I’ve started working on my 2011 gun buck. Several weeks ago I prepped the tanned cape. The manikin I’m using is a McKenzie 9600 Upright Left Turn. Uprights tend to show less shoulder than for example a semi-sneak so I added a bit to the back of the shoulders. I cut the neck apart to give it a little more left turn. I cut off the McKenzie head and put on a change out head from the Matuska Competitor’s Choice line of manikins. The Matuska heads look better than the McKenzie heads which tend to have narrow muzzles and noses and the distance from the bottom of the eye to bottom of the jaw is usually too long. I would have used a Matuska upright manikin but this deer was a bit smaller than the upright sizes Matuska currently has available and it was easier to just use a McKenzie that matched the measurements for this deer.
This project will probably take me several months to complete since I will mount it for competition. I’ll post some more pics as I go along.
Here is how it looks now. I still need to shape and smooth the neck alterations a bit more. Then I will work on the inner nose detail and sculpt the ear but muscles. It will be a wall mount when done and hang right where it is now but I will also put some square steel stock in the brisket so it can also be made into a floor or table pedestal for competition. The skin likely won’t go on until after gun season.
