** DUE TO OVERSTOCK, WE ARE TAKING A VERY LIMITED AMOUNT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! **
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HOW TO Proper care in the field
To have a great looking mount it is essential that the animal is properly taken care of.
Hair slippage will occur from bacterial growth. Animals should be kept cool and dry. Never put a hot animal into a plastic bag. Let the animal cool down first. If the hide is not frozen and sits in a cooler for more than a week it will also slip. Have you ever left meat in the refridgerator for more than a week, it will start to smell and turn green. The blood and meat on the hide will do the same. Try to get the animal in the freezer as soon as posible.
I've had deer hides come from the processor that sat in a cooler for more than a week have slippage around the eyes and in bloody areas.
Never cut the throat, briscuit or neck.
Never drag the animal if possible. Keep the head, neck and shoulders off the ground if you have to.
Whitetail preparation
A note of caution: Because of the various diseases that wild game can transmit to humans, always use extreme caution when handling the carcass. Use rubber or latex gloves and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water after handling.
With the deer 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 away from the entrails. 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. Note: Start the incision below the caping line. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not to 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 string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat. Lift the animal's back quarter a bit, reach into the front of the pelvic canal, and pull the intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area. 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 wind pipe, cut them off as far up as possible and pull them down through the chest. Roll the deer onto its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the rectum/intestine with the other. Pull hard. The deer's internal organs will come out in one big package with a minimum of mess. Caping, the process of skinning out a trophy animal, is best left to the taxidermist. Their experience skinning, especially the delicate nose, mouth, eyes, and ears is invaluable toward producing a quality mount. Damage to a hide is costly to repair. Some types of damage simply cannot be "fixed" by the taxidermist. Many trophies are ruined in the first few hours after death. As soon as the animal dies, bacteria begins to attack the carcass. Warm, humid weather accelerates bacteria growth. In remote areas, or areas not near your taxidermist, a competent person may be required to cape out the hide in order to preserve it. Every taxidermist has a preferred method of caping a hide. Contact your taxidermist prior to your hunt in order to get instructions on their caping requirements. However, the following techniques are generally acceptable. |
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Fish
preparation
Field Care of Your Trophy Fish 1. Keep it cool and dry. Don't gut along belly.
2. Sprinkle skin and fins with salt or borax, if possible. 3. Don't put it in water, directly on ice, in contact with other fish, or in plastic bag (unless ready to freeze). 4. Before freezing, wrap fins with wet paper towel or wrap entire fish in wet cloth towel. Seal fish well in heavy plastic bag. 5. Bring fish for mounting as soon as possible. |
Bird
Preparation
After the bird is dead, there are three keys to getting your bird to the taxidermist in prime condition.
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