Most ruined mounts are ruined in the first day. This guide covers the common principles of protecting a head and cape from the kill site to the taxidermist's door.
The single best field care tip is to talk to your taxidermist before the trip. Preferences differ: some want the whole head and cape delivered frozen, some want the skull removed, and some want a particular cut behind the shoulder. A five-minute conversation lets you hunt with the exact instructions of the person who will do the work.
Ask what they want if you are far from a freezer, how long they can accept a cape that has been kept cool, and whether they want the hide skinned out or brought in on the head. Also ask whether they will accept the animal at all if it came from another state, since transport and disease rules can limit what they are allowed to take. Our guide to transporting game across state lines explains why that question matters.
A hide is skin, and skin spoils. Warmth, moisture and time let bacteria go to work, and one of the first signs is hair slip, where hair begins to loosen from the skin and cannot be saved. The goal in the field is simple: get the cape cool, keep it dry and get it to a freezer or a taxidermist as fast as you reasonably can.
That means working on the animal soon after the shot, even while you are also caring for the meat. A hide left in the sun, a warm truck bed or a pool of water is losing value by the hour. Shade, air movement and cold are your tools, and they matter more than any tool in your pack.
For a shoulder mount, the cape is the hide from the head back past the front legs. The common guidance is to cut well behind the front leg and to take more hide than you think you need, since extra cape can be trimmed and missing cape cannot be added. If you are unsure, start farther back on the body.
Take your time around the head. Feel for the blade as you work around the eyes so you do not cut the eyelid, keep a good amount of lip on the hide, and stay close to the skull around the nose. Taking a small, sharp knife with a replaceable blade for this area is a common recommendation, and a larger knife is better saved for scraping meat off the hide. If you have never done it, ask your taxidermist or a friend with experience to show you before the hunt, and practice on a smaller animal if you can.
If you are not delivering the whole head, the skull has to come out of the cape. Whoever does it should be careful, because the hair is short around the base of the ears and the face, and a cut or a lopped ear is hard to repair. Many hunters decide the safest course is to keep the head intact and freeze it for a taxidermist to skin.
Do not use antlers or horns as handles on a hot day or leave them in the sun, and avoid cracking or scraping the base of the antlers during packing. If you plan a European mount, ask whether you should remove excess tissue yourself or leave it for the cleaner. The method is covered in shoulder mount versus European mount.
If a freezer is hours away, keep the cape in a breathable bag, such as burlap, in the shade, away from standing water. If you use ice, keep it from sitting in meltwater against the hide. Plastic can trap heat and moisture, so it is mainly for freezing or for flying, where a bag may be required. Move the cape to something breathable as soon as you can.
As for salt, the safe answer is not to salt a cape that you plan to freeze, and to ask your taxidermist before using salt at all. Some taxidermists want salted hides in certain situations, others do not, and the wrong approach can complicate the work. If you cannot reach anyone, cool and dry and freeze beats guesswork.
Freezing slows spoilage and gives you time. Bag the cape or head well so the surface does not dry out, and freeze it as soon as you can. Cold and deep freezing helps. Keep it frozen until you deliver it, and if you must transport it, keep it cold with ice chests and insulation.
When you hand the trophy over, tell the taxidermist how it was handled, how long it was out of cold storage and whether you had to cut anything differently. Bring your tag and paperwork. If you are interested in how the process goes from there, see how long taxidermy takes, and for help with the whole process, our taxidermy and trophy care service can point you in the right direction.
A few errors come up again and again. Hunters drag an animal through water or let the head lie in pooled blood and meltwater. They wrap a warm cape tightly in plastic and leave it in the truck. They cut the throat or the brisket in a way that damages hide a taxidermist needed. They make a hurried cut near the eyes, ears or lips and cannot be fixed later.
Another common mistake is waiting until the meat is done to start on the cape. Plan the order of work so the hide gets attention early, or ask a partner to handle it while you deal with the meat. Finally, do not guess. When something is unclear, a photo sent to the taxidermist or a quick call is better than a cut you cannot undo.
Check with your taxidermist first. A cape intended for the freezer is generally not salted, and some taxidermists have their own methods. When you cannot ask, keep the hide cool, dry and frozen rather than guessing.
More than you think you need. The common guidance is to cut well behind the front legs, because extra hide can be trimmed and missing hide cannot be replaced. Your taxidermist can give you the exact line.
Plastic traps heat and moisture, so it is a poor choice for field storage on warm days. It is used for freezing or when an airline requires it. Breathable material is better while the hide is not yet frozen.
Keep the cape in the shade and as cool and dry as possible, and ask your taxidermist ahead of time about options such as removing the skull and turning the ears and lips. Never leave it in a warm vehicle.
Tell us what you want to hunt or what needs mounting and we will reply with what is possible.