Super Trophy Mounts Start Before the Trip Begins
Some articles I’ve read on field care of trophies for the taxidermist sound good on paper but aren’t very practical when you’re standing waist deep in a blow-down with your newly acquired 360 class bull elk, and he’s facing the wrong way.
I’ve read about spreading out and carding the fins-on fish before freezing them. Doesn’t make much sense to me. All that does is dry them out and make them next to impossible to work with later. Not to mention that it leaves then prone to breakage while frozen. I suggest rolling a freshly caught fish into a wet towel like a tube, folding the head and tail end of the towel back over, and placing it into a plastic bag. Add a label, and its ready for the freezer. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? That’s my point. Your common sense is usually your best bet. That frozen towel will keep the fish from becoming freezer burned or drying out. It also protects the surface of the fish from dents or bumps from a fast moving TV dinner or other freezer accidents.
In the field, game heads and life size candidates have to be skinned out or cooled quickly and transported to the taxidermist promptly. Spoilage is something even the very best taxidermist cannot overcome.
The meat of a game animal can spoil in a few hours in some conditions in the field. The hide can go even sooner. The spoilage I’m referring to is called slippage. That’s when the hair pulls readily from the hide. Sometimes the top layer of skin or epidermis comes with it. A hide is such condition seldom will survive the tanning process.
As I sit down to write this article on field care something very obvious comes to mind. As I try to use specific game animals, I see such a variety of situations which dictate different instructions. So my first suggestion would be to choose a taxidermist before your hu ting season or trip and consult with him about your particular hunt.
Here’s an example. On a spring black bear hunt in the Canadian provinces you will probably experience temperatures in the 50’s when you drop a bear in the evening. But the next morning the black colored hair will absorb the heat in the morning sun at 35 degrees. That same bear in the fall, say September in Maine will have 4” of fat and may be taken during 75 degrees heat. Get the picture.
Bears in the east are usually skinned close to the hide to leave the majority of the fat on the carcass. The head and four feet are usually left in the hide for the taxidermist to skin. These hides must be kept very cool if we’re dealing with a day or so or frozen if for more than a day before visiting the taxidermist. Those hides that are skinned completely can be salted. The ears and lips should be turned, which means opened from behind or inverted. Any place where skin meets skin should be opened so that salt can penetrate those areas. I know what you’re thinking, “that’s why the hair came off the back of the ears of my bear.”
Some of my customers also put drying compound on their bear hides in bear camp to ensure prompt drying. Just don’t forget the salt. Salt is what pulls the proteins and water out of the hide, and that retards bacterial growth, which eliminates slippage.
While on the subject of bears, they are skinned differently depending on the style of mount desired. I’ve always said the phrase “more than one way to skin a cat” was really a taxidermist quote. Anyway, bears for rugs are skinned in the traditional open skin. To me that means going from one front paw down the leg to the center of the chest and back up the other leg to the paw. Same thing with the hind legs making sure you intersect the anus. The third cut starts at the chin and goes down across the belly to the anus. If you don’t keep the leg cuts equal or go above the anus it will throw off the shape of your rug, which means it will need to be trimmed – cut smaller – to balance.
Fighting mounts, shoulder and life-size mounts can be dorsal cut, which is right down the center of the back from the back of the head to the base of the tail. This way there are no seams on the front of the fighting mount, and shoulder and life-size for the taxidermy form easier. Of course this hides the seam where the hair is longer. You’ll need to tube out the legs and make a small relief cut near the paws as they won’t usually fit through the narrow skin at the ankles and wrists. Remember, when cutting a hide to go through the skin with the hair and not down into the hair to the skin. We can’t repair cut hair.
Most eastern game heads can be transported directly to the taxidermist intact. We receive many by UPS this way at my studio. My biggest aggravation during deer season is receiving game heads that have been cut incorrectly around the brisket area. If there is any question as to where to cut it….DON’T.
Ideally I like to pull the body skin down to the front legs. I cut the front legs off with a bone saw just above the knee. For those of you who care, the joint we call the knee is actually the ankle. I know, it bends the wrong way. Back to skinning. After cutting off the legs we tube them – pull the skin down over and off the stub of the legs. NO CUTS. Then tube the skin down the neck and detach the neck from the head. You have a complete skin with the head intact. No cutting mistakes. Let the taxidermist who has done this about two thousand times do the cutting. It’s either a long enough cape with a nice basket or a poor quality mount. Too many so called “experts” have cut down the legs ok only to go across the brisket too high up, ruining a cape. Don’t worry about leaving the neck in there, all twenty pounds worth, for our measuring pleasure. Most taxidermists can just measure the width of the skin.
