Prior To Hunting

Climate, moisture and field care are variables that must be taken seriously to ensure good mountable specimens.
We encourage clients to know and understand these factors to aid in this goal.

Taxidermy Unlimited is available for prehunt advice and will do whatever we can to ensure a quality product for you. Shipping tags are available, and help in processing your C.I.T.I.E.S. Permits, etc.

The following is a compilation of information we wish to pass on to you prior to your hunt.

 
A Quality Mount Begins with Proper Field Care

 Caping
Caping, the process of skinning out a trophy animal, is best left to us. Our 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 us.

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 our location, 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 us prior to your hunt in order to get instructions on our caping requirements. However, the following techniques are generally acceptable.

 Skinning Life-Size Big Game
There are two major methods of skinning for a large life-size mount such as deer, elk or bear. These methods are the flat incision and the dorsal method.

The Flat Incision
The flat incision is used for rug mounts and for a variety of poses. The areas to be cut are shown in Figure 1. Make these slits (leave feet attached) and pull the skin off the carcass. The head is detached as with the shoulder mount.

Note: If you can't bring your hide immediately to us, freeze it to our specifications

Flat Incision Illustration Figure 1

The Dorsal Method
The dorsal method of skinning involves a long slit down the back (from the tail base up into the neck). The carcass is skinned as it is pulled through this incision. The feet/hooves and the head are cut off from the carcass as with a shoulder mount explained later. Only use this method with approval and detailed instruction we give you. Use this method only when the skin can be frozen quickly after skinning.

 
 Caping for a Shoulder Mount

1. With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at approximately the mid-way point of the rib cage behind the front legs. Slit the skin around the legs just above the knees. An additional slit will be needed from the back of the leg and joining the body cut behind the legs (Figure 2A and 2B).

2. 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 complete, 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 our location. These cuts should allow ample hide for us to work with in mounting. Remember, we can cut off excess hide but we can't add what we don'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. Also, avoid dragging the deer out of the woods with a rope. Place it on a sled, rickshaw, or 4-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 out with a rope, attach the rope to the base of the antlers and drag your trophy carefully.




 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 us, 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.

 Birds
Do not gut the bird. Rinse off any blood on the feathers with water. Take the bird immediately to our location or freeze it. 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.

 Fish
Do not gut your fish. If you can not immediately take your fish to us, wrap it in a very wet towel and put it in a plastic bag, making sure all the fins are flat against the fish's body (to prevent breakage), and freeze it. A fish frozen with this method can safely be kept in the freezer for months. Note: A fish will lose its coloration shortly after being caught. A good color photograph immediately after the catch may enable us to duplicate the natural color tones of that particular fish.

Remote Field Care

Shoulder Mounts
Make initial cut as shown in Figure 4 (also reference pictures above on Caping for shoulder info). Cut carefully around horns or antlers and cut the skin away from the base. On antlered game, a heavy screwdriver is useful in prying skin loose around antlers.
 

Cut ear cartilage from skull on the inside and clean the meat away from the base of the ear skin down the skull, being careful not to cut through the skin, especially around the eyes. Use the fingers of the free hand as a guide on the outside to be certain you are not cutting into the lids.
 

The lips should be cut close to the skull, leaving the lips attached to the skin. The inside of the lips should then be split. Also, split nose cartilage and eyelids. Ears should be turned inside out if possible; otherwise, pack with salt on both sides.
 

Cut antlers or horns from rest of skull as shown in Figure 7. Remove all flesh and fat from skin and salt well. Use fine grain salt only. Be sure to salt all exposed flesh, including lips, eyes, ears, etc. Watch for folds.
 

Life Size Mounts
Make initial incision on dotted line (- - - -) as diagrammed in Figure 8.

For antlered or horned animals, cut the back of the neck as shown above in Figure 4. Stop the incision at the base of the neck. Skin the animal as normal, cutting away from the incision. Turn ears, eyes and lips and remove flesh and fat. Salt carefully. Life-size hides use a lot of salt.
 

Hooves
Cut initial incision between dewclaws and up to base of hooves. Carefully skin leg down to hoof. Find knuckle joints on each hoof bone and cut through with knife. Do not leave toe bones in; the hair around hoof will fall out. Salt well.
 
 

Paws
For Bears, Cats and Wolves, skin along (- - - -) line. Carefully skin around leg and expose toe bones. Find last knuckle and cut through with knife. Be careful, it is easy to cut through skin around toes. On Bears, pads are larger and may require to be cut through.