The upper view and side profile of a bleached whitetail skull serves as good reference. It shows how the upper skull plate, which supports the horn pedicles, normally aligns with the rest of the skull. This alignment is critical in properly setting antlers.

SETTING ANTLERS IS THE PROCEDURE FOR attaching antlers to a head form so that they appear as if they were still attached to the original skull. Sounds simple? Not always, but could be. Seems fairly basic? Yes!

Antler setting is a task which is often thought of as being fairly simple: drill some holes in the skull plate and attach the antler with screws to the form. In reality, there is more to setting antlers than some realize.

Before a permanent attachment is made, a taxidermist must decide how high and far back the antlers should be placed. Will the antlers need to be canted forward, or backwards? Positioning should not be overlooked. The positioning of antlers should be as close as possible as they were on the original skull. This is made easier by taking measurements prior to skinning.

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