FIELD CARE

• To avoid staining the feathers with blood, place small pieces of rolled up paper towel in to the nostrils and the throat of all game birds, particularly birds with white feathers.
• On waterfowl, because of the presence of the long neck, tuck the neck ALONG side of the body (do not fold) before freezing. This prevents the neck from breaking in the freezer after freezing.
• On pheasants, please make sure the tail is not bent or folded. Use a long bag to freeze the bird.
• Freeze ALL birds whole, in a plastic air tight bag.
• Please do NOT try skinning the birds to salvage the meat. The body measurements are crucial for an accurate mount.

• Follow incision lines “A”, “B” & “C” as shown on Figure 1.
• Once the incisions are made, try to “tube” the cape towards the head, as you would do when you pull your socks off.
• Cut the neck at least 4″ (100 mm) behind the ears. It is imperative to do this as the neck measurement is crucial in producing a detailed mount.
• Do NOT skin the head.
• Always allow the head and cape to cool off before placing it inside a plastic bag.
• After the cape has cooled off, roll it up, place it inside a thick plastic bag and refrigerate until you can deliver it to my shop.
• If you are not able to deliver it to my shop within a couple of days, place the bag in the freezer and keep frozen and deliver frozen at your first opportunity.
• Please Note that Art of Taxidermy’s goal is not mass production, although we are working as efficient as possible, six days of the week, we are not rushing into any project. Each Project/mount is a unique creation on its own and is a custom design. If Speed and the price are your primary concern, then we are afraid that we might not be able to help you. However we truly appreciate all of our faithful clients who are patience and supportive and we promise to keep serving you as efficient as we can without a change in quality.

If you are on a mountain hunt where you are not able to carry the entire head down and will have to cape the entire head, then follow these instructions:

• Refer to Figure 2. Two crucial measurements are needed;
• BEFORE skinning the head, Measure the distance “A” which is from the front corner of the eye to the tip of nose in a straight line.
• Now you can proceed with skinning the head.
• AFTER skinning the head, using a soft measuring tape, measure the circumference “B” which is the circular measurement around the neck, please make sure the tape is sitting relaxed in the neck muscle and not stretched.
• Once you have obtained and written the above measurements and completed the skinning process, cool off the cape, roll it up and place it in a heavy duty plastic bag to transport down the mountain.
• Do NOT salt the cape.

• Refer to Figure 3.
• There are three required measurements and they all have to be done BEFORE you start the skinning process.
• Measure the distance “A”, from the front corner of the eye to the tip of the nose in a straight line.
• Measure the distance “B”, form tip of the nose to the base of the tail, going over the spine and make sure the tape is laid down on the skin in a relaxed (not stretched) manner, press down on the hair to obtain more accurate measurements.
• Measure the distance “C” (girth),this time keeping the tape snug against the center of the belly.
• After obtaining the three measurements listed above, proceed with skinning the animal using the incision lines shown on Figure 4.
• If possible do NOT skin the head at all and leave it for us.
• Do NOT salt the skin.
• Keep the skin cool and place it in a plastic bag and deliver to the shop and if not possible to deliver within a day or two, Freeze the bag and deliver at your first opportunity.

• Refer to Fig 4.
• Perform incisions “A” and “B” from inside the legs.
• Perform incision “C” in a straight line from the center of the throat to the rectum.
• Do NOT skin the head, NOR salt the skin.
• Allow the skin to cool off before putting in a plastic bag.
• Keep refrigerated and deliver cold.
• If not possible , you can freeze it and deliver frozen.