Nine Point Deer Mount

A nine point deer mount was our taxidermy project for 2008. I shot this nine point in 2005 and had the cape in the freezer for two years. Actually the cape used in this mount was from an eight point buck that I had also shot in 2005. The eight point buck had been shot in the leg with an arrow and was only using three legs. I had kept this hide in the freezer just in case.

In the winter of 2007 I had started working on the nine point cape when I was home afer knee surgery, but seemed to have little patience. Somehow working on the deer cape while my knee was still only partially healed didn't allow me to concentrate. In the process of working on the hide at that time I had made some mistakes around the ears. It had also been thawed and frozen so I decided to use the eight point cape to mount the nine point antlers.

I wasn't quite sure how the cape would survive the two year freezer stay so I decided I might as well give it a go. If the cape wasn't any good I would just throw it away.

I still don't think large scale taxidermy work is quite up my alley but I made it through this mount and learned a couple more things in the process. While working on this mount I finally learned the skill of using a skiving knife to flesh and thin the cape in the delicate facial areas. This was a big plus for me as compared to the previous mounts I had done.

I'm sure this mount does not compare to a quality mount done by a good taxidermist so I have no dillusions of taxidermy greatness, but it is still fun to see the deer seemingly come back to life when the cape is put on the form.

This buck had a crooked set of antlers. We noticed that one antler came out of the bucks skull tilted a little more outward than the other when we cut the skull plate off. You can notice this in the picture. I was tempted to level the antlers out when I mounted it but I thought that I would just mount them as they were.

Here it is, please don't look too close.

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