When observing Whitetail bucks during the rut, I often see them get all "puffed up". This happens when they are in the presence of a rival buck. Their hair gets all bristle-like and stands on end. Their necks look huge when they puff up their hair like that. As soon as the rival buck leaves, the hair goes back down and the buck looks "normal" again.
Anyway, for some time now I have been wondering why I do not see more shoulder mounts with the hair in this intimidating "puffed up" position.
Is it because taxidermists are simply not able to do it in a realistic fashion?
Or is it because doing this would be extremely time consuming, and hence prohibitively expensive?
Or is it just because hunters don't really think about it as a viable option for their mount?
Are taxidermists able to do a very realistic job at mimicking this condition?
I mean, can they really get every single hair on a buck's cape to stand on end exactly the way it happens on a live buck?
I have a couple of racks that I would really like to get capes for and have mounted someday, but I'd really prefer them to be done in this manner, and want to know if it is possible and reasonable to do so.
I am attaching a few photos to illustrate my point.
The first two photos are of the same buck - one taken when his hair was all puffed out, and another taken 3 days later when his hair was normal (his hair actually went down to normal just a few minutes after the first pic, but I didn't get any good pictures of him at that time, that is why I am using one from three days later).
The 3rd photo is just a little buck, but it is included to show another case of a buck with his hair all puffed up, just to give y'all a better idea of what I am talking about.