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:. HELPFUL HINTS Bacteria is your trophy's biggest enemy. Bacteria will cause "slippage" of the hair. Treat your capes the same as your meat. Freezing your trophy is the best short-term solution. Due to freezer burn, your trophy should only be stored in a freezer temporarily. It is recommended that you get your trophy to your taxidermist as soon as possible. Always keep it as cool as possible until you can freeze it or get it to your taxidermist. Take care when dragging your deer from the neck. It is best not to drag against the hair patterns. Hang your deer by the hind legs when skinning, Do not hang from the neck. Preparation is very dependant on the temperature. The warmer it is the quicker and more you must do to protect your trophy. Complete skinning and salting might be needed in the field if the weather is hot. Avoid direct sunlight and any heat. |
1. With animal on its back, make a shallow cut through the skin just below the breastbone.
Make sure that you start your cut well away from the brisket allowing plenty of uncut skin
for your shoulder mount. Insert two fingers of the free hand, cradling the blade to hold the
skin up and way from the entrails. Figure A
2. Cut straight down the belly and around the genitals, separating but not severing them
from the abdominal wall. Slit the belly skin all the way to the pelvic bone. Figure B
3. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not cut off or puncture the intestine. Pull to
make sure the rectum is separated from tissue connecting it to the pelvic canal. Pull the
rectum out and tie a string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat.
Lift the animal's back quarter a bit, reach into the from of the pelvic canal and pull the
intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area.
4. If you want to make a full shoulder mount, do not cut open the chest cavity. Cut the
diaphragm away from the ribs all the way to the backbone area. Reach into the forward
chest cavity, find the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up as possible.
Figure C - and pull them down through the chest.
5. Roll the animal onto its side, grab the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up
as possible. Figure C - and pull them down through the chest.
6. With the animal on its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the
rectum/intestines with the other. Pull hard.
:. CAPING YOUR TROPHY
CUT #1 - With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at
approximately the knees. An additional slit will be needed from the back of the leg and
joining the body cut behind the legs.
Peel the skin forward up to the ears and jaw exposing the head/neck junction. Cut into
the neck approximately three inches down from this junction. Circle the neck, cutting
down to the spinal column. After this cut is, grasp the antler bases, and twist the head
off the neck. This should allow the hide to be rolled up and put in a freezer until transported
to the taxidermist. These cuts should allow ample hide for the taxidermist to work with in
mounting. Remember, the taxidermist can cut off excess hide, but he can't add what he
doesn't have.
Note: When field dressing a trophy to be mounted, don't cut into the brisket (chest) or
neck area. If blood gets on the hide to be mounted, wash it off with snow or water as
soon as possible. Avoid dragging the deer out of the woods with a rope. Place it on a
sled, a rickshaw, or a four-wheeler. The rope, rocks, or a broken branch from a deadfall
can easily damage the fur or puncture the hide. If you do need to drag it our with a rope,
attach the rope to the base of the antlers and drag your trophy carefully.
Once Caped,freeze in a Hefty Trash Bag. If the animal has horns, allow them to stick out
of the bag if possible.
~Get as much air as possible out of the bag and tie or seal it shut. Seal the bag around
the bases of antlers with tape. You need to keep as much air out of the bag as you can.!
~Place the animal in a freezer near the bottom, if possible, so it freezes quickly.
:. FULL BODY OR RUG
When skinning for full body mounts or for rug mounts begin your cut approximately 4 inches from the end of the chin and
continue to cut straight down the throat and belly to the end of the tail. Cut from the center of the pads down inside of the legs
to the center of cut. Leave the feet, and head for the taxidermist to skin.
:. SMALL MAMMALS
Animals, coyote sized or smaller, should not be skinned unless by a professional. Don't gut
the animal. Small mammals, especially carnivores, will spoil quickly because of their thin hide
and bacteria. If you can't take the small game animal immediately to a taxidermist, as soon as
the carcass cools completely, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it. With the epidemic of rabies
evident in many areas of the country, take every safety measure necessary when handling
your game
:.FREEZING MAMMALS
The most common problem with freezing mammals is the drying out of the ears, feet and face.
This can make it more difficult to properly skin and prepare your mammal for mounting. For
all mammals, wipe or rinse as much blood off the hide as possible, then do the following:
~Wrap the face with a wet towel and cover the nose and ears.
~Use more than one towel if needed. Place a heavy plastic bag over the towel, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can
and use tape to keep it in place.
~For deer or other horned or antlered animals, wrap each ear with a separate wet towel and place a plastic bag over each ear.
Then wrap the face from the bases and over the nose with another wet towel.
~Wrap each foot and the tail (except the tail on bear) in a wet towel and place a plastic bag over each one.
~If the animal is skinned, fold the skin flesh side to flesh side and fold or roll it up. Now place the entire animal or skin into a
heavy plastic bag.
:. BIRDS
Do not gut the bird. Rinse any blood from the feathers with water. Immediately freeze the bird or take it to your taxidermist. Put
the bird into a plastic bag for freezing, being careful not to damage the feathers, including the tail. If the bird's tail feathers do not
fit in the bag, do not bend them. Let the tail stick out of the bag and tie the bag loosely.
