Bess, Granted, It's tough to criticize someone's work but in this case, the item was bought as is with no personal attachment so i felt more at ease to give my opinion. I too looked this guy over several times before coming to that evaluation. I had mixed signals on the work myself before coming to my own conclusion, not saying that i'm right here, or that you see what i'm seeing, it's just my opinion.
That side view doesn't look bad but the straight on look, that face just doesn't look like the face STRUCTURE of a BUCK DEER, any kind of deer. When i think of the thousands of mounts that i/ve looked at, studied, drawn and mounted a few, color aside, this one has a Elsie the cow looking face.
Joey