Most shoulder mount capes have a value to taxidermists. If you take an exceptional animal and do not wish to mount it, treat it as though you were and bring it to the studio. With the shed antler craze and those who collect antlers or even have damaged capes needing replacements, we taxidermists will pay for a large, well handled cape. I know we make it worth your while here at my place. We do a lot of collection work where antlers may be as much as 60 years old, and new capes are always needed.
If game heads must be caped, I suggest using the T cut rather than the well known Y incision. The T cut goes from one antler or horn straight across to the other, then from the center of the head straight down the neck. This way the incision as a seam can be hidden within the natural hair patterns. I like the skull to be cut on the heavy side including some of the eye orbit. This way I can make accurate antler sets from measurements taken from the eyes and the heavier skull plates keeps antlers intact that might be scored later. Many of you may not realize that a lot of “antler shrinkage” is actually a skull plate cut too thin beginning to pull in the available spread credit. Trust me, it happens. We leave all our B&C stuff on full skulls for the 60 days. (Yes, we pull off the heavy meat and salt them so they don’t smell.)
Birds are a bit easier. Wipe off excess blood and freeze them. You can slide them head first into the leg of a woman’s nylon if you’d like. If you are just getting to know the girl I’d suggest she’s not still in them, though. The nylon will hold the feathers tightly in place. Then put it in a plastic bag and into the freezer. All migratory birds should be labeled with the following: hunter’s name, address, phone #, date killed, county of kill, name and sex of bird and signature of hunter.
Turkeys can be handled in a similar fashion, although women with nylons this large aren’t as common. Seriously, as safe as game bags are for turkey hunters, they are tough on the feathers. Those beautiful, shiny copper colored secondaries in the wings just don’t come back together smoothly after being rubbed or treated roughly. Orange surveyors tape tied generously to the bird with a dark color sock or glove over the head of the turkey does the trick for me. I’m sure someone will disagree with me but that’s my opinion. Turkeys and pheasants have long tails, take care of them. Don’t bend and kink them.
Small game can be frozen whole in plastic bags.
A lot is said about wrapping game for the freezer so as not to become freezer burned. Think about it. Feathers and most fur is designed by nature to hold in air against the body for insulation. You are not going to be able to wrap them air-tight. For some long term freezing I will wet down the animal first but you could risk spoilage if it is not frozen quickly.
Finally, when you put a skin in a bag, remember it must be put into a freezer – immediately. A hide in a black plastic bag in the bag of your truck will cook, literally. If it can’t be frozen, put it in a cooler or pack in ice, covering it. We sometimes pack carcasses with bags of ice in the chest cavity. Do whatever it takes to keep them cool or cold.
Antlers in velvet on early deer and caribou are a problem. If you choose to strip them, do it right away. If you plan to save them, you have to plan ahead. The velvet needs to be treated as the live skin that it is. The blood should be drained from the bulbous antler tips on caribou. In my opinion, injecting them with formaldehyde is not only unsafe but only half the job. Before leaving on your hunt, have your taxidermist order you some dry powder preservative. Hopefully he doesn’t have it on hand because he shouldn’t be treating your hides that way, true tanning is the only way to go. (Yes, I’m ready for another disagreement.) I like to drain the blood from the heavy areas and then rinse them in the cold lake water that’s almost always available in caribou country. After draining, I pack on the dry preservative and wrap with layers of cheese cloth. I lay it on heavy, it helps keep the flies from laying eggs that will become maggots, and the extra layers of cheesecloth will protect the velvet from situations with airline luggage personnel with strong throwing arms. Most taxidermists will suggest the more expensive freeze dry process of preserving velvet once they are home. Sometimes you can let them just dry out. It’s less expensive, but at my studio I won’t guarantee them. No matter what, they will spoil fast fresh so handle carefully and get them frozen soon.
Even with an article this long and windy I can’t cover everything so I’ll say this again. “Contact a reputable taxidermist in advance for particular handling instructions.” Remember, some may feel we have the right to hunt. I’d say it’s still our privilege. Let’s take care of our trophy in the field out of respect for the animal and the pleasure it has and will give us.
Good Hunting,
Bill Yox
Editor note: Bill Yox is a nationally known & respected taxidermist. He has authored many articles that appeared in all the major sporting magazines. He continues to be a member and supporter of the Western & Central New York Chapter of SCI. His generous donations of taxidermy have benefited the conservation, education and charitable projects this chapter has accomplished. His Gallery is located a few minutes from Buffalo in Brockport, NY. If you give him a call, I am sure he will show you around.
(Published in “The Buffalo Heard,” Official Newsletter of the Western and Central NY Chapter of Safari Club International, September 1996)
Super Trophy Mounts Start Before the Trip Begins
By Bill Yox