Critique this mount job.

[Stanley]

Stan, you didn't do the mount , did you?

No I didn't do the mount.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Edcyclopedia]

At the top of his forehead it kinda looks like the skull cap wasn't blended into the form very well. There seems to be a horizontal line there. Also, it looks like the buck is smiling a little bit.

X3

[G3s]

Antlers look like they are set a bit to high leaving a bit of a pronounced forehead. Nice looking cape but the sew job looks like it left a pretty good hump down the back of the neck, the neck looks a bit skinny. The eyes and nose look pretty nice. Not a terrible mount by any means, just not one of my favorite poses for sure. Takes a real good artist to pull off a mount pose like that.

[HuntMeister]

JMHO of course...
Like already stated, poor / no blend from cap to mannikin, top of neck swoops...must be from the alteration. Eyes look like they have women's eye liner on them.
Nose pad is too black and maybe it is the photo but something appears to be amiss with either the nose or lower lip. A close up from straight in front would be helpful here.
Ear butts look too small.

[dirt nap giver]

Not that bad of a job. Most taxi's I know blend the skull and ear butts with bondo to make a smoother transition. Skinny neck yes, but sometimes it can be pulled off with packing things out a bit.
Better than I could do!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bucky]

Could be the pic but the eyes don't look right to me.... And the skull plate is not blended to the form. I have a buck mounted on the same form done by a pro if you want me to post it up for comparison....

Shadowing around the eyes brings a deer to life and the above mount is lacking. The tan job on the hide looks good from the photo, mouth looks pretty decent... I have seen much much worse
[ Post made via iPad ]

[Stanley]

Could be the pic but the eyes don't look right to me.... And the skull plate is not blended to the form. I have a buck mounted on the same form done by a pro if you want me to post it up for comparison....

Shadowing around the eyes brings a deer to life and the above mount is lacking. The tan job on the hide looks good from the photo, mouth looks pretty decent... I have seen much much worse
[ Post made via iPad ]

I would like to see it, for comparative purposes.

[Mountain Man]

I don't want to say anything bad about someones trophy....

I agree with Spysar about this statement but in this case this is Stanley’s deer and we exchanged a pm about a critique and Stanley wants it.

What I list below is not from the perspective of a competition quality critique, but mainly just standard things that a commercial mount should have with most of the issues being general anatomy issues (shapes and alignment) and the finish work (painting) – but no finish job will look good if the skin is not in the proper locations to begin with especially around the eyes, nose, and mouth.

That’s a McKenzie 4600 Full Sneak. I’ve mounted a few of those. The swoop in the neck is the way the manikin was made. It’s an o.k. form but IMO it has some problems.

I can tell from the cape this is not an early season deer. The smaller neck could be from using a form that is too small and/or the hair was groomed/slicked down too much.

Here is what I see with this mount:

Antlers (skull cap) are set too high and skull cap was not blended properly to manikin.

Ear butts (muscles at base of ear that attach to head) are not the correct shape or size and the placement is a bit too far back on the skull.

Ear edges are too wavy and therefore incorrect. The wavy edges are likely due to not fully turning the ears when skinning and many times they need to be turned a bit more after tanning.

Eye shape is off a little but not too bad.

Paint around the eyes is terrible – wrong colors and not all of eye area is painted.

Eye iris color is lighter than I like in a mount but it is within an acceptable range for deer eye color. You can get deer eyes in light, medium, and dark colors. The eyes in this mount look like the cheap concave/convex eyes. I’m not saying you need the most expensive eyes but there are better choices out there and for only a few dollars more.

The pupils are in the correct orientation (horizontal).

Skin/hair pattern alignment around leg stubs and brisket is generally o.k.

Grooming on neck could be better.

Nose pad skin alignment, including around nostrils is off.

Nose paint color is too black.

The “smile” isn’t too bad. Some forms have more of a “smile” to them than others.

Back corner of mouth skin alignment and cowlick at that location look o.k.

Ear tips looked to be curved forward a little and that is not correct. They should be curved back a little. The ears look like they were probably done with Bondo. Correct ears can be done in Bondo they just need a little more care while doing them than this mount had. Another option is to use earliners but the ears still need to be turned to the edges before mounting.

The camera flash may have washed out the photos and colors, but the nostrils and ears should have more fleshy colored paint.

Overall, it’s a poor mount. If this was put in the commercial division (what you guys would get for a standard customer mount) of a competition which is judged on a 5-foot rule and no touching of the mount, IMO it would be about a third place or honorable mention. If it was in the open/professional division, which is a step up from the commercial division, IMO it would be an honorable mention (4th place).

Stanley – you wanted advice straight up on what this guy needs to do to get better. He needs to do a one on one with a good deer taxidermist (if he’s in Iowa he could look into taking a class with Joe Meder). He could also join his state taxidermy association, go to seminars to learn more and compete. Competition is not for everyone but you can learn a lot of good information from the judge and talking to other accomplished taxidermists. Competitions are what each taxidermist makes of them. If you want to learn you will. If you don’t care you will continuously spin your wheels and not get better. I have seen both cases where some guys excel in a short amount of time and others flounder year after year. If he chooses to get better it will cost him some money. I have never attended a school. There are some good ones and bad ones. From what I understand the schools teach you the basics. After you go to a school, to get better you will need to learn more advanced methods/techniques on you own or take a one on one with a very good taxidermist.

[Ghost Hunter]

Rutting buck neck nothing like it for a good looking mount. That mount looks real good!

[Mountain Man]

Could be the pic but the eyes don't look right to me.... And the skull plate is not blended to the form. I have a buck mounted on the same form done by a pro if you want me to post it up for comparison....

Shadowing around the eyes brings a deer to life and the above mount is lacking. The tan job on the hide looks good from the photo, mouth looks pretty decent... I have seen much much worse
[ Post made via iPad ]

I would like to see it, for comparative purposes.

Here are a few mounts I've done on the 4600.

McKenzie 4600 side view. Camera flash has the white and flesh colors a bit washed out.


Same deer as above but from the front.


Another mount on a 4600.


The camera flash once again has the white and flesh colors a bit washed out.

[Stanley]

Thanks Mountain Man

This comparison clearly illustrates some deficiencies in my mount. All of the mounts the guy has done, have this neck issue. He told me he struggles with cape sizing, and trims the manikin to fit the shrunken cape.

The huge valley in the neck is what I dislike the most on my mount.

[Bucky]

Here are a few for comparison...

[cwoods]

Off topic but, I really love seeing pics of that slob bucky!

[cwoods]

Off topic but, I really love seeing pics of that slob bucky!