Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Antelope Taxidermy/Cape Question

Hey guys,
Got my antelope back from the taxidermist and I'm almost sure the cape is different on the mounted one. Any of you 'experts' out there think I'm crazy? Anyone think these are from the same animal? Let me know your opinions.....

Dont look like the same to me, the tan strip trough the white on the real one, is not there on the mount. Nice mount though. Great pics.

Toby Joe

Yep, different cape.

Different capes. In addition to the neck stripe, the one in the photo has more black running between the eyes and the base of the horns.

But the horns look like they are the same.

looks the same to me....yeah the tan strip is missing but I still
think it's the same goat.His neck is much more stretched out
on the mount than the pic.

I agree with Jeff. look at the pyramid of white in the lower area. It's the same on both. I think the top white stripe is just stretched on the mount. A nice mount either way. Hey you should have seen the shock on my face when my first caribou mount arrived. I shot it in the velvet. When I opened the crate and saw those tiny antlers I freaked out thinking they were not mine.

Stetson,
Did you ask your taxidermist to keep the velvet on?? I would be upset if that was the case. I just see a bunch of differences on the capes, so its nice to get some response about it....

It is without question a different cape. The tan strip would be visible on the mount no matter how it was mounted and the original cape had a MUCH darker face. Despite the cape change (any number of things could have been wrong with the original) it is a very nice mount.

No I wanted the velvet off. I was just unprepared for how different it looked with it gone. I had taken velvet off other caribou antlers that were not mine but seeing the mass with the animal alive Vs the mass with the velvet gone was a shocker. Your goat looks great. A hunt I hope to do in the near future.

Ranger,
Yea I like the mount and the work is done good other than there is a 4" stitch mark showin on the brisket with staples that show. The taxidermist claims this is due to 'bad-caping' and thats when I started lookin closer. It would not be a problem to have a different cape except for the ugly seam that I now get to look at. Not sure of any problems with my cape and I would certainly want my taxidermist to let me know if there were before switching it out (with a faulty cape). Looks like I might have a bit of a battle over this one, so I'm just takin some polls to make sure I'm not crazy for pushin this issue.

That don't sound right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

If there were cape issues he is blaming on you do you believe he would absorb the cost of a new cape?
art

Stetson,
Antelope hunts are great fun and definatly worth doin one day if you've never experienced them. Nothing better than spotting animals all day, choosing the 'perfect' animal and just playin around in the sage and cactus....

I think that is a different cape. Unless there was a hole in the white patch that he had to cut out, they look different. The horizontal tan stripe is not as thick between the white parts, and the vertical tan strip separating the white section is gone.

I'm thinking that's just the angle of the photo. Did you inspect him that close in the field? I mean was the stripe really solid or was the fur just pushed a bit. Goat hair is so stiff they shouldn't be able to move it much. To me the rest of it looks identical and like Art suggested unless the guy is a screwball why would he swing for a new hide and then blame poor caping on you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> The staples are a bummer but maybe he thought they would show less than stitching.

Sitka,
If there were cape issues on MY cape I would want him to let me know so I could decide whether or not to put a new cape on the mount. I would gladly pay for a new cape if I had promlems with my original. He did not tell me of any cape issues and the cape doesnt even look to be mine. Makes me wonder if there was anything wrong with my cape to begin with, and if so, why did he use a cape that was damaged? I just smell something funny and I think he took a shortcut and used a different cape (it just happened to be a bad one). Nothing worse than being blamed for a mistake when it doesnt even seem to be YOUR mistake.....

I am a taxidermist, and he should of inspected the cape when prepping and notified you of any problems. And, I can tell you...I wouldn't eat the cost of a replacement cape. Sometimes capes come back from the tannery damaged beyond use, but even then he should of told you, and charged you for a new one.

Stetson,
I do have several other pics but not on the computer right now. I'll have to wait till I get home and get some more but they all seem to look the same. So far my 'points' would be:
1: The top throat patch doesnt have the brown in it.
2: The neck patch on the mounted animal comes a lot closer than the neck patch on the field photo. (The white is closer)
3: The face and the dark hair seems to be a bit different in shape around the eyes and cheek.
4: The ears look to be a bit different in the black on them.
5: I dont think I made that big of a mistake caping, as I've caped several animals in the past
6: Overal, there is more 'white' on the cape and he told me he did not die anything on purpose.

Meh....makes for interesting conversation.....

Any hide can get damaged in the tanning process. One would hope that it would be repaired to a degree that it would not be visible. I see what you mean with the dark around the eyes. What a pizzer.

I think you missed my point. If the cape WERE your mistake I believe the taxidermist would have charged you for the replacement. I believe the cape was switched, mostly because of the amount of black above and behind the eyes.

White patches get stretched all over the place and are not reliable.
art