FORM ALTERATION    DOE TO BUTTON BUCK

                      by Glen Conley

       WHITETAIL DESIGNER SYSTEMS, INC.

My favorite mount to do is someone's first deer.  That was the case with this button buck.  The huntress started hunting at the age of 43 with a bow, and had me to mount it for her to preserve the memory.

She brought me the head with half the neck still attached.  This allowed me to take a number of measurements and photos prior to skinning.  After skinning the head out, I took a number of photos again, and then froze the head and neck for future reference.

I brought the head out through the mouth when I skinned it in order to do it as a seamless mount. I make some of my most useful tools out of brass brazing rod, that way I can make any kind of shape or edge that I want. A brass tool is what I run in up under the buttons in order to slide them off.

The button buck was a 6 1/2" x 14". The circumference around the nubbins and jaw was 19". To gain that much relaxation to gain 5" of circumference, I used the WHITETAIL DESIGNER SYSTEMS on it. This is the same button buck cape that was on the RESULTS OF LONG TERM FREEZING OF A STOP-ROT TREATED CAPE article.

When you're doing taxidermy, here and there you're going to come up with an animal that there isn't a form out there that it will fit.  There's only one thing to do...................

I started out with a doe form that was just a tad bigger in the neck, and quite a bit bigger in the head.

The head was cut up into eight pieces, and stuck back together with polyester resin body filler.  A ninth piece was a wedge shape cut out behind the head to raise the nose up.

All of the adjustments were made to the measurements taken from  the head.

The head was carved to measurements and photos, with the finish of the muscles being done with Apoxie Sculpt.

Finished mount with a repeat photo of the original doe form for comparison.