http://forums.accuratereloadin...rums/a/frm/f/1411043 Interesting topic concerning taxidermy.

I'd love to comment on that one but I'm afraid I can't get past the picture of the Cape buffalo.

George.after looking at that buffalo mount, I now can see that even this forum has some real bullshit

Ahhhhhhh....love is blind...or maybe it was just too sweet a price, but I bet they flew first class and carried a fine rifle!

Guys not my buff but help me out .What prey tell is wrong with it ? I would like an education as I am going over to RSA in Sept. and will have to decide what to do with my trophies. If you dont want to post an answer please pm me with info or a Ph # and I will call. I am going after a leopard and with all the $ being spent I dont want a crappy trophy as a memory but to my untrained /uneducated eye everything looks good.

man that guys got the biggest hands i ever seen

Since you asked, this may offend some but hopefully may help you better understand what you are looking for in a good mount. From the top down what I can see from the photo angle.

Key: pick up an SCI magazine and compare to a good live photo.

(1) Horns placed incorrectly on the head, this distorts the entire upper head area from the eyes/ear butts up to the horn base giving the pointed look to the top of the head.
(2) Bosses incorrectly rebuilt though hard to see from the angle and lighting.
(3) eyes set incorrectly. Glass eye itself is set at the wrong angle. Each eye is looking out in space like he just got whacked in the head. Look at where the eye (pupil) is looking to, not forward or in a consistent position. The white in the front corners of the eye "in most cases" should not be there. It is grossly overdone here and inconsistent from left to right. The buff's left eye is looking out flat/horizontal while the buff's right eye is looking up. The point of the eye where the upper and lower lid comes together should not be seen from the front as it is in this case. Again this goes back to the eye set issue. The shape of the upper and lower lids incorrect as well.
(4) Wrong eye color all togther, use the correct eye for the species.
(5) Brow area above and below the eye incorrect. The area below the eye is too puffy, should fall away more while the area above the eye is too flat. This goes back to the horn set which is pulling on the upper eye area. The brow area should have much more bulk as well a a major brow above the eye which is missing all together. This would really help the look of the mount.
(6)The ear butts (muscles coming off the ear that attach the ear to the head and make it move) are incorrect and look like an add on. They do not attach correctly to the ear or the head. Ears are glossed on the inside, not sure why?
(7) Nose is flat and cow looking, not full and powerfull like a buff's nose should be.
(8) It appears there is a lot of drumming in the skin between the eyes and the nose. This is where the skin has not been propely glued to the mannikin (hopefully they did use a good bonding agent...). As the mount expands and contracts due to temp changes in the home this will eventually crack the skin.

I hope this helps, many folks spend top dollar on the hunt, optics, guns etc. then want dirt cheap taxidermy work. Why kill just to kill? If you are going to do something you might as well do it right.

Have a great trip, note....you will get addicted to Africa!

Ej,
Compare the two buff below and consider what couestaxi said.

wow , very big difference.
I would not be happy no matter the price if I got the second one back then saw the top one.
Thanks

Nice job Coues and that's a great mount SBT. As Robert Ruark said, "A cape looks at you as if you owe him money." The eyes are always a key and you owe it to the customer, the animal and most of all, to yourself to use the best eyes out there. I loved Coues description of where the eyes were looking. Besides a taxidermist, that guy needs an opthamologist. LOL.

Great buff SBT, I think I know the guy who mounted it.

And thanks for the compliment George.

It is not/was not my intent to imply that the first buffalo was either mine or that I mounted it. It is just one of the very best cape buffalo mounts I have seen. Jerry is an artist.

Hmmm, I guess Jerry will do in a pinch. LMAO It's a great looking piece regardless of who did it and it's a shining example of what we were talking about in quality taxidermy work.

Here's another one just for fun

great mount jerry! Those ears are killer.
I still think lifeform is the best though
Never done a buffalo, but I'm pretty sure even I could do better than that.

Well why not stir the pot a bit?

I've searched the net a lot looking at cape buffalo pictures and I mean no disrespect, and I'm a chef not a taxidermist. Jerry's is no doubt a great mount. As good as they get to my untrained eye but it seems the "wrinkles" around the eyes are a touch overdone. I've found some pics with wrinkles but not many and none at all with that many.

blast away

The chef

Here's a good live reference for you calgarychef1, no two Buffalo look alike, your right some of them aren't as wrinkled around the eyes, the older the bull the more wrinkled they get. Using this bull as reference, I don't have mine wrinkled enough. I do a lot of Buffalo and I can assure you I have never had a customer ask me "Please make him smooth I don't want too many wrinkles".


Here's one with fewer wrinkles, how's it look.

Here's another one of I took in RSA a few years ago.

Jerry Huffaker wrote

quote:

the older the bull the more wrinkled they get

It happens to the best of us!

LMAO Jerry. You're absolutely right. Never had a customer request that either. Too funny.