Mounting my 07 Muley Buck

[Hunting Cowboy]

So after all of these months, I finally have a little time to mount up my 2007 late tag buck. I'm using a Research Mule Deer mannikin with a Right Turn Semi sneak pose. Nothing fancy or dramatic. I will be installing a competition nose septum and making a few minor alterations. I'll post some pictures of a few of the steps I use in the mounting process.

After checking my cape measurements and ordering my mannikin, I started off by preparing the form for the competition nose septum.

First I cut out the material in the nostril area, mark some alignment marks for reference and then cut off the nose . I use a thin hack saw blade for this. (pic No. 1)

Then I pin it back in place to check the alignment ( pic No. 2)

Once the nose is off, I removed the material behind the nose using a dremel tool. I lay out the area to be removed using a nose septum reference and a sharpie. It takes some careful work to get this part of the process just right. (Pic No. 3 & 4)

Next, The center of the nose is removed to accept the plastic nose septum. This needs to be precise and will come to within an 1/8th inch or less from the back of the nose pad.
(Pic No. 5)

The Septum is then fitted into the slot. It take a lot of trial and error to get it positioned just right. (Pic No.6)

At this point nothing is permanently attached.

[Hunting Cowboy]

The next picture shows the septum positioned into the front half of the nose

A slot has to be created to accept the back of the septum into the mannikin.

Then I check for proper fit

Once I'm satisfied with the fit, I permanently attach using bondo being carefull that the bondo doesn't squeeze out and ruin all of my hard work.

You can now see the effect once this has been installed. A judge will use a flashlight to check the correctness of the inside of the nose.

[Hunting Cowboy]

Next I attach the antlers (skull plate) to the mannikin. I carefully cut the skull and position it by aligning the seam on the top skull with the center of the front and back of the mannikin. I took careful measurements from my buck soon after the kill from various points on the antlers to the center of the nose pad. I also use my photo references to try and position these just right.

I pre-drill the skull plate and install four 3 inch screws. Once I am satisfied with the fit, I remove the screws and add a generous amount of bondo, then reattach the screws.

Once this is complete, I finish off the skull plate using plaster.

[boneaddict]

Looking good

[Hunting Cowboy]

To prep the cape for mounting. I pair down the eye lids and turn these clear down to their leading edges, pear down the tear ducts, thin the nose area removing all of the cartilage. I try to leave about 1/4 inch of skin for tucking.

For the ears, I turn these to their leading edges. I leave the cartilage because I use the bonded ear method. On my cape the ears are almost perfect. But, I am also mounting a mule deer for the family of my late uncle and the cape that I have for his mount, the ears are really in bad shape. So, I am showing how I go about repairing ears.

I use a small needle and thread to repair the torn areas. This is a painstaking task. Be sure not to get any hair caught between the stitches. I dab a little super glue on the thread to keep it in place.

Once repaired, I mix bondo, fiberglass resin 50/50 into a soupy mixture. I add bondo hardener (I mix this pretty hot ) then add chopped glass. I place this in the ear and work it into place making sure to remove all air bubbles. Then I spend the next 7 -10 minutes forming the ear. I continue to groom the hair using a brush. I stay with it until the bondo kicks. The result is an ear that is formed to the shape of the deers natural cartilage.

After all of the repairs, these didn't turn out too badly. The end result is a nice looking ear.

[Hunting Cowboy]

For Prepping the Mannikin.

Sand flanges, mold lines, and areas to improve adhesion. I cut in the tear ducts and lip area using my tucking tool or a knife. I don't dremel or saw these because I like to just cut through the hard shell of the foam using as thin of a blade as possible. That way, when I tuck the skin, it kind of opens and allows the skin to go in and then it holds it by pinching it into place. I've found that I have less problems with these areas moving during the drying process. If that makes sense. The nostril areas are already complete.

I spend a little time working on the details. Nothing dramatic here. I try to improve the detail under the throat using my dremel too and sand paper. Also, I cut in any muscle detail in the shoulders using a file.

Under the arm pits, next to the brisket I modify this area a little bit. As well as the muscle detail along the cheeks.

I cut holes in the location of the ear butts so that I can push the inner ear skin into the skull a bit. (I still need to do all of the clay work which I'll show a later)

Finally, I cut a slot down the back. I'll fill this with clay and it will give me a place to press in my sewing seam. You will hardly be able to feel where it was sewn once complete. (A short incision will eliminate this step)

I will add more pics once I get further along in the process!

[Slider]

 

[PacificNWhunter]

Looking good, can't wait to see the finished product.

[Jackjr]

Thanks for sharing

[Wea300mag]

Cool Cowboy, with all that detail you might even make a taxidermist out of me.

[bowsandhose]

looking great. cant wait to see the finshed mount

[Muleyslyr]

C'mon Cowboy....you're not gonna make us wait until this weekend are ya?  Awesome thread so far!!

[Hunting Cowboy]

Here's a sneak peak of my mounted buck......He's still n the drying process and will need the finish work completed. (And I still have more steps I want to show in the near future)...... This is not a Boneaddictict type set of headgear mind you, but it's the end result of our 07 late tag efforts....

[Jackjr]

Thanks for sharing

[Muleyslyr]

Right on....looks great!  The head gear on him ain't that bad either for a one-legged hunter.    Maybe I could get ya to do another Chiwawa buck this year??