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Game Heads
You should never
cut the throat or make any other type of cuts as many capes are ruined
this way. When skinning, remember you need a lot of skin to ensure a full
shoulder cape. When gutting, do not cut above the breastbone. To skin,
start skinning the deer as you normally would from the back
legs down. When you get to the brisket area make a "v" cutting along
the inside of the front legs where the WHITE fur meets the BROWN fur. Do
not cut right up through the middle of the white fur! The tip of the "v"
is at the lower end of the brisket. The leg incision should stop at the
front leg joint. Cut off the front legs (or leave them on if you wish a
half mount). Then take the skin and peel it down until you are at the neck
meat near the base of the skull. Cut through the meat and bone, and you
will have the full cape with the unskinned head and rest of the back hide
attached in one piece. Do not skin the head. Wrap in plastic and freeze,
or keep very cool and away from the sun (and dogs!) for no more than a
few days, before delivering for taxidermy work. The same applies for other
size game animals, such as hogs, sheep, mule deer, antelope.
Most outfitters will have someone skin for you. Elk, caribou, and moose need a full incision down the back of the neck for easier handling. When going on a mule deer hunt( or guided deer hunt of any type), request the outfitter skin the deer with a "cased" incision. This makes it a lot easier to do a good quality mount as I use a short incision.
Small & Medium
Game
Bring whole and fresh or freeze in plastic
right away. In cold weather, bring foxes whole and fresh, rather than frozen,
for best results. Red foxes are susceptible to rapid bacteria growth, and
freezing solid and thawing can make the results of tanning very iffy. Also
I recommend using a .22 (or trapping) only to harvest fox, raccoon, and
similar sized animals to minimize bullet damage.
Larger calibers may tear the skin to
the point of major repair, or may make the skin unusable for a mount. For
road kill animals (found during the hunting or trapping seasons for that
species), do not worry about damaged skulls, the skin is still useable,
but you do take a risk on the results of tanning.
Large Game, full
mounts, rugs
Most outfitters have someone to skin
for you. I prefer a dorsal (cut along the top of the back, not at the belly)
cut for the following animals to be done as full mounts: wolf, black bear,
mountain lion, coyote, deer, mountain goat, rocky mountain sheep,
pronghorn.
For the following, a ventral ( along
the belly and insides of legs) is preferred: grizzly, brown and polar bear,
caribou, elk, moose, very large black bears( over 400 pounds). Be sure
to leave anus and genitals attached firmly with the rest of the skin. For
best results, I can furnish a measurement chart to fill out, for the main
measurements needed to order a proper fitting form. Please request this
before leaving on the hunt, and allow time for me to explain how to do
it properly, so as to insure the highest quality in mounting. Also, if
you are to skin the animal(s) yourself, please come by so I can explain
the proper
way to do it. Advice is free!
Game Rugs
For rugs, use a ventral incision, by
cutting from heel to heel across the anus, and from wrist to wrist across
the chest, then from anus up the center of the body, connecting with the
other cuts. Make cuts symmetrical .Use this on the large full mounts too
(grizzly, etc.), but be sure to leave genitals on for full mounts. For
small game rugs, deliver whole.
Birds
Never wring the neck or carry by the
neck. Keep blood off of feathers, esp. snow geese. Transport in a manner
so as to not break or otherwise damage feathers. Keep cold, or freeze until
delivery. Birds taken in earlier fall seasons tend to have a lot of pinfeathers.
Most mounts of these early birds do not turn out well as the feathers fall
out. I recommend taking birds from late seasons to be used for mounting.
By then they are fully feathered and have beautiful coloration! Do not
gut birds. If you want to eat your turkey, you can gut it by making an
incision from the end of the breast bone down to the anus. Remove entrails
through this cut, and freeze or keep cold until delivery.
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