I goofed-deer mount advice.

ohihunter2014

New member
Shot a 150'' 5-6yo 12pt non typical last night and due to money issues I told the butcher no cape and then find out an hour later I could have frozen it until money became available but the butcher already skinned it. I was going to do a euro mount but they freak me out and I hear I can get a cape and it shoulder mounted. I am a little torn its not my deers cape and his face was old, short and grey and red skull cap.

what would you guys do?
 
1. I cut my butcher my own deer.
2. Cape all big deer, as you can sell the cape if you don't want it.
3. Yep you can get a cape, but it will never be the same as the one you got.
4. Finding a good enough cape will bring a pretty penny, making the mount cost even more yet.
5. Euro mounts look good when done right. They don't always need to be done in white. Have them hydro dipped or even painted a diff color, copper, bronze, etc..
6. Cheap way out... Do a antler mount and be done with it.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim Neitzke1. I cut my butcher my own deer.
2. Cape all big deer, as you can sell the cape if you don't want it.
3. Yep you can get a cape, but it will never be the same as the one you got.
4. Finding a good enough cape will bring a pretty penny, making the mount cost even more yet.
5. Euro mounts look good when done right. They don't always need to be done in white. Have them hydro dipped or even painted a diff color, copper, bronze, etc..
6. Cheap way out... Do a antler mount and be done with it.

I rent so cant butcher.
I figured it wouldn't be the exact same-only my second buck ever so want to do it right.
why would it cost a lot? if someone isn't mounting it then why would they care? Not arguing id actually like to know.
I was thinking about hydro dipped in snow camo cause it was snowing when I shot him.
too big to skull cap and plaque.
 
Not sure about where you are at, but here in Michigan a mature buck cape will fetch $100-200 depending on the size. Hard to come by a real big cape if needed,as most people get them mounted. Next problem if you want a match close as you can get ,is getting the correct hair ie; early fall hair, mid season hair and full on winter hair.

I've pondered if I would ever use a donor cape on something of mine. As of right now, I don't think I would. Everybody has their own feelings on this, as the hide is just as much of the mount at the antlers.
 
Sucks you did not know about freezing the cape. Lot of frozen heads/capes show up at taxidermy shops every year. Sometimes due to warm weather they get frozen to keep from spoiling . Also once its in the freezer you have time to decide what you want to do.
 
I traded a bull elk cape to my taxidermist last year in exchange for boiling a skull.

I saved it for the specific reason of perhaps selling it or trading it, I don't do too many shoulder mounts anymore, but I still kill big elk.
 
I shot a good (by Massachusetts standards) 9 pointer a few years ago. The wildlife biologist at the check station asked if he could cut the hide along the jaw too grab a tooth. I said "Yes" because I was planning a euro mount as I like them much more.
Well, I was talked out of that by my wife, father, and a couple hunting friends.
So I had to wait for a good hide to come along. Luckily my father shot a buck that had a body pretty close to the same size. Used that cape and I honestly never think about the fact that it's a frankenmount as it looks really good but, I still prefer euro mounts.
I think Mr. Neitzke's suggestion of a copper or bronze euro would be really cool. I now know what I'll be doing to the next worthy buck that I'll be lucky enough to get.
Good luck which ever way you decide
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeNot sure about where you are at, but here in Michigan a mature buck cape will fetch $100-200 depending on the size. Hard to come by a real big cape if needed,as most people get them mounted. Next problem if you want a match close as you can get ,is getting the correct hair ie; early fall hair, mid season hair and full on winter hair.

I've pondered if I would ever use a donor cape on something of mine. As of right now, I don't think I would. Everybody has their own feelings on this, as the hide is just as much of the mount at the antlers.

I'm in NE ohio. we put out some large deer around me but most get mounted. I am fairly new to all this big buck and mounting stuff so I wasn't sure I could freeze it. I attached a pic, I doubt anything can match his face and skull cap cause ive never seen one like that color. I was thinking about your last comment and I agree the hide is just as important. I got my first buck mounted and it took me 15yrs to get him shot him last year so that's what told me don't mount the other one but then I had guys telling me how he would make 150'' and non typical and mount him.
 
