Taxidermy tips

Taxidermy is an art, not a process. An art that accurately duplicates the poses of nature's beauty. A taxidermist is often handicapped in creating a beautiful mount due to the poor condition of the raw material that the hunter brings in. Do yourself a favor and see that your game heads and hides receive the best possible care and get them to the taxidermist expeditiously.                       Helpful hints for better trophies Small animals and birds Do not skin or remove the internal organs, take it directly to the taxidermist. If it is not possible to get your game to the taxidermist, freeze the animal whole in a plastic bag until you can. For birds, rinse and wipe all the blood off the feathers. Place a piece of toilet paper in the birds mouth to absorb fluids. Tuck the head under the wing and place into a freezer bag. For turkeys make a short cut from the vent to the base of the rib cage. Remove the entrails and rinse the body cavity and place ice inside the body before freezing. Try not