I normally whittle off the skin from the sawed off skull caps of my bull elk racks and make my own simple mount -- no head, just the skull cap bolted to a wooden plaque and the skull cap covered with velvet fabric. I took a bull elk back in mid-October but didn't cut the skin off right away. I tried to start cutting this off tonight -- 3 weeks after killing the elk -- and the hide is very hard, dry, and tough.

My question: how do I now remove this skin? Do I want to soak the skull cap in water to rehydrate and soften the hide? Do I want to saw through the dried up hide where it has pulled away from the end of the skull cap that would have been oriented towards the rear end of the elk in life? Recommendations?

Rehydrate the skin, then cut it off.

I just did this to a few old whitetail racks. HEat water up to a low boil and put it in there. Mine tool about fifteen minutes. Then a knife and a pair of pliers will pull it right off. Good luck!
-Jake