Your thoughts on my coyote mount

My buddy shot his first coyote and asked me to mount it for him. This is the end result. He was tickled to death with it but me being a perfectionist I couldn’t get past all the mistakes I made. The ears aren’t exact and the nose was mis shaped and crooked looking down at it. The lip line is not tucked in far enough. I believe the issue was the form was slightly big and I should have sanded the snout down to accommodate for it. I reckon Im allowed some mistakes for a third mount. Every mistake is a learning process. I found an old fence post half buried in the woods. I hollowed it out to reduce weight and added the old rusty barbed wire. Orderd a fake wheat bush and installed it in the post. I would say the base turned out good. The mount so- so. He wants me to mount his bobcat next so hopefully ill make less mistakes with it. What are your thoughts??? Good or bad. T-REX let me have it!

Looks a little surprised

Nice

I bet that’s the face it made before it was shot!

Practice makes perfect. Keep at it.

I was thinking the same thing after I mounted it. The eyes are a little wide open. I should have relaxed them more.

I agree about the eyes and the snout does look a bit broad . Far better than I could do however !

You have some artistic ability. Faces are always the toughest part and experience is the best teacher.

Real good.

Well you were able to finish the mount and make it look like a coyote. That alone is one accomplishment.
Maybe ease up on calling yourself a perfectionist though. Would a perfectionist really allow that mount to dry looking like that? Something to think about.
Good job!

Looks nice.

Well, it needs work!
That being said, for only your 3rd mound, it's Purdy dang o.k.
Heck, I can't hardy trace my hand

For only your third mount that is nothing to be ashamed of.

A thing to remember is that many forms you get from taxidermy supply outfits aren't anatomically correct; they usually get the deer forms okay but many of the rest of them it's a crap-shoot.

I think you have correctly identified the issues with your coyote, the rather fat muzzle is causing a couple of the problems. A rasp in one hand and the skinned out coyote head in the other will fix that problem next time.

I have mounted a few marten, the first one I ever did was terrible, I used the form as-is. The forms provided by the supply outfits aren't at all correct.

I now add to the form to get the muscle on the top of the head and cheeks correct.

The issue of poorly made forms is what makes the difference between a good taxidermist and a mediocre one. Most guys do a lot of deer heads and become really good at it; however, that doesn't mean they are good at mounting other animals if they don't know exactly what they look like. A good taxidermist will work-over a form to get it just right.

An example of a marten form as compared to what the head should look like.
Notice that I have lightly rasped the head on the form to remove the glazed surface so my Epoxy Sculpt will stick.

Those two don't even look like the same species in profile!
Thanks Waggler

coyote looks great, I would be proud to have it

Thanks for the pics Waggler! that really demonstrates poor anatomy in the form for sure!

Very nice. Way better than what I can do

Me too

You are always your own worst critic. IMO

Looks like Alf had a kid with a coyote!

Almost like a deer caught in the headlights

Title it “coyote on meth”

I guess I should’ve said I strive to be a perfectionist but it doesn’t always pan out. I must have stood back and looked at the mount 100x and still screwed it up. Ill do better on the next one hopefully.

I agree on the forms need work, you can build up areas with oil base clay and it doesn't dry and get hard so you can work with it as the skin dries. If you don't have the form when you skin the animal take lots of measurements like eyes to nose and also several pics at different angles of the carcass head so you can take off material or add clay as needed to make the form like the original. Good job.

Looks better then a lot of coyotes that so called professionals do

I think waggler gave you some good advice.Looks better than I could do.Take lots of close up pictures of things you trap and look at them while your working on something.Did you go to school for taxidermy?

Looks like every bobcat mount I've ever seen.

No sir I have not been to a taxidermy school. I wish I had the time to go but with a full time job supporting a wife and 3 kids at home I simply don’t have the time to go. I just started as a hobby then perhaps start doing it for side money. All information I have has been obtained from books, dvds, or word of mouth from pros. I have asked my local taxidermist if I could possibly help him out over the weekends to learn and he told me he doesn’t do that. Not that I blame him but when I told him I was interested in learning he told me to more or less forget it and let him do it for me. That was kind of a driving force to get me started.