Originally Posted By: West.Mass.HunterI shot a good (by Massachusetts standards) 9 pointer a few years ago. The wildlife biologist at the check station asked if he could cut the hide along the jaw too grab a tooth. I said "Yes" because I was planning a euro mount as I like them much more.
Well, I was talked out of that by my wife, father, and a couple hunting friends.
So I had to wait for a good hide to come along. Luckily my father shot a buck that had a body pretty close to the same size. Used that cape and I honestly never think about the fact that it's a frankenmount as it looks really good but, I still prefer euro mounts.
I think Mr. Neitzke's suggestion of a copper or bronze euro would be really cool. I now know what I'll be doing to the next worthy buck that I'll be lucky enough to get.
Good luck which ever way you decide

I'm afraid the frankenmount thing will bother me and that's an expensive bother. I first thought euro mount would be cool but after looking at a few I think they look freaky. lol. I guess its just the skull part.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeSucks you did not know about freezing the cape. Lot of frozen heads/capes show up at taxidermy shops every year. Sometimes due to warm weather they get frozen to keep from spoiling . Also once its in the freezer you have time to decide what you want to do.

the biggest shame is his butcher didnt know - or didnt care to- inform him that the hide could be frozen.

if he did it out of ignorance - shame on him. if he did it out of malice (knowing a big cape was worth serious $) double shame on him.


i'd be looking for a new butcher either way.




one tip - put a 2x4 inbetween the antlers now - ASAP. it'll preserve the width of the spread until you decide what you're gonna do. the Skull *WILL* shrink as it dries and could effect the angle of the antlers in relation to each other.

dont push it too hard, just tape it and get a good measurement and slide it in gently. you dont want to fracture the skull in the process and have two antlers just floppping around eh?


sorry about your luck ohiohunter.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeSucks you did not know about freezing the cape. Lot of frozen heads/capes show up at taxidermy shops every year. Sometimes due to warm weather they get frozen to keep from spoiling . Also once its in the freezer you have time to decide what you want to do.

the biggest shame is his butcher didnt know - or didnt care to- inform him that the hide could be frozen.

if he did it out of ignorance - shame on him. if he did it out of malice (knowing a big cape was worth serious $) double shame on him.


i'd be looking for a new butcher either way.




one tip - put a 2x4 inbetween the antlers now - ASAP. it'll preserve the width of the spread until you decide what you're gonna do. the Skull *WILL* shrink as it dries and could effect the angle of the antlers in relation to each other.

dont push it too hard, just tape it and get a good measurement and slide it in gently. you dont want to fracture the skull in the process and have two antlers just floppping around eh?


sorry about your luck ohiohunter.

Yeah i'm not too sure about this guy anyways. I get a lot of meat back from him but i dropped that deer off at 730pm, went to dinner until 8pm and called him around 830-9pm and he said already skinned it. I had a doe he just hung and started skinning, my buddies 150lbs dressed buck and mine the last that was dropped off so i was a little skeptical that mine had already been skinned. I would hate to think he didn't want to mess with it and told me otherwise. I found a couple guys who do he beetle skull mounts so i'm going to call them and see if i can set something up this weekend. I feel like a total idiot. I figured a euro would be easy and cheap but when he handed me brains, eyes, and all i said yep im in over my head! I butchered one deer and we cut from the back legs all the way down to the neck where the head meets the ears and cut the head off. IDK if this is what happened to mine or not if it was the capes shot.
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeSucks you did not know about freezing the cape. Lot of frozen heads/capes show up at taxidermy shops every year. Sometimes due to warm weather they get frozen to keep from spoiling . Also once its in the freezer you have time to decide what you want to do.

the biggest shame is his butcher didnt know - or didnt care to- inform him that the hide could be frozen.

if he did it out of ignorance - shame on him. if he did it out of malice (knowing a big cape was worth serious $) double shame on him.


i'd be looking for a new butcher either way.




one tip - put a 2x4 inbetween the antlers now - ASAP. it'll preserve the width of the spread until you decide what you're gonna do. the Skull *WILL* shrink as it dries and could effect the angle of the antlers in relation to each other.

dont push it too hard, just tape it and get a good measurement and slide it in gently. you dont want to fracture the skull in the process and have two antlers just floppping around eh?


sorry about your luck ohiohunter.

Yeah i'm not too sure about this guy anyways. I get a lot of meat back from him but i dropped that deer off at 730pm, went to dinner until 8pm and called him around 830-9pm and he said already skinned it. I had a doe he just hung and started skinning, my buddies 150lbs dressed buck and mine the last that was dropped off so i was a little skeptical that mine had already been skinned. I would hate to think he didn't want to mess with it and told me otherwise. I found a couple guys who do he beetle skull mounts so i'm going to call them and see if i can set something up this weekend. I feel like a total idiot. I figured a euro would be easy and cheap but when he handed me brains, eyes, and all i said yep im in over my head! I butchered one deer and we cut from the back legs all the way down to the neck where the head meets the ears and cut the head off. IDK if this is what happened to mine or not if it was the capes shot.

