Field Tips & Trophy Care
1-Avoid dragging the animal if possible.
2-If it is an antlered animal, drag it by the antlers. Do not put a rope around the neck and drag. This will break the hair.
3-Do not tag in the ear.
4-Do not cut the throat.
5-If having it aged, do not let them cut the cheek open.
6-Skinning the animal cut down the back of the leg, not inside the leg. Skin up to the head, cut off the neck, keeping the hide attached to the head. This is a good way to deliver the animal .






 




7-If you're having it processed, tell the butcher you're having it mounted.
8-Place the hide & head in a box or paper bag and freeze or take to the taxidermist as soon as possible
9-Never salt the hide, this causes hide to pool moisture and may deteriorate the hide.
10- Freeze it right away, if you can't get it in ASAP.
Skinning Life Size Game
The Flat Incision-is used in rug mounts and other variety poses. The area to be cut is shown in Figure#1. Make these slits (cutting the feet free from the carcass) .The head detached as with the should mount.

The Dorsal Cut- (For life size only). This is skinning the animal down the back. From base of tail to back of head. Then it is cut down and peeled off the carcass. Skinning down legs and cutting leg and leaving foot& leg bone in. Also leave the head and skull in hide. Taxidermist will skin these out. Then take it in or freeze ASAP.

Small Mammals- Coyote size and smaller, if can be frozen, you should freeze ASAP. This is better to have the Taxidermist do the skinning of these animals.

Birds- Do not gut the bird. Rinse off any blood with water. Lay all feathers flat.
Place in newspaper cone and place in plastic bag and freeze or take to Taxidermist.

Fish-Do not gut the fish. Take a picture of it and  place in a wet towel and place
in plastic bag and freeze it ASAP.

Shoulder Mounting- Hang animal by hind legs if possible, skin hide down to head.
But first cut down the back of front legs, to arm pits. Cut down through and up to
the center of the chest cavity. leaving a V-patch of hide between front legs.
Then continue down the neck, be careful not to cut through hide. Then detatch
from carcass. Remember to always leave plenty of hide. I can cut off, but can't add on.  Look at figures # 2 & 3
Also DO NOT CUT into the brisket area!!!
See diagrams on skinning.
                Figure # 1
               Figure # 2
              Figure # 3
Trophy Care
You have just spent time and money on having your hunt preserved.
Now you need to take care of it, so it will last a life time. Everyone thinks that it will last a life time. This is not always the case, the hide has been treated with a tan. This keeps the skin from spoiling.  There
are all kinds of insects that love to eat hair follicles, horns and leather. There are dermestid (insects), moths that lay eggs in your mounts and when hatched, they eat at the hair follicles, horn, etc. there is nothing in the tan that will stop this anymore.
Years ago the tanner could use Arsenic in the tanning process.
But the EPA stopped the tanners from using  strong toxic chemicals.
So here are some basic things to do to help your mounts to last.

Keep the mount clean, use a Q-tip with Glass Plus to clean the eyes.
If it gets dusty, you can blow it off with compressed air or vacuum it with the small brush attachment. You can then take some furniture polish like Pledge, spray it on a clean rag and then wipe it down.
Do not spray it on the mount.
Be sure to go with the hair patterns. Not against the hair.
Clean the horns or antlers with some Liquid Gold. This will make them shine, but will dull down after it dries.
Also keep your mounts away from any type of heat, like sun in the window, fireplaces, heat ducts, etc. and also keep away from damp basements. 
Always keep an eye on your mounts and look for insects and you should have great mounts for a life time.



Prior to bringing in your trophy. I would like to give you some care
tips to make the job much smoother as well as more effectively preserving your animal to provide the best mount possible. Of course these may not get met, but do the best to insure that the animal is in the best condition as it was when it was harvested.