9/22/2000...Mount-A-Long

[Charlie Lamb]

I ain't sayin much here, bud...but I'm watchin'!  

[Charlie Lamb]

...and enjoyin'!

[bayoulongbowman]

Curt, this is very interesting, I want to see more , thanks so much for sharing buddy! Mark#78              

[Guru]

Thanks guys

Mickey,Your right on bud,time frame does depend on the tannery though. A properly done liqui-tan, IMHO, is every bit as good as a commercial tan,not as harsh on the skin, and way easier to work with!!

Shaun, Yeah,there is plenty that I'm not showing ya...the boring tedious stuff!!!


Flat, Never thought about that.....


A little more tonight,been a long day

After the skin is on, the skull cap is screwed back on,and the "V" part of the "Y" incision is sewn up.....

 

Then the nose pad is positioned and the nostrils tucked into place......

 

Now I turn the form upside down and start tucking the top lip into the dremmeled lip slot....

 

Work around to the sides......

 

Finished lip line,hair patterns in place,and a nice soft look......

 


Now my favorite part of a mount...The eyes!!! "The window to the soul".I'll show the clay work again...

 

Excess skin is trimmed,I leave about 1/8th in. to tuck.....

 

With a metal modeling tool the skin is then tucked between the glass eye and the clay.This is done slowly and carefully.The eye should look soft and fleshy,and eye lashes all in line and angling down.

[Guru]

The right eye.....




And the left.....




These eyes where set in a normal forward look.A little white showing in the back on both eyes.If the eyes where rotated to look one way or the other.The whites would show in the front of one,and the back of the other.Depending on which way it was to be looking.Also note the depth of the tucked pre-orbital gland in front of the eye.

Any questions??

I'll try to get more pix of eyes in different positions and expressions.....

[Missouri CK]

I always look forward to reading about your posts. Thanks for taking us along.

Chris

[Brian Halbleib]

The talent on this site has no end    

-Brian
www.bowyersjournal.com

[knife river]

Much impressed, Curt, and eager to see more!  I just told my wife that when I kick the bucket, I want her to put me on ice and ship me to you.  I'd like to be a life-size mount with my Blacktail.  The real challenge for you will be the Y-shaped incision at the back of the head -- there isn't much fur left to cover the stitching.   :D  

It'd be pretty cool to have the scraps used as sinew and hide glue on a bow.  Nice to know that I'd still be useful after I'm gone -- maybe even more than I am now...  

[TexMex]

Great!!

[JC]

Dang son....you got the skillz! Looks fantastic!

[Ray Hammond]

Curt, you have a great talent. I worked in a taxidermists place for about 5 months, fleshing bears, prepping forms, learning as much as I could to make me a better hunter- at least as far as field work to bring to the taxidermist and I thought HE was pretty good...but your work looks awesome.

Excited to see the finished piece.

[kcdaniels]

Learn something every day    

you guys don't make enough on them mounts LOL

Thanks for taking the time to show us HOW.    

Dan

[Crooked Stic]

Thw eyes have it! Great thread and really nice work.

[Guru]

Well thanks guys...back in my former life I was a full time taxidermist and competed at the highest level.I'm actually a 2 time national champion and I'm pretty sure I'm still the only guy to ever win 2 of the coveted Bruchac awards for the Best Whitetail in the Nation...'93,'94.

Here's some pics of the eyes I spoke of.An aggressive wide open eye.This is off my first N.C. head......




Mouth off the same deer.....



Pix of a drowsy,half open eye.This is my second N.C. deerhead.After I won the first year with the aggressive deer,a lot of guys were wondering who this young guy was that got lucky.Well the next year I did a totally different expression,head hanging,half asleep,relaxed deer and proved it wasn't a fluke.Scored 99 out of 100pts......

[Dano]

Awesome work Curt, you my man are an arteest.

[Bob Walker]

Curt, My brother, you are absolutely amazing!!          

[sleepyhollow]

Great work Curt!!!!, lets see a pic of each of those heads overall to see how the expressions look on each respective mount

[JC]

All that and can shoot the eyeballs outta gnats too! Curt, yer not doing a very good job of hiding the big "S" on the front of your shirt....  

[AZStickman]

 That's an artist at work..... Awesome Curt..... Terry

[rabbitman]

Great job Curt. You sure are talented....must be a lefthanded thing.