Very good question Matt!!

The first thing to do is field dress the animal. Instead of the normal cuts when field dressing your deer....keep the belly incision as small as possible.....and don't remove the "twig & berries". This cut is easily sewn up during the prep work. I "gutted" this buck with only an 18" cut.

Next would be the pose you want. If you want a bedded buck look, you will have to skill the deer just like you would a bear for a rug. Plus you will have to make the obvious relief cuts to remove the antlers.

For a standing buck (or any other mammal), I prefer cutting the deer all of the way down the back. It is much easier in my opinion and a lot less sewing. Any decent taxidermist can sew this seem up without it showing. Start with the "Y" or "7" cut between the antlers and continue all of the way down to the base of the tail. Seperate the tail from the body and skin away!!!

Once you get down the legs...you will come to a certain point where a relief cut will have to be made to skin the rest of the way down to the hooves.

Then there are the hooves......I send all of my hides out for fleshing as well as tanning so I don't have to deal with the hooves. It is an extra charge...but I don't have the time or space to do it myself. They take care of the hooves, split the tail, etc before salting.