cnhntr

and another thing, by using a different cape you mount is not going to look anything like your real animal, not even a resemblance. my mount took over 6 months to do but it looks just like the pic.

rost495

Hey Manboy-- Maybe its you that can't read-- I said that was one option-- mounting it ahead of time and putting the antlers or horns in. IE I even stated you don't get your cape back.

I have never known anyone that didnt want their complete animal back. Its a new one to me that folks don't care.

And FWIW if those mounts pictured took 6-12 months-- wow. Maybe someone needs to attend some schools. Its certainly not award winning work.

But then again as stated here at times-- hey if it makes ya happy go for it. Its not fer me.

And I'm curious as to how you can get the hair patterns around the bases correct as there are such variations in burr circumferences. More power to ya.

manboy

hi everyone yes it is my company, thought i would try to get some replys on this concept of changing horn shells. i didn't know if people would be interested in that. yes i am new at taxidermy those mounts took average of 4 months each. yes i have a few more things to learn. like today my instructor talked about coloring mounts and using airbrush to blend hair color in the cape. so put makeup on the deer?? oh and cnhntr all antelope capes look the same (bucks have a black patch on their cheek, does do not) as far as each looking differant?? i see antelope everyday how about u? also i will post a pic. for u that do not understand the horn shell. as far as the burr area i don't change deer but u could with a shed skull plate, oh never mind it is to hard for most to understand! and all the post on horrible mounts i would like to pics. on some good ones please??? thank u all for your honest replys!! ronnie miller

manboy

i forgot rost how many hours do spend on just one mount? thanks

Pro-Line

No thanks....They just don't look professionally done to me.

kshunter

I would want my own cape on my animal. As simple as that. I have several bucks mounted in my basement. And every cape looks very different regardless of whether they came from the same piece of property or not. Maybe it's for some people, just not me. Just my .02

rost495

While at school they told us to figure a minmum of 12 hours. Thats been a few years ago. I figure 2 hours customer time minimum. 15 minutes to measure. 1 hour to skin. 2 hours to flesh and salt. 1.5 hours to prep manikin, set antlers, set eyes. 3-5 hours of mounting and pinning time. 2 hours to trim, epoxy nose, eyes, etc....Another 30 min to paint and tone everything. Another 30 minutes to do last minute finish work to it all. Figure 30 minutes time to order form etc....Then of course there are things like taking to tannery and picking up etc... the things you never add in.

Thats 13.25 to 15.25 hours and it always seemed like by the time I was done and added it all together including answering the phone etc.... it basically burned up 2 total days.

How long in days from start to finish? depends on how much work I had backlogged. A year is common, less is better. Of course you need to have enough work to last you all year so a year to get a mount back is about what I expect. Time wise it takes me about 2 weeks to get to fleshing and salting and tagging. 3 months is pretty average for a local tannery to do wet tans. Measure and have forms a week or two later. Mount in the next few weeks. Let dry a month or more depending on conditions. Paint drying at least one week minimum. Shortest time frame would be 6 months on a deer head. Other variables as to tannery time can change that. Usually adding to the time frame.

And non of the above is considering the time to seperate horn cores, clean the skull plate and epoxy cores back to horns.

Any other questions?

Oh yeah, I did a dry preservative quicky mount on a bet one time with a friend. Had a form that would fit. Brought deer in. 4 hours later it was mounted. Of course it was like our local taxidermists have done for years. No detail, cheap everything, no one cares. If its stuffed its good. Of course we still had to wait a few weeks plus for it to dry.

DM1975

Looks like your kids drew on your turkey tail mount...

Bill Yox

Ive been reading this and watching your guys exchange, and two things jump out at me. First off, all pronghorn capes do NOT look the same. The markings vary, the color and contrast varies and the color of the facial markings do, too. Second, the horn cores vary in angle as well as width, so the horn sheath needs to go back onto its original cores to look correct. I might be an easterner, but Ive done my share of pronghorns, enough to know that much. Good luck on your mounts, fellas.

cnhntr

bill i'm glad the two of us have the same opinion of antelope capes color, pattern, ...ect.