Not necessarily. The way I have seen animals with antlers caped out, and the way I do it is to make a T cut from the inside of one antler to the other and then straight down the middle of the back. The big problem comes in when you don't leave enough cape down around the brisket to cover the form completely .
 
Originally Posted By: crapshootOriginally Posted By: ohihunter2014Originally Posted By: Plant.OneOriginally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeSucks you did not know about freezing the cape. Lot of frozen heads/capes show up at taxidermy shops every year. Sometimes due to warm weather they get frozen to keep from spoiling . Also once its in the freezer you have time to decide what you want to do.

the biggest shame is his butcher didnt know - or didnt care to- inform him that the hide could be frozen.

if he did it out of ignorance - shame on him. if he did it out of malice (knowing a big cape was worth serious $) double shame on him.


i'd be looking for a new butcher either way.




one tip - put a 2x4 inbetween the antlers now - ASAP. it'll preserve the width of the spread until you decide what you're gonna do. the Skull *WILL* shrink as it dries and could effect the angle of the antlers in relation to each other.

dont push it too hard, just tape it and get a good measurement and slide it in gently. you dont want to fracture the skull in the process and have two antlers just floppping around eh?


sorry about your luck ohiohunter.

Yeah i'm not too sure about this guy anyways. I get a lot of meat back from him but i dropped that deer off at 730pm, went to dinner until 8pm and called him around 830-9pm and he said already skinned it. I had a doe he just hung and started skinning, my buddies 150lbs dressed buck and mine the last that was dropped off so i was a little skeptical that mine had already been skinned. I would hate to think he didn't want to mess with it and told me otherwise. I found a couple guys who do he beetle skull mounts so i'm going to call them and see if i can set something up this weekend. I feel like a total idiot. I figured a euro would be easy and cheap but when he handed me brains, eyes, and all i said yep im in over my head! I butchered one deer and we cut from the back legs all the way down to the neck where the head meets the ears and cut the head off. IDK if this is what happened to mine or not if it was the capes shot.

Not necessarily. The way I have seen animals with antlers caped out, and the way I do it is to make a T cut from the inside of one antler to the other and then straight down the middle of the back. The big problem comes in when you don't leave enough cape down around the brisket to cover the form completely .

I forgot to mention this was a doe.
 
I bet I could show you my shoulder mounts and you would not be able to pick out the ones that have a different cape than the original antlers. I have a couple I found after decomposing and coyotes had gotten to them, a couple that had rubbed bald spots on the original cape and all of them were mounted on different deer I later shot. I also have four that had lesser antlers that I had come to regret mounting, My taxi switched those out with more recently harvested deer with larger racks.

High fence deer farms advertise with booths at outdoor expo shows with mounts of deer they raised. A lot of those deer are mounts of free range deer they used to mount the sheds of their best deer on.
 
Originally Posted By: Infidel 762I bet I could show you my shoulder mounts and you would not be able to pick out the ones that have a different cape than the original antlers. I have a couple I found after decomposing and coyotes had gotten to them, a couple that had rubbed bald spots on the original cape and all of them were mounted on different deer I later shot. I also have four that had lesser antlers that I had come to regret mounting, My taxi switched those out with more recently harvested deer with larger racks.

High fence deer farms advertise with booths at outdoor expo shows with mounts of deer they raised. A lot of those deer are mounts of free range deer they used to mount the sheds of their best deer on.

Thanks for the info. I doubt ill be able to replicate that white face but maybe one day. for now ill just deal with a euro.
 
Yeah, I have a couple that have extra white patches on the throats and some shot in early season still have red patches of summer coats around their antler bases, but when people look at them, they look at the antlers mainly not the cape.

As far as Roman noses and individual characters, the taxi just takes measurements and orders a form. Good taxidermist add their own characteristics like folds in the skin, individual characteristics and additional muscle tone.

Here is one I shot a couple years ago that I did not find till after coyote got to him. Switched out the antlers on a finished shoulder mount;

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...643#Post2876643

.
 
It's not whether anybody else knows if the cape and antlers match. The owner of it knows and has to look at it everyday they pass by. Some people want original and some don't care.
 
Okay got another one for ya. I have 3 places that can clean the skull. Two use beetles and one is $95 does it from home and been in business for 3yrs and recommended by members on another forum. Another guy has an actual shop and uses beetles and is $125 a 30min further drive and also recommended and a closer shop for $150 that boils them and my brothers and friends bucks are there now. Part of me says the beetles would be cleaner. Money says use the cheapest but i get a little worried with the non shop jobs.

any advice?
 
Back
Top