. Skinning till skull comes out. As to cutting antlers .... I take the skulls to my dads house and his Bird 220v meat bandsaw makes that task easy

 

The first thing a good mechanic learns is to use the right tool for the right job. I'd bet 99% of taxidermists have used that flat tip screwdriver and most of them, at one time or another, have skewered their other hand or come damned close. Go to your local hardware store (NOT LOWES OR HOME DEPOT AS THEY DON"T HAVE IT) and ask the man (or woman) for a 1/4 inch cabinet chisel. With this tool you can hold the stem of the blade between your thumb and forefinger and scrap the hide out from under the burr so easily you'll be shocked. Keep it SHARP. It will work exceptionally well on aoudads and sheep where the base of the horn mates up to fleshy cartilage as well. I used a "Buck" chisel for over 50 years and it was about half as long when I finished as it was when I bought it. Kept an edge well and worked on the toughest of hides.

 

George,

ever thought about writing an instruction manual for beginners ?