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Originally Posted by tnbowhunter
As long as it's frozen "hair slippage" is not to bad of a problem, but yes your right, it can happen. A lot depends on the condition of the head before it was frozen. Hair slipage is most often caused by bacteria. You wouldn't believe the condition I get some of my heads in. I'm a taxidermist not a miracle worker, but some people think that taxidermists can fix anything. The deer i'm working on now was shot through the neck with a 12 gauge slug, you can imagine the amount of damage that occured. Bullet holes can be repaired but to fix them properly I have to cut a larger hole to take out any damaged hide and any cut hair. This makes the neck smaller and a lot harder to slip over the form. I could use a smaller form but i'm sure the customer wouldn't be very happy about that.
I had one guy bring in a head and wanted a full shoulder mount on it. After it thawed out I discovered it was just barely long enough to make a neck mount. The newer forms take a lot of hide, I just wish I could skin the whole deer out myself, it would sure make my job a lot easier.
If you paid $250.00 for your mount you got a bargain. Looks like he did a very, very good job on it. That's what I charge, and if I were to break it down on how much per hour I would just be making around minimum wage, lol. Thankfully I don't depend on my taxidermy money to put food on the table, but it does pay for my hunting lease every year, plus a little "she money" if you know what I mean.  |
I always cut way behind the shoulders, about half way to the back. That leaves alot of hide to work with. I also pull the legs out, instead of cutting up the legs. The guy that did my last mount told me it would stay good for atleast a year.