zubba

Hey everyone, below is my first whitetail shoulder mount. I've been doing European mounts for a couple years and have wanted to try an actual shoulder mount. I researched it like crazy (www.taxidermy.net), rounded up the material and attached it. I was fairly happy with the result, although I now see many things I wish I would have done different. Although I haven't started it, I am confident my second will be better. I posted it on taxi.net but if any taxidermist on here see anything they can point out to help me, please do and don't fee bad doing it. Gotta get better somehow.

deerslayer64d

looks good for your first !! I am not a taxidermist but there is something with the eyes . get you some good ref pics to study when you mount your next ,

KYDeerHunter03

I think that looks great for a first mount. I agree with deerslayer though. The eyes look like they are misssing something.

deerslayer64d

I think maybe its the paint in the tearduct area and thay should be more north south than east west .

rankbull

The same here it does look good but the deer looks like it has the flue

Freezersfull

lol..The flu

Actually it looks like it had 1 to many last night..

Great job though for your first time .The eye ducts are running the wrongway..Also were the horns attach looks like a little space in there ..My best friend is a taxidermistand he sometimes has to shave the form down with a small file to make the skin and horns meet..But as far as this deer what I can see in the pic. is not to shabby at all..
Congrats on your first mount..

bloodcrick

Zubba, if thats your first, your doing a great job so far, they can only get better from there, nice job.

zubba

Thanks everyone. I know....they eyes need work. I wish I could tear it apart and do it again, but I will keep it to remind me of my mistakes. The tear ducts need to be tucked a lot more and the skin needs to be taxi'd up more. But thanks a lot.

deerslayer64d

if you catch your eyes being off shaped withen a few days you can lay damp washcloth on them overnight to re hydrate them so you can rework them . it still looks better than my first, congrats !!!

zubba

Yeah, I have thought about it. Unfortunitly, I think it is more than just the shape. I believe I pulled the cape too tight/back to begin with. So the tear ducts are out of position and aren't tucked near enough. I should have tucked them so the duct was hair to hair. If I would have taxi'd the skin forward more, the ducts would have positioned better and the eyes would better shape and detail also.

The was an old rack and a purchased cape....so it was pure practice. Therefore, I'm thinking about keeping it this way to remind me of what NOT to do...if I can stand it. lol. But thanks again for the idea and the tip.