Ear Forms For Deer Mounts

You need to post your pictures, state association s are a great learning tool,study your critique and then study live deer or great reference,see how wrong or right the judge was.

 

How you handle that is you take the same deer to another competition and see if you have the same results and critiques . Then you will see who is correct, I’d be willing to bet the judge was talking bout the earbutts . Post pics of your deer and score sheet if possible. Remember that is just ones person’s opinion, you can’t take competitions personally it is as you said a learning experience. If you take it that way you will learn, I promise. Now post those pics

 

There is a lot more to a deer ear than what earliners you use. Could be earbutts, Hair patterns, drumming, color, etc. When you start to get into competition you can't get buy with much.

 

Now it sounds like this person is a know it all as all he is doing is critiquing his judge as he don’t know what I know cause I’m all of this. Now this is what I got from your post.
Saying this your there to learn and apparently you have a closed mind and don’t want to learn , ask questions how can I improve.

I judged a person like you way back and said I bought this from so and so and he’s a world champion. My response was , please ask him in what I wrote down was correct or not. Ya well the champ agreed with my thoughts. It was the person using the parts the wrong way in which is what happened to you. Just because you have good parts doesn’t mean a thing if it’s installed incorrectly.
As stated above show close up pics of the ears and even tell us what your judge said. I’m sure you’ll hear what you don’t want to hear or it might be different.

 

Well just as I thought, the judge is 100% correct. Deer could be 20 years old and it don’t change the fact that it’s not anatomically correct. It wrong in so many different ways , I’m sorry to tell you . But if it’s one of your first deer it’s not that bad and you have a foundation to build on . Take what he said to heart and fix those areas . And you will be good to go . I no u don’t want to hear that but it’s the truth

 

That would not be any where near a customer quality mount in my shop. As what others said, your judge was correct.
Also, just because a taxidermy supply company offers artificial animal parts, doesn't automatically make them correct.

 

Judges in competitions are supposed to set a high standard, and while the judging is always somewhat subjective (different judges have different opinions and perspectives) it is always an opportunity to get unbiased critique of one’s work, wether you agree with the critique or not. One should always accept the critique with the same lack of personal bias and try to learn from the assessment. Based on what you said of the judging and my own inspection of the photos you shared I don’t see much justification in criticizing the judge. I know for me, the longer I go without getting my work critiqued, the harder it is to accept the need to have the critique at all.

 

Is this same deer that you took to a show in march and posted that the judge was wrong? It sure looks like it.
Maybe, you should accept that those judges were right and strive to utilize their critiques to your benefit.

 

Me thinks he’s reading what he doesn’t want to hear and your all wrong as it may not be a best in the world but I know it’s a blue in my state. Ok jdk here!
Hopefully you’ll take what is being said here and learn more on this trade. It would be wise to go back to your association and see who can teach you some techniques that’ll aid you here.
There’s a lot wrong with the mount and be happy you got a 70. Hopefully instead of being so pissed at the judge and the association this will put a fire in your ass and come back with a Vengeance and become one of the best. I’ll say this it out a fire under mine and I did do what I set out to do. Best of luck

 

I've been to many competitions in the past 10 years and specifically focus on the deer in the room. That deer is a 70 at any show from any judge.

 

If that

 

This is exactly what I did for quit a few years experimenting with tons of ideas and products before offering to the public. Very good idea!

You can mount and remount on a single head three or for times. Each time try a different way to remount it.

 

Using reference and interpretation of it are 2 different things. Ask yourself, are there any pictures on the Matuska cd you posted that look like your mount? The best seminars I’ve gone to at state shows were how to interpret reference and apply to your work.

 

As an honorable military veteran you are, I have to take your word when you say you asked the judge about your eyes and lips and he said it doesn’t matter. That is unacceptable. Who was this judge? I am the president of the Iowa association and need to know this so they are never hired to judge our show. Also need to let other associations know not to hire a judge that won’t critique all aspects of the mount and just leave it at bad earbutts.

 

Tact and diplomacy is for politicians. We're taxidermists and taxidermists judge taxidermy. I sold my business to a young man ive come to love as a son. He bugged me to let him come watch and he'd pay me to help him do better work. I relented but told him I NEVER charged to help. He walked in the door for the very first time with a mounted pair of wood ducks. His very first question to me was "How can I make these look better. Without answering, I pointed to my 55 gallon trash can. Today we laugh about that and he says it was the best advice he ever got.

 

Big mistake is smoothing the skin out over and over flatter and flatter. Gotta learn to lay it where it goes and leave be. Get hair patterns right. IMO why so many heads look like mummified remains. Lips so tight they look like Joan Rivers post op.