:. PREPARING FISH
When preparing your fish for the taxidermist, try not to handle the fish anymore than you have to. DO NOT GUT THE FISH! Start
by wrapping the entire fish in a wet towel, taking care to keep the fins flat against the body. Roll fish up in a plastic bag and lay
flat in a freezer until you get to the taxidermist.
If you choose to have a reproduction made, follow these steps outlined below:
Measure the entire length of the fish. Measure the girth of the fish at the widest point. Take several photos from different
angles.
Make sure that you start your cut well away from the brisket allowing plenty of uncut skin
for your shoulder mount. Insert two fingers of the free hand, cradling the blade to hold the
skin up and way from the entrails. Figure A
2. Cut straight down the belly and around the genitals, separating but not severing them
from the abdominal wall. Slit the belly skin all the way to the pelvic bone. Figure B
3. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not cut off or puncture the intestine. Pull to
make sure the rectum is separated from tissue connecting it to the pelvic canal. Pull the
rectum out and tie a string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat.
Lift the animal's back quarter a bit, reach into the from of the pelvic canal and pull the
intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area.
4. If you want to make a full shoulder mount, do not cut open the chest cavity. Cut the
diaphragm away from the ribs all the way to the backbone area. Reach into the forward
chest cavity, find the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up as possible.
Figure C - and pull them down through the chest.
5. Roll the animal onto its side, grab the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up
as possible. Figure C - and pull them down through the chest.
6. With the animal on its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the
rectum/intestines with the other. Pull hard.
:. CAPING YOUR TROPHY
CUT #1 - With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at
approximately the knees. An additional slit will be needed from the back of the leg and
joining the body cut behind the legs.
Peel the skin forward up to the ears and jaw exposing the head/neck junction. Cut into
the neck approximately three inches down from this junction. Circle the neck, cutting
down to the spinal column. After this cut is, grasp the antler bases, and twist the head
off the neck. This should allow the hide to be rolled up and put in a freezer until transported
to the taxidermist. These cuts should allow ample hide for the taxidermist to work with in
mounting. Remember, the taxidermist can cut off excess hide, but he can't add what he
doesn't have.
Note: When field dressing a trophy to be mounted, don't cut into the brisket (chest) or
neck area. If blood gets on the hide to be mounted, wash it off with snow or water as
soon as possible. Avoid dragging the deer out of the woods with a rope. Place it on a
sled, a rickshaw, or a four-wheeler. The rope, rocks, or a broken branch from a deadfall
can easily damage the fur or puncture the hide. If you do need to drag it our with a rope,
attach the rope to the base of the antlers and drag your trophy carefully.
Once Caped,freeze in a Hefty Trash Bag. If the animal has horns, allow them to stick out
of the bag if possible.
~Get as much air as possible out of the bag and tie or seal it shut. Seal the bag around
the bases of antlers with tape. You need to keep as much air out of the bag as you can.!
~Place the animal in a freezer near the bottom, if possible, so it freezes quickly.
:. FULL BODY OR RUG
When skinning for full body mounts or for rug mounts begin your cut approximately 4 inches from the end of the chin and
continue to cut straight down the throat and belly to the end of the tail. Cut from the center of the pads down inside of the legs
to the center of cut. Leave the feet, and head for the taxidermist to skin.
:. SMALL MAMMALS
Animals, coyote sized or smaller, should not be skinned unless by a professional. Don't gut
the animal. Small mammals, especially carnivores, will spoil quickly because of their thin hide
and bacteria. If you can't take the small game animal immediately to a taxidermist, as soon as
the carcass cools completely, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it. With the epidemic of rabies
evident in many areas of the country, take every safety measure necessary when handling
your game
:.FREEZING MAMMALS
The most common problem with freezing mammals is the drying out of the ears, feet and face.
This can make it more difficult to properly skin and prepare your mammal for mounting. For
all mammals, wipe or rinse as much blood off the hide as possible, then do the following:
~Wrap the face with a wet towel and cover the nose and ears.
~Use more than one towel if needed. Place a heavy plastic bag over the towel, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can
and use tape to keep it in place.
~For deer or other horned or antlered animals, wrap each ear with a separate wet towel and place a plastic bag over each ear.
Then wrap the face from the bases and over the nose with another wet towel.
~Wrap each foot and the tail (except the tail on bear) in a wet towel and place a plastic bag over each one.
~If the animal is skinned, fold the skin flesh side to flesh side and fold or roll it up. Now place the entire animal or skin into a
heavy plastic bag.
:. BIRDS
Do not gut the bird. Rinse any blood from the feathers with water. Immediately freeze the bird or take it to your taxidermist. Put
the bird into a plastic bag for freezing, being careful not to damage the feathers, including the tail. If the bird's tail feathers do not
fit in the bag, do not bend them. Let the tail stick out of the bag and tie the bag loosely.
:. PREPARING FISH
When preparing your fish for the taxidermist, try not to handle the fish anymore than you have to. DO NOT GUT THE FISH! Start
by wrapping the entire fish in a wet towel, taking care to keep the fins flat against the body. Roll fish up in a plastic bag and lay
flat in a freezer until you get to the taxidermist.
If you choose to have a reproduction made, follow these steps outlined below:
Measure the entire length of the fish. Measure the girth of the fish at the widest point. Take several photos from different
angles.
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