Deer mount ear adjust?

[LanceS4803]

My wife wanted a doe mounted a couple of years ago. Great job, but I would like the ears in the Full Alert and forward position.
Since I don't know how ears are done, once a mount is finished, how hard is it to change ear position?

 

[Mike Belt]

To my knowledge it can't be done without completely dismantling the mount and going with a new cape.

 

[AT Hiker]

In theory you can BUT it depends on a couple things, not to mention there are risk involved and you must have a knowledge of taxidermy.

Couple things to consider. Are the ears bondo or earliners? Are the earbutts sculpted from clay, epoxie or casted? Is the skin tanned or dry preserved?

I'm going to guess and say they are bondo ears and clay butts. If so, you could carefully rehydrate the earbutts and reshape/position. That's if the skin is tanned. If it's dry preserved I personally wouldn't touch it.

Like Mike said, a complete remount would be the only sure fire way. During the rehydration process you could mess up the eye work and/or cause other problems. It can be done without doing a remount but too many variables come to play to determine the "how".




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[LanceS4803]

Wow, had no idea it was that involved. This is no DIY.
I'll give the taxidermist a call.

 

[AT Hiker]

Halfway decent taxidermy is a very detailed process that takes lots of time.


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[Mike Belt]

...and a base knowledge and love of the animal you're attempting to represent back to the hunter.

I think you're going to find out that you're probably going to end up keeping the mount you have. To do what you want I suspect is going to cost near the same as an entirely new mount.