What's the short Y cut? Am I correct to say that you make a short cut down from the antlers, then skin the head from the ears forward as far as you can through that opening, then skin from the nose back towards the ears till you meet the area you've just skinned?

You got it. Some prefer the y cut, as opposed to splitting the neck full length.

Is there any reference book for recommended skinning cuts for various final poses? I would assume taxidermists would have a preferred method of skinning for various poses so they can hide the stitches or facilitate pulling onto forms.

It'd be a great thing for those in the field to know. A laminated spiral bound reference book would be even better (I get partial royalties if I just gave someone the idea )

I remember back when I first started duck hunting, I had a little laminated spiral duck ID book that I kept in my game bag to help ducks.

Sorry gs. No idea is original and there are more ways that one to skin a cat. Each of us develops our own favorite method and even those sometimes vary when we get a particular pose. Not enough people read anymore so a spiral bound book would be a very long shot. The internet is filled with tutorials but the viewer still needs to realize what I said above. You're just seeing one person's particular preference.