It is very important to follow proper hide preparation procedures in order to keep your mount in its best possible shape before bringing it to the Taxidermist. With proper care and knowledge, you will know what NOT to do when you're out in the field.
Choosing a Taxidermist is your first step in the planning process. I STRONGLY recommend you use an Alaskan taxidermist and have it shipped home. I can tell you a story about a client of mine who got a 10' Brown Bear and insisted his taxidermist buddy back home in Ohio mount it. THE MOUNT WAS HORRIBLE and ruined the man's entire adventure. Alaska has some of the best taxidermists in the world; they know their indigenous species!
The perfect trophy is not made in the taxidermist's studio, as you might think. The creation of a beautiful mount starts much earlier - from the moment, the animal has been shot. Careful field preparation can avoid many potential problems, and ensure your trophy is a lasting treasure.
"Remember that you're dealing with a biodegradable substance, and your flight out of the bush may be several days away yet. Here are some important tips.
Do not cut an animal's throat as it is difficult to repair and causes other messy situations that can be avoided. Removing the cape must be done with care. For instance, shoulder mounts must not be cut up the front, or an unsightly seam will remain. "Cut well back, behind the shoulders, as it is better to have too much skin than not enough.
Never do anything that may cause the hair on the animal to be damaged. Never drag the animal or tie a rope around its neck. For a full shoulder mount, you will want to avoid head, neck and shoulder shots.
It's best to commence skinning and salting as soon as possible - but not before, you've taken the animal's measurements. "This enables your taxidermist to make an accurate replica of your trophy. There are lots of videos and self help manuals around for learning where and how to measure. This post would become too long to explain every detail of this process-so study up before you head to Alaska!
Certain body parts require more care than others. For example, the thick lip area needs to be split, an operation, which must be done with care as the sensitive area tears easily. Nostrils are also to be handled with care; here, the cartilage must be removed so that salt can penetrate the skin more efficiently. Skinning or inverting the ears is a difficult and timely process, but you must know how to do it. Again, study how to do it.
Now it's time for salting, an essential step in preventing bacterial growth and semi-preserving the skin. This is best done swiftly, as skins dry quickly, making it difficult for the salt to penetrate. "Often, the whole skin becomes useless due to large areas of 'heat rendering,' when the skin dried too fast or dried in the sun so that the grease, which lies just below the surface of the skin, rises and congeals before the salt has drawn out enough moisture to prevent slippage. In addition, once this grease has congealed, tanning chemicals cannot penetrate the surface. If this affects large areas, the skin cannot be tanned. Smaller areas, on the other hand, become tough and cannot be stretched - important, because tanning shrinks the skin and a certain amount of stretch is therefore necessary to produce the wrinkles and lines, which give the trophy expression and make it, look lifelike.
Fleshing the skin to an appropriate thinness and salting the skin three to four times can avoid this problem. It's not just the method of salting that can affect the condition of a skin; the type of salt used is equally important, with most taxidermists recommending a good quality table salt, so add salt to your gear list! A moose cape will need about 10lbs. of salt.
A professional Taxidermist can make repairs on most anything, but some things are very difficult to fix and could have been avoided from the get go. Spend a little time getting to know how proper field care of your trophy can make all the difference in your Adventure!
The quality of your prize mount is in the hands of the hunter.
