I've been out of the taxidermy business for several years and have absolutely no interest in going back in it. That said, one of my buddies took an outstanding (!) whitetail in Kansas last season with his bow and I decided to mount it for him. He pretty much gave me carte blanche to do what I wanted so I decided on a pedestal mount with the offside shoulder supporting the deer against a fence post. I also plan to have him doing the flehmen lip curl.

I thought that some of you might enjoy seeing the process so I'm going to photograph each step and post it here . . . that is, if you want me to.

Tonight Tommy brought the rack over and I mounted it on the form I had ordered and we decided on the positioning of the deer against the fence post. You'll notice that the eyes are not level. That's on purpose . . . it shows the off-side drop tine much better with the head rolled, plus it adds a little personality to the mount.

Please pardon the mess in my shop . . . it's pretty cluttered because I just purchased a large amount of lighting at a good price. If anyone has a need for track lighting, let me know. I'm selling it CHEAP!

Right now the deer form is just propped up to show what it will look like. The next step is to make it so that it can be securely attached to the fence post, yet still be removeable.

More photos will follow.

Thanks!

JDS

Holy crap that is one hell of a deer!!! There is no way I would have been able to kill him with a bow because I wouldn't have been able to pull it back. I would have probably fell out of the deer because of shaking so bad.

Please do keep the photos coming!! Tell your buddy congrats!!

quote:

I would have probably fell out of the deer because of shaking so bad.

Wow! I guess that deer DID shake you up a little!! I've never heard of anyone falling out of a deer before!

Actually Tommy saw it jump a cross fence and start toward the tree stand. When it stepped behind some brush Tommy drew and waited for the deer to appear . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . and finally had to let down on the bow. Of course, that's when it stepped out and Tommy's arm was wore out and he couldn't pull the bow back!! The buck walked off.

The next day the buck came back and Tommy was able to arrow it. Not bad for a $750.00 hunt!

See what I mean!

I would consider it a true pleasure. Please continue!

BNagel

This project is not a "work on it everyday" project. I've got my attention on about 6 or 7 things at one time so updates may be a little slow.

JDS

JD<

You have a PM

Beautiful buck!

Have you had a chance to score it yet? I'd say he's in the 180's, but it's always hard to judge a deer from a picture.

Tommy did have it officially scored about 3 months ago. I don't recall the exact score but it grossed slightly over 200 and netted in the 190's. Definitely a shooter!

Tonight Tommy came back over and helped me with another project and just "happened" to bring his antlers and mannikin with him (imagine that!). We started the procedure to attach the mannikin to the fence post where it would be secure but could still be removed. I've found that two steel rods coming from the post into metal tubing mounted in the mannikin works excellent. The two rods keep the deer from rotating and they support it very well.

The problem with having a two rod mounting system is that they have to be EXACTLY parallel to each other and at the proper angle from the post. Several years ago I thought of a way to anchor both rods at the same time in the post by holding them parallel in a wooden block, drilling oversize holes, and then anchoring them in bondo (automobile putty).

Here you can see where I marked the mannikin and the post so I would know where to drill the holes:


Here are the two steel rods (from Lowes lumber yard) temporarily wired to a block of wood with grooves routed in it:



This is me drilling the oversized holes almost all the way through the post (handsome guy, huh!!):



We've filled the holes with bondo, inserted the rods, and dressing things up:



The finished rods - parallel to each other and at the correct angle:



That was it for the night. Next we'll put the tubing in the deer mannikin for the rods to slide into.

Take care!

JDS

Very cool project and OH what a buck!

We were able to work on the buck a little this afternoon with our goal to get it suspended on the fence post.

With the metal rods sticking out of the post, now we wanted to put metal tubing inside the deer manniking at the correct angle and depth to allow the deer to slide onto the post. You can see the tubing on the rods in the first photo. I've already put tape over the ends of them.

First we had to mark the angles for drilling into the mannikin on both the top and end of the deer. I also drilled a hole on top of the mannikin to connect to the other holes. This gave me a place to pour the resin in later.




I then drilled oversize holes in the foam while trying to align with the angles of the marks (resin will fill up any voids):



Tape everything off to keep the mess to a minimum. Put the mannikin on the post and position it with support sticks. I also used modelling clay between the mannikin and the post to stop any leaks of the resin.



I mixed clear fiberglass resin with bondo (different brand - same stuff) to make it more soupy. Use the catalyst from the bondo to harden everything.



Pour the resin mix into the hole on the top of the mannikin until it is full. Wait 20 minutes for everything to harden up and start to cool down (to insure hardness).



After everything has hardened, pull the mannikin off the post. The tubes are now mounted inside the mannikin at the proper angles. Here's a rear and front view of how the rods go into the mannikin. Then there's a front view of the deer fully seated. The small gap between the mannikin and the post will be covered up by the thickness of the hide and the thick hair.







Voila . . . the deer is now suspended off the side of the fence post and can easily be removed if necessary.



I hope ya'll are getting something out of this . . . at the very least I hope you appreciate the amount of work that goes into a custom, one of a kind mount.

Next, I'll sand the form, paint the flehmen mouth and nosepiece, and install it. First, though, I have to order a replacement part for my airbrush.

Have a good week!

JDS

jds

Thanx! People have always valued art (when they see and understand it) over mere technique. When the two meet, as your pix demonstrate, it supplies the essential ingredient we seek in our lives -- joy.

Your project makes me happy today.

BNagel

Thanks, Sir, for the kind words and support. I don't mind telling this story here, but it's sure nice to know it's being looked at.

Have a great day!

JDS

JDS,
I just found this thread. What a piece of art! It gives me much more appreciation for the amount of planning and work done on a custom piece. I very much enjoyed the work you've put into this and look forward to the updates.

JDS,

You haven't given an update in a couple weeks. I guess you've been busy with other things but I look forward to more of your handy work everyday.

Take care!

This thread is to the point that it is taking awhile to load up all the photos.

To help out the speed, I'll give the next update on a new thread . . . "A work in progress - part deaux"

Thanks

JDS

Back to the top and to bring new folks up to speed on the subject. Part 2 and 3 have been added.

JDS