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Guide to Taxidermy 



inches larger than the circumference of the neck at 

 this point. For a medium-sized deer taken in the 

 hunting season, this will usually be just about ^4 

 in., so a neck board of 26 in. would be correct; 

 these figures are not fixed and you must make your 

 measurements to correspond to your head. Make 

 this neck board out of inch pine board. The neck 

 piece is made of two pieces of this board, about 

 four inches wide, nailed together; the shield end 

 should be cut on about an angle of 45 degrees. The 

 length of this piece will depend upon how long a 

 neck you want on your specimen. A medium length 

 is the best and the neck piece usually averages 

 about 12 in. long, measured along the top (this is 

 the shortest side). The back of the skull is chop- 

 ped out with a hatchet to accommodate the end of 

 this neck piece, and the top end of the latter is 

 rounded a little to fit the shape of the skull. The 

 sketches show both these neck pieces and the 

 method of attaching the skull. The skull should be 

 nailed to the neck so that when placed upon the wall 

 the bottom of the under jaw will slant slightly 

 downward. 



You will notice in the plate on page 150, that the 

 nose of the skull has been cut off just in front of 