T... take this in the honest way it’s meant, do NOT do a cat without a lot more experience or a very good teacher helping you. Cats are extremely difficult and with the finer skin and facial hair very error comes screaming out.
You have talent for sure, just don’t jump into A-team territory too soon.
Look forward to seeing your progress posts.

Osky

Osky I already have. This was my second mount. Not finished of course. Need to paint nose and ears. Usual beginner flaws.

Imo cats and otters are the most often messed up mounts. Very few taxidermists can get cats right.

On this subject, checkout the Christmas present I just unwrapped from my nephew

Third coyote, not bad
Keep at it
I like those Chinese coyotes

Thanks. Third mount. First was a coon, bobcat, then the coyote.

where is the rest of the coyote?
shoulder mount mixed with fence and other structure looks wrong in my .02

if he is happy, that counts for alot

you have critiqued yourself pretty well

BEWARE of getting cat faces to look right. There is good info at www.taxidermy.net

Its a wall pedestal/shoulder mounts = no rest of a animal. I was trying to make it look as if the coyote was looking out from behind the fence post.

Keep at it and you will keep improving. Take the time to print out lots of reference pictures from all different angles and keep checking your references.
I quite like your coyote, it's a solid effort for a third mount. Good luck

Absolutely Hideous !!!

Awesome, definitely needs some improvement. BUT it’s your thirds one. It’s pretty cool that you’re taking the initiative to do something like this. Keep it up!!

looks good better than some work i have seen ,

Lol
I have a bud that has been doing taxi for years..big difference between now and his early stuff

Thanks. From what I keep hearing very few younger guys have any interest in taxidermy anymore. Most of the older pros I have talked to seem pretty happy a 30yr old has taken interest.

Looks like he's staring at a pair of oncoming headlights.

T-Rev The coyote is not bad for your third mount being self taught. The eyes can still be adjusted take some wet cotton balls and rehydrate the eye lids. This will take a day or two , get yourself a good picture of a LIVE coyote in a similar position and when eye lids are rehydrated position them as you see the eyes in the picture. Top lid should be just a hair above the pupil. The ears , next time the inner points that are sticking up on your mount should be on the the skull. next one you skin pay attention to how they are attached to the skull. I hope this was kind of helpful for you , good luck and keep at it .

Must be an awfully skinny coyote to be hidden behind that small post.

You must have no imagination whatsoever. Do you look at every shoulder mount that even professionals have done whether it be deer, boar, bear etc. and say where is the rest of it? Why is that base there in front of it looking out of place. Obviously its not a good mount so I hoped the base would help it out some.

Don't pay any attention to the ignorant comments on here . They are just trying to ruffle your feathers.

Well, honestly if I had paid a lot of money for it I wouldn't be too happy with it. If I had got it done free or cheap I would learn to love it.




Actually I did pay a lot of money for a red fox that was about on that same level or worse.

I charged him $150 and a hunt for a nice buck on his property next season. After paying for materials and shipping I wound up making $50 profit. It didn’t bother me though it was for a friend. I was glad he got his first coyote and happy he let me do the work on it. I told him don’t expect professional results. Even with all the flaws he was happy with it. Thats what counts.

Third stuff-job? Not bad, not bad at all. I won't even scare you with photos of some of my first stabs at taxidermy! As stated above....practice, practice, as well as reference, reference, reference! If you shop around and get a catalog from as many suppliers as you can, you will see the great quality differences in many of the small/medium game forms. Deer are king in the taxidermy industry, so that is where 90% of the sculpting improvements are. I had an old friend in the industry that was a real wiz at sculpting and posing small and medium game forms. This person won all manner of awards at the various national shows. As a result, this person went on to market the many forms through several supply companies. The sculpter was a teacher a their "real" job, and once told me that the yearly royalties from those manikins was more than the yearly teachers retirement. That is what a good sculpter can expect if they produce top quality manikins.

You need to move it away from the front of the house.
I for one, would be tempted to shoot it while driving by to keep it from getting to the children.