ALL  SEASONS TAXIDERMY

Decomposition begins immediately upon death.  The sooner you take care of your acquired specimen, the better the quality of the finished product. Never slit throat Never hang or drag by neck Do not drag carcass Rinse off blood/debris and blot dry (blood speeds decomposition) Avoid freezer burn which damages hide - double bag and remove as much air as possible before freezing              More Info:        Field Dressing                                      Caping                                      Birds                                      Fish                                      Small Mammals

                                           Birds
                                           Fish
                                           Small Mammels

With the animal on its back, make a shallow cut through the skin just below the breastbone.  Make sure that you start your cut well away from the brisket, allowing plenty of uncut skin for your shoulder mount.  Insert two fingers of the free hand, cradling the blade, to hold the skin up and away from the entrails.








Cut straight down the belly and around the genitals, separating but not severing them from the abdominal wall.  Slit the belly skin all the way to the pelvic bone.  Be sure to start the incision below the cape line.





Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not to cut off or puncture the intestine.  Pull to make sure the rectum is separated from tissue connecting it to the pelvic canal.  Pull the rectum out and tie string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat.  Lift the animal's back quarter a bit, reach into the front of the pelvic canal, and pull the intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area.






Do not cut open the chest cavity or into the brisket.  Cut the diaphragm away from the ribs all the way to the backbone area.  Reach into the forward chest cavity, find the esophagus and wind pipe, cut them off as far up as possible and pull them down through the chest.






Roll the animal onto its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the rectum/intestine with the other.  Pull hard - the animal's internal organs will come out in one big package with a minimum of mess.

Wash off any blood and/or debris on the hide.

It is always better to cut too long than too short.                                 Birds
                                                                                                                                   Fish
                                                        Small Mammals





With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at approximately the midway point of the rib cage behind the front legs. Slit the skin around the legs just above the knees.











Make twin cuts under the chest. Start from the first circular cut around the rib cage and continue along the back of one leg to join the cut you made above the knee. Then do the other leg.











Peel the skin forward up to the ears and jaw exposing the head/neck junction using your knife as little as possible to avoid nicks.  Holding the hide out of the way, cut into the neck approximately three inches down from the head/neck junction.  Circle the neck, cutting down to the spinal column.  After this cut is complete, grasp the antler bases and twist the head off the neck - complete with antlers and cape.




Double bag the cape and freeze, removing as much air from bags as possible.  Make sure antlers do not puncture bags to reduce risk of freezer burn.

• Do not gut bird
• Take great care not to damage feathers
• Wipe off any blood with damp rag
• Plug throat and nasal passages with small piece of cotton or paper towel to prevent any fluids from staining plumage
• Carefully fold feathers in and tuck head under wing
• Slide bird head first into nylon stocking (pantyhose)
• Double bag removing as much air as possible and freeze
• To avoid damage, do not lay anything on top of bird in freezer

• Fish start to lose color immediately, so a good color photograph will provide an accurate reference to reproduce natural color tones.
• Leave fish whole, do not gut
• Wrap in a very wet towel, taking care to keep fins flat
• Double wrap in plastic wrap/bags removing as much air as possible and freeze
• To avoid damage, do not lay anything on top of fish in freezer