Well I had a 65" Yukon come all the way back from NWT. Agreed with taxidermist to split the skull cap and allow for antlers to be slip in mounted in order to expedite moose getting through the doors.

Moose came in in great shape but upon inserting antlers to base the width came in 8" short of what I sent him. I notice the flatness of antlers to the skull are angled up slightly. Guess a small price to pay to be able to move moose around in the house?

Can it be fixed without a great deal of expense if I decide to take him back to original width? Mount looks fine as the antlers fit neatly into the bases of the skull.

Thanks for sharing.

It can be fixed, but will take some time. It does depend on a few things, like what hide adhesive was used, and how the horn attachment point was constructed. Hopefully the skin was tanned and if so it can be re-hydrated so that the stitches can be cut and the skin laid back out of the way.
I would talk to your taxidermist. If you plan on having a different taxidermist "fix" it, talk to him, or her, first and they may have particular questions you need to ask the one that mounted it.
However..... 10 inches??? seems it sure would look funny if the antlers were rotated or tipped up making it 10 inches narrower?? Are you positive on the measurement? Did you or someone else measure it for you? Do you have pictures?

Thanks for the post and info.

Yes, have the pics before and of course after. From my untrained eye I would not think the upward tilt from the skull cap would need to be much in order to account for five inches on each side at the edges of the antler. The moose antlers on live moose almost appear to dip below the level plain so just a slight uplift at the skull could easily raise the antler tip 5" I would think? Have no problem with getting any info necessary from my taxidermist but may do nothing. I was just asking the experts here if what I believe happened is actually feasible. Damn mosse comes out four feet from the wall as it is and the work is not obtrusive unless you knew the width to begin with.

Its really a differenece of 64 1/2" Before and 56 1/2" NOW so only 8", but still?

Over the years, I've dealt with split skulls on big antlered game. Caribou are obviously the easiest to fix while elk and moose can give you fits. I'd suggest that the BEST way to fix this problem would be to rehydrate the skull cap and remove the entire antler assembly. Once removed, the taxidermist can do what he SHOULD have done originally. Affix a 1x2 slat marked with the exact spread as supplied by the customer. With other slats, the antlers can be squared. I've used duct tape successfully in this method many times. Once the antlers are positioned CORRECTLY, turn them over. With small metal straps, screw them into the brain cavity to keep the skull from either separating or opening. Then mix fiberglass resin with fiberglass chop and fill the brain cavity. This will lock the antlers permanently where they should be. (Don't try Bondo as it's not strong enough. Neither are most other choices here.) Once the fiberglass cools, remove the straps. Set the antlers back into the manikin and with wooden wedges, get the proper tilt. NOW fill the gap with Bondo mixed with Cabosil which will keep it from oozing out. Once cured, used clay to smooth out the skull reproduction and resew your skull flap. Done deal.

George thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. What does this FIX do for the "removable" antlers, not just one but both can be slipped out of their braced position. Would your fix make them permanent? If yes, my moose would be permanently fixed to this one room as he would not go thru any door or window frame?

Not at all. The inserts that penetrate the skull are simply cases to hold the pegs installed in the antlers. I would coat both the peg and the inside of the case just in case some fiberglass oozed inside, but the fiberglass and chop would simply lock those cases firmly in place. When I'm installing pins, I like to do that anyway.

I got the ticket now. Thanks so much for sharing the knowledge.

Each antler is cut at the intersection with the skull a metal square male rod is inserted into the antler. A female is cemented into the skull cap and when the antler male rod is inserted into the female they meet square. My guess is that the female insert is not cemented into the skull cap at the correct angle and would have to be "flattened" more to achieve the original width. That is my "very unprofessional" explanation of what was done.

I disagree. BOTH pegs would require moving and the easiest way to do that is remove that skull cap. A towel soaked in warm water with a cap of Downy clothes softener and wrapped in plastic freezer wrap will rehydrate that area in a couple days. Cut the stitching, lift the pate, remove the bolts and just life the skull piece out. Fix your pegs EVENLY to assure symmetry and reinstall.

This sounds like a job for a taxidermist. You may find that the skull plate is not so easy to take off if the bolts/screws are covered with bondo, mache, etc.. and or the skull plate has been glued down with epoxy.

Grafton, you're correct. I guess I was ASSUMING that I was talking to a taxidermist. It's rather simple, however, and can be done easily with a wood chisel. Moose hide is pretty resilient stuff and even epoxy won't hold a wet hide if you use the proper tools.

Just heat the pegs and bend them yourself. A slight bend of the post will give you alot of inches on the overall width. You may have a slight, and I mean slight, gap at the base of the antler and the hair line, but it should be covered by simply grooming the hair. This would take 10 minutes of your time rather than spending $100s on tearing the head apart.

If you want it done perfectly, then do as George recommended and pay a taxidermist to fix it.

Now that sounds like a very good suggestion. Thanks for sharing. The male rods now bent will need to slide into a "straight" piece of female receiver, however?

The bend only occurs at the base of the antler. The remaining male rod stays straight below the slight bend. The bend should be very slight. When I place a pinned set of deer antlers on the head I can slightly bend the rods while the male-female are inserted on the head. I imagine the rods for your moose may be too heavy/large to bend, but give it a slight pressure on the end of the antler and see if it will move/bend. To gain 8" on a 65" moose the bases will only have to bend less than 1/16 of an inch (maybe only 1/32).

There is no way I would heat those rods while they are still in the antlers!!!!!! If you screw up and get too much heat on the antler part, they can shatter like glass.

If your moose is worth anything to you, have it done the correct way.

Just my $ .02!

JDS

These are fairly substantial rods, at least 3/8" square rods.

Again thanks to everyone for sharing.

MC, agree that the bend will not have to be much to achieve the 4" on each side. Thanks for your estimates.