First cougar rug , what do ya think.

[bucklucky]

Here is the first cougar rug I have done and the second cougar I have ever mounted. I sculpted all the lips and made my own cast lip system for the Lion. He is a 8 1/2 foot Tom. His ears were pretty beat up and had cuts and gouges taken out of them. Havent seen many cougar mounts on here so I thought I would post one. I just finished this one .

I added a couple of referance pics I used when sculpting the lips before I mounted the cat.

[Jackjr]

Nice work.  I need one of those.

[robodad]

I have to say that though you did a very nice job on the mounting of the cougar, I don't like it at all, it just looks wrong to have a life like head and a flat as a pancake body, I think the same about bears too so it is not your work at all it is just the whole rug thing, I think it would look much better in a more life like pose then flat on the floor or wall !!  

Did a nice job on it though !!!

[bucklucky]

I have to say that though you did a very nice job on the mounting of the cougar, I don't like it at all, it just looks wrong to have a life like head and a flat as a pancake body, I think the same about bears too so it is not your work at all it is just the whole rug thing, I think it would look much better in a more life like pose then flat on the floor !!  

Did a nice job on it though !!!

I like the full bodie too! Plus its alot more dough for me

[boneaddict]

I don't like the first picture as well as the rest, but hte last one really shows off that you have the right angle of the eyes versus the mouth. The othe r pics look really good too.   Pretty darn good for your first cat rug.  Excellent snarl detail.  The eyes almost look a bit big for the cat, but seriously within reason.  Nice job.

[bucklucky]

Thanks for the critique Bone. Critique away guys!

[ThePascoKid]

I think it looks kickass, god I want one!

[PolarBear]

He looks pissed!  I was thinking that the eyes looked a little big but I am not an expert.  It is a great looking mount!!  Next time mount a couple of fake human fingers hanging out of it's mouth or maybe a stuffed house cat.

[Gutpile]

I like rugs. I've got a Bobcat, a bear on the way, and hope to get a cougar one day. There's not enough room for a full body mount in my house so rugs are the way for me. I will be doing a full body Bobcat when I shoot that big tom but he's not cooperating thus far. I'll be doing a coyote when I get a really big pale male but they are pretty red where I do most of my hunting.

Great job, I agree about the eyes looking big but if it were mine I'd be happy.

[DeKuma]

Not much of a rug guy either what your work is fantastic.  I do, however, agree that the eyes to look a little too big.  They are big in the reference picture, but in better proportion.  Also, I think the mouth could be darker as shown in the reference.
If I was a rug guy, I would be happy though.  Your attention to the details is phenomenal as always.

[bucklucky]

I got too caught up on making him look pissed and got away from my referance on the eyes, taxidermist mistake. If you look at the referance  and compare it to the mount, I reversed the etelids, the top eyelid shoul be a little moire straight with the lower lid haveing the droop or more  rounded look. The back of the eye should have came to a point making the eyes look too "big" or  open showing too much eye if that makes sence. As for the darkness of the mouth , I did lighten it up cause I had it too dark, and you are right  about that compared to the photo. The camera flash really brighten paint up too. I think you are right though.

Thanks for being honest guys, your not gona hurt my feelings! I will only get better getting info on what people , (non-taxidermists and taxidermists ) might see wrong, and it will cause me to look at things a little diferently too. So far all you guys have said are things I found also.

[Ray]

I like it. Looks pissed off.

[bowsandhose]

nice work bucklucky looks good, very nice job on the mouth. whiskers look great did you pluck them and then reattach them? did you do the rugging? cat eyes are tough, maybe a little dark on the nose, and ears might need laid back a bit more. you do some killer work on face detail keep up the great work
  

[Antlershed]

I have no clue what I'm looking for, but it looks really good to me. You mentioned the camera lightened it up quite a bit (I'm assuming the flash)...try standing farther away and using the zoom of the camera to get close. That will make the flash not quite as intense and make it not reflect off the paint as much. 

[Red Dawg]

Nice job. I know nothing about taxidermy but that looks damn good.