The majority of the deer that come into my shop are 120-160 class and I agree that 'pumped up' necks on these mounts look out of place. Whenever a customer asks for a 'rut' neck I tell him "Sure, I can do that but it's gonna make the rack look smaller." They usually say "Oh, well...do whatever makes it look good". Then I can go ahead and mount it on the correct size form, get good muscle detail, and put the ears back in a relaxed pose (wich I also think helps to make the rack look bigger).

I think the 'pumped up' trend probably started with some taxidermist using it as a selling point..."I can make your buck look bigger than XYZ Taxidermy down the street" sort of thing. Who knows? I'm just glad that most of my customers really want what's best for the mount.