Hiawatha

I have only dressed a few animals in the field usually i take them home and skin them on the tractor. Lets say i shoot a great buck that i would like to mount however i am away from home or do not have time to do all the skinning at the moment. Now how would i go about gutting the animal with the hide on and not screw up from the brisket-neck of the cape? i was thinking of peeling all the guts out from the rear portion of the belly then stabbing my knife into the neck and moving it around to cut off the trachea/esophagus and pulling them out the rear also? How do you guys JUST FIELD DRESS if your intending to get the beast mounted without pooching the cape?

nctaxi

Hiawatha - If you are talking about a shoulder mount, look at one. Look at one on the wall, everything you see on the wall should never be cut. It also should never be drug across the ground, road around in a truck showing it off, road around on hot days, and a various other things. Yes, you can do all of the above but expect to pay for a new cape. The best thing to do is find a good taxidermist now, before you ever kill one. Find one that you like their work, like their prices and who you would feel comfortable leaving your trophy with. Talk with them and see hwat they expect or want you to do. They may take the time to show you how to cape your trophy and turn the eyes, lips & ears. If not they my have a recommendation. If you wait til after you kill a trophy, you may have already shot yourself inthe foot. What if he is a poor taxidermist? How does he/she preserve the cape? How much do they charge? Can you afford it? I let my customers make payments but some won't. I have guys that started paying me months ago, in the hopes that they will kill one. If they don't I give them their monies back. Don't wait til you kill one, find one now that you are happy with. I tell my clients not to cut from the rib cage merge forward, except up the back of the front legs and ring them. The rest is what they are comfortable with.

Piebalddoe

You don't need to cut all the way up to field dress a deer. Just make a cut that doesn't extend all the way up the brisket, keep it behind the front legs, and reach in there and pull the entrails out like normal. When you'recaping the deer just remember to leave more skin than needed because it is always better to have more skin than not enough.

Hiawatha

Nc, i am aware of how to cape a deer and have done it several times however i am interested in gutting it and leaving it for a few hours without caping it. I will take your advice and talk to a taxidermist, maybe will post this in that form. Piebald thats kind of what i was thinking but want to be sure like nc says b4 i try somethin dumb. thanxs for the info folks

bob d

that is what i do ,just cut up so far then do the reach in with a knife to cut away the remaining

sk74ford

Whenever I kill a deer that I want mounted I gut the deer like normal. I cut up the belly all the way up to the beginning of the rib cage. Don’t go any further because it will be seen on the mount. Just reach up the neck and cut the throat as far as you can reach. I then take my deer to my deer processer. I then will tell him to cape the deer. It costs just a little extra. I do this just so I don’t mess up the cape. Then when I go pick up my meat he will have the deer head along with the skin frozen. Then you can give it to your taxidermist. Some will want it frozen and some want it thawed out. If they want it thawed just leave it out for about three days and take it to them.

Hiawatha

Thanxs for all the help, as for thawing a cape funny story. A few years back I gave a cape to a taxidermist from ontario. he thawed it out in the bathtub in the motel he was stayin at. Rude but funny.

skeeter 7MM

Hia, like others just go upto the brisket. I cut off the flaps in the belly to give me more room, then release the diaphram wall and remove the entrails. To remove the esophagus and trach you'll have to reach up the cavity and possibly cut around it with a knife while pulling. A narrow fixed blade orboning knife works great for such work.

If you have time you can cape with a dorsal cut up the rear of the neck downfrom behind the front leg/brisket. You can release the neck/head and cape from the animal or fully cape out the face. Then go about field dressing the deer as per norm.

wis_bow_huntr

only make a small enough incission to get the insides out dont cut all the way, then clean it, then take the deer to who ever is going to mount it they prefer to cut them their way an it usually doesnt cost anything additional. They always get it done correctly.