A lot of people just don't know what a good deer mount is. Period. In general, I think it is hard for most to tell. A lot
of people go to a taxidermist to get a mount done and come home with deer like figure with a rack of horns on top of it's
head. It is so easy to see a hack and whack job but all anyone ever seems to care about is the rack.
I used to be in the same category until a local taxidermist in Wellsville, NY named Jim Spinelli
set me straight on what a professional mount truly is. Thanks to
Rocco DiRosa's straight aim last year
I can show the peeps some examples of what I am talking about.
Rocco's mount in on the message board and that post can be seen here.
This deer was mounted by Jeff Balmer who lives somewhere in Rocco's neck of the woods (Broome County).
It is an awesome job. Of course, it probably costs more but it is built to last through the years and
takes the entire deer in to appreciation - not just the antlers.
Look at the left side view of the deer. Take special note of the way the skin wrinkles where the neck
meets the back. Very natural. Notice how the shoulder muscle is prominent and lightly segmented as to
show off the deer's nature muscles. Notice the gray/brown streaking down the deers throat.
Looking at the deer from it's right side,
notice the natural coloring inside the ear. Notice the natural coloring on the cheek below the antler and also in
the corner of the deer' mouth. Notice how the eye, nose, and mouth are very natural. The deer is not BUG-EYED, the
mouth comes together professionally, and you can distinctly see the bone structure of the face between eye and nose.
Now look at him Straight On. Take a look
up his right nostril. Notice the coloring. Notice how the nostril is open and shaped. You can also see the
gloss off the nose from the paint. Now look at the eyes. Look at the detail. The eyelids are distinct,
wide, and the eye lashes are all there and naturally falling over the eye-ball. Look how natural the hide
is between the antlers. Notice how the hair is erect at the base of the burr. Notice how the ears are
naturally set. They're not just shoved forward as far as they can go like you see on a lot of mounts.
And I can't say enough about the color.
Rocco killed an awesome buck and he got an awesome mount done. It truly represents the life of the deer.
Many people take their deer rack to the local taxibutcher and get a poor job done. Of course, many
just care about the rack and nothing more. A job like this is likely going to cost more but in ten
years from now when Mr. Taxibutcher's job is falling apart and it looks so ragged that it is embarassing
to have it on the wall, don't be surprised.
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Rob Taylor, Founder, EmpireHunting.com
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