Field care
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Game care
If possible, bring the animal to us for the skinning and caping. We can do it quickly and make all the right cuts, then return the carcass to you so the meat can be processed.
Don't cut the throat of the animal.
Stop your cut on the belly at the base of the sternum -- the breast bone. Don't cut it up any higher.
Keep the cape as clean and as blood-free as possible. Take special care with antelope which have white hair that soaks up blood.
If you do have to skin the animal yourself, skin the animal up to the base of the head, then cut it off. Bring it in right away or put the cape and head in the freezer.
Take care if you have to drag the animal so you don't wear the hair off the hide. Hair will come off quickly and it may ruin the hide.
If you're hunting far away from home and will have to skin and salt the hide before it gets to the taxidermist, please call us ahead of time for exact instructions or to answer any questions you might have.
Fish care
Treat the fish's skin with care. Cuts and lost scales can be touched up by the taxidermist but it makes the job tougher. Some species, like trout, are more likely to suffer damage than others, like walleyes and northern pike which have tougher skin and bigger scales.
Use a towel or a T-shirt and wrap the fish in it and put it on ice. Make sure you have all the fish covered, including the tail and fins.
Gutting the fish is not fatal. You can still have it mounted. But it's really better if you just bring it in and I'll gut the fish. If it's a wall mount, the cut is on the back side. If it's a pedestal mount, the cut can be down the gut on the bottom.
If you can't bring in the fish immediately, you can freeze the fish whole. But again, make sure the whole fish is covered. If you fail to cover the fins and tail, it will freezer burn. We can replace them if they are, but it's better if they're not.
Keep the covered fish out of the sunlight to protect the colors of the fish from bleaching out.
Take a good close-up photograph of the fish which helps give us a guide to the individual characteristics, colors and markings on the fish.
We can fix things like lost scales or teeth or split fins, but there may be additional costs, so it's best to take good care of the fish from the start to insure a great mount.
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