Field Care

Caping a Blacktail Deer.pdf

McKenzie Trophy Field Care Instructions

pdf printable sheet on Field Care

Game Heads

Do not cut the throat of any animal!
Leave enough shoulder skin by cutting the hide behind the front legs. Do not cut into the under arm or the brisket.
Tube Skin the neck up to the base of the head and separate the head from the body. Bring the neck skin and the head to the taxidermist for caping.
If you are familiar with the process of caping, or must remove the skin from the skull for transport, then continue as follows:
Skin over the back of the head by making a "V" cut to each antler. You will need at least a 6 inch incision below the "V" cut in order to get the skin over the head.When this incision is made, skin down to the ear base and cut the ear cartilage close to the skull to release the ear.
Carefully separate the skin from around the base of each antler or horn (Do not cut the fur).
Lift out on the eyelids while you cut the skin from around the eye sockets. Be careful not to cut through the tear duct.
Use a screw driver or knife to carefully lift the tear ducts from the front of the eye sockets.
Skin down over the nose, leaving plenty of cartilage (allow the taxidermist to thin this area).
Lift out on the lips as you cut them loose from the skull. Cut flush against the skull, leaving plenty of excess lip.
Cut horns/antlers off half-way through the eye sockets.
Salt the cape with approx. 2-4 pounds of non-iodized salt.

Rug Mounts

Make incision down center of belly and down the inside of each leg as seen in diagram. Be careful to make a straight, centered cut, or the final rug will be lopsided and require a lot of stitching to even it out (extra charge for this process).

Life- Size Mounts

We prefer to make a dorsal cut on most of our small game animals and half body mounts. The dorsal cut is made down the center of the animals back rather than the belly. Be sure to contact us if you need help deciding what incision to make.
Do not skin small animals if at all possible, but rather, bring them in whole. Our small animal life-size mounting prices include the cost of skinning. Hides that you just want tanned will incur additional skinning fees if not done in the field.

Use two to three times as much salt for larger species—Elk, Moose, etc.

Caping a Deer Head

Tube skinning a deer and then transporting it to the taxidermist for caping is always preferred, but in those cases where you must remove the cape in the field, this is our preferred method. After tube skinning the deer without cutting it down the back, make a "V-cut" from the back of the antlers and then a short 4-6 inch incision down the back of the neck. Proceed as seen in this video.

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