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Pickle or tan. Or is it due to not salting hard before rehydrating. If the cape is thin enough, is it the tan that determines if it has or does not have stretch?
Using liqua tan and neutralizing for 30 mins. Water and baking soda ph about 8-9 neutralized 30 mins shaved and towel dry skin ph about 4-5. Applied liqua tan and let set over night washed and towel dry ready to mount. But meat measurement right behind the ears I got 16 at the beginning of the lat 19 and largest part of neck 21 after caping and tanning I have 18 behind the ears and 20.5 3 inches down. Not sure if I am comparing apples to apples or not. Also, applied liqua tan at room temp of about 70 degrees.
Also I read the instruction for the HQ tan 5000 said salt dry hard it that necessary? I usually salt overnight and next day where it is beginning to stiffen up then rehydrate and pickle. Is that acceptable?
Thanks, John
July 22, 2011
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I’m a bit confused, if I’m reading correctly your measurements are larger after tanning than before. I thought you were not getting stretch?
You do not have to dry completely to tan, but we recommend it, some folks don’t even salt, they throw them right in the pickle.
Well I was told that once caped the first measurement 16 goes away and the cape laying flat measured behind the ears was the b measurement which would be the 19 I only got 18 the 21 is very close. I tried the cape on a form that measured 17/18/20.5 and fits pretty good. But I feel like I lost an inch.
July 22, 2011
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John L wrote: Well I was told that once caped the first measurement 16 goes away and the cape laying flat measured behind the ears was the b measurement which would be the 19 I only got 18 the 21 is very close. I tried the cape on a form that measured 17/18/20.5 and fits pretty good. But I feel like I lost an inch.
John, forgive me for not understanding your question, I’m just going to explain my process and logic behind how I measure and choose forms.
First thing, I DO NOT take any measurements on shoulder mounts until the skin is tanned, (lifesizes I do a little different). I only take 2 measurements, eye to nose and right behind the ears, IN MY OPINION, that’s the only ones you need. If the cape is tanned and thinned properly a 20″ cape is going to measure 20″ and the E to N is determined by length of bone structure, so it will not change. This only works if you use correctly sculpted forms, it will not work with the steroid enhanced forms or anatomically incorrectly sculpted forms that try and make the deer look like it is something it’s not.
If you take over the hair measurements you will not get an accurate one behind the ears, because you are measuring the hair, skin and meat. Once the deer is dead, there is no blood pumping through the muscles, so meat measurements will be smaller. As for any other measurements, I ignore them, because once I do a pre mounting test fit, I will make adjustments to the form according to the fit that I get.
Once the cape is CORRECTLY tanned, give it a good stretch across the cape from side to side, lay it out flat and with it relaxed take the measurement, same thing thing from eye to nose. If it measures 7 1/4″ X 19″, that’s the form you need.
I’m not sure what you mean about measurements “going away”, but I hope this answers your question or at least helps you with measuring. I’m sure some people have different thoughts and may disagree with me, and that is fine, it works for me.
I am not measuring the raw skin. I am measuring the neck meat after caping to get the measurments.
I usually use mckenzie so when I asked about my forms not fitting they told me to use the b measurment (not the c measurement which is usually smaller) that matches what I got when measuring the tanned cape behind the ears. This works fine.
However, the c measurement is the one supposedly behind the ears the smallest at the neck in my case 16 but I ended up getting a form that had a b measurment of 18 to fit the cape. Since the d measurement of 21 is close maybe the 18 vs 19 measurment was a matter of where I measured on the neck over the meat.
July 22, 2011
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John L wrote: ….However, the c measurement is the one supposedly behind the ears the smallest at the neck in my case 16 but I ended up getting a form that had a b measurment of 18 to fit the cape. Since the d measurement of 21 is close maybe the 18 vs 19 measurment was a matter of where I measured on the neck over the meat.
What was the “C” measurement of the form you used?
July 22, 2011
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John L wrote: 17
….However, the c measurement is the one supposedly behind the ears the smallest at the neck in my case 16
Well if it measured 16″ and you put it on a 17″ you didn’t lose any stretch. It worked out pretty much as I described because the meat measurement was smaller than the skin due to lack of blood flow.
Yeah after I answered your question I thought that too. I guess the 18 vs 19 measurement I must have measured too far down
July 22, 2011
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John L wrote: Yeah after I answered your question I thought that too. I guess the 18 vs 19 measurement I must have measured too far down
No, actually John you could have and probably did measure it correctly. Not all deer with 17″ “C” measurements will have an 18″ “B” measurement, they are just like people or any other living thing. Some have smaller necks and broader shoulders and a shorter eye to nose and longer legs, just like people. That’s why I take just the 2 measurements I mentioned before, the others don’t matter, to me anyway. I checked in 2 older W/T’s this year, one from Kansas and one from Pa. with Roman noses. Now where will I find a form that will fit these deer with a Roman nose sculpted in? I will make the adjustments after the pre mounting test fit, to fit the form to that cape.
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