Sheep mount help

BurntRidge

Member
Messages
53
I just got this photo from my taxidermist, and while I love the mount in general I’m not sure on the front legs. If I brought this up with the taxidermist could he go back and fix this or no?



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Nice ram. Congrats!

One thing is for sure, sheep are just shaped kind of weird.
 
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That’s a good idea - hide the front feet with a clump of grass. Ears are messed up but no one but you will ever notice. Has this dude ever done a sheep before?!
 
I feel like the bend in the ankle isn't quite right. There is supposed to be a bend there, but it seems something is a little off. I don't know enough about taxidermy to know what can be done. No matter what, I'd recommend having an honest, calm discussion with the taxidermist. I think any professional would appreciate the opportunity to make everything right.

Here's another reference pic...

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I feel like the bend in the ankle isn't quite right. There is supposed to be a bend there, but it seems something is a little off. I don't know enough about taxidermy to know what can be done. No matter what, I'd recommend having an honest, calm discussion with the taxidermist. I think any professional would appreciate the opportunity to make everything right.

Here's another reference pic...

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I agree, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t bugging for no reason. I’m going to call him tomorrow and see what he says and what we can’t work out. Hopefully something can be done.
 
Here are both of mine. My desert is going uphill like yours and it doesn't have near the bend. Did I notice a "crease" in front of the hind leg, or is it just my old eyes? My rocky is pretty smooth there. I had a ton of offers to do my sheep, including a LS for $3500 and a 6 month turnaround. I paid around 6k and waited about 15 months for both. I'd definitely talk to your taxidermist.

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The legs are a hard fix. May actually have to cut the rods bend new ones and weld them in place.
I was waiting for your response on this as you have a lot of experience. I called my taxidermist today and talked to him about it but he didn’t understand what I was talking about so I’m going to drive up and look at it in person and try and point it out. As a taxidermist is this something that you would fix if a customer wasn’t happy? I looked up the form online he used and it definitely is exactly like the form but it’s just unnatural to me.

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I was waiting for your response on this as you have a lot of experience. I called my taxidermist today and talked to him about it but he didn’t understand what I was talking about so I’m going to drive up and look at it in person and try and point it out. As a taxidermist is this something that you would fix if a customer wasn’t happy? I looked up the form online he used and it definitely is exactly like the form but it’s just unnatural to me.

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That form is Timmy from south park!
 
I was waiting for your response on this as you have a lot of experience. I called my taxidermist today and talked to him about it but he didn’t understand what I was talking about so I’m going to drive up and look at it in person and try and point it out. As a taxidermist is this something that you would fix if a customer wasn’t happy? I looked up the form online he used and it definitely is exactly like the form but it’s just unnatural to me.

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This is the hard reality of taxidermy. ALL FORMS WE BUY ARE FLAWED. The vast majority of taxidermists don't know how to recognize these flaws nor do they know how to correct them. This form has a lot of flaws. The front legs are one of them.

My question here is did you specifically pick this form out? I'm not attacking you and I want to help you.
 
This is the hard reality of taxidermy. ALL FORMS WE BUY ARE FLAWED. The vast majority of taxidermists don't know how to recognize these flaws nor do they know how to correct them. This form has a lot of flaws. The front legs are one of them.

My question here is did you specifically pick this form out? I'm not attacking you and I want to help you.
I did not pick the form, he asked what pose I like. I sent him pics of various other mounts but never seen the form.
 
Okydoky. The reason I asked is sometimes if it is a specific form you picked a taxidermist could just say , "I did what you picked". Not saying it would be the ethical response from the taxidermist but it could complicate the situation.

I feel bad for you. I know how special a trophy it is and I hope you get everything worked out.
I did not pick the form, he asked what pose I like. I sent him pics of various other mounts but never seen the form.
 
Okydoky. The reason I asked is sometimes if it is a specific form you picked a taxidermist could just say , "I did what you picked". Not saying it would be the ethical response from the taxidermist but it could complicate the situation.

I feel bad for you. I know how special a trophy it is and I hope you get everything worked out.
I pray I do, where as it’s been glued is there anything he can do to fix it or that I can take to another taxidermist to fix?
 
I agree 100% with you that the front legs just above the hooves looks funky and not right. As mentioned earlier some forms are not correct or are in awkward positions. I usually go to the taxidermists shop to look at the form and everything just before he puts the cape on. This has prevented a lot of misunderstandings or flaws.

Any taxidermist should be able to re-hydrate the cape to make adjustments. I don’t think there should be any problem adjusting the area above the hooves. If your taxidermist won’t do it I’m sure another will.
 
jims, are you Taxidermist or did you sleep at a Holiday Inn? As Tristate stated fixing those legs now would not be an easy fix and could make matters worse. Re-hydrating may and may not be possible depending on the type of glue used. Is it possible? Yes but to state that any Taxidermist can or will do this is misleading.
 
jims, are you Taxidermist or did you sleep at a Holiday Inn? As Tristate stated fixing those legs now would not be an easy fix and could make matters worse. Re-hydrating may and may not be possible depending on the type of glue used. Is it possible? Yes but to state that any Taxidermist can or will do this is misleading.
very.....
 
jims, are you Taxidermist or did you sleep at a Holiday Inn? As Tristate stated fixing those legs now would not be an easy fix and could make matters worse. Re-hydrating may and may not be possible depending on the type of glue used. Is it possible? Yes but to state that any Taxidermist can or will do this is misleading.
Jims will probably say that sheep must have stepped in cheatgrass and his legs started to deform after that.

In other news, I hope you get your trophy fixed.
 
I am sorry I am late to reply back to this thread. I have been in the pasture for a few days.

As far as rehydration and glue separation, I doubt that will be a significant problem. If for some crazy reason the skin was not tanned and was only mounted using a dry preserve agent then rehydration is highly risky. Some "home tans" are also risky for rehydration as many are not a true tan but a preserving soak or just a pickle soak. These can also make hydration risky.

As for the glue being able to separate from the skin, most commercial adhesives will separate fairly easily from a rehydrated properly tanned skin. If for some reason an epoxy style glue was used then you could run into a problem.

Hopefully your taxidermist will communicate with you well and yall can develop a plan to get your sheep the way you want it.
 
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Here is the main problem, every lifesize manikin I’ve ever used has extra material that needs to be removed. That bend to the back in the lower leg is where the dewclaw should be aligned. When test fitting the skin, I find where the dewclaws fit and usually end up removing up to several inches (repenting on manufacturer) so the hooves fall into place. That has not been done on your mount. Even if you could rehydrate and remove the skin for repair purposes this fix will likely make things worse in my opinion. Sorry this happened to you.
 
What the heck happened from the not perfect but better pic to this last pic? Looks like the leg went back to the original problem.
 

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