We are excited to preserve your memories to last a lifetime. We are happy to have your business and will do our best work to ensure you are satisfied with your trophy. To ensure our quality we ask you follow a few guidelines to make your mount as perfect as possible. If you have any questions please call us or read the information provided for you at the end of the pricelist.

1. Please bring us your animals as soon as possible.
2. If you cannot bring your animal in soon, then please freeze or keep the animal as cold as you can until
    you are able to bring it in
3. If possible, we prefer to do all the capping and skinning of animals, this ensures the quality of your
    mount.
4. If you decide to Cape or skin your animal please do so as soon as possible.
5. Once animals reach reach us, we will make a decision is the skin or cape is okay for tanning.

Field Dressing

1. With 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 (figure A).

2. 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 pelvic bone (Figure B).

3. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not to cut off or puncture the intestine. Pull to make sure the rectum is separated fro the 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.

4. 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 windpipe, cut them off as far up as possible (Figure C), and pull them down through the chest. 5. 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.


Capping

Caping, the process of skinning out a trophy animal, is best left to the taxidermist. Their experience skinning, especially their 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 simple can not 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.

There are two major methods of skinning for large life size mount such as deer, elk or bear. These methods are the flat incision and 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 to the right. Make these slits (cutting the feet free from the carcass) and pull the skin off the carcass. The head is detached as with the shoulder mount.

Note: If you can't bring your hide in immediately, please freeze it unto you are able to bring it in.

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 shoulders mount explained later. Only use this method with approval and detailed instruction from your taxidermist. Use this method only when the skin can be frozen quickly after skinning.

Capping for a shoulder Mount

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 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 the taxidermist. These cuts should allow ample hide fro the taxidermist to work with mounting. Remember, the taxidermist can cut off excess hide but can't add what he doesn'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 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 a taxidermist, as soon as the carcass cools completely, put in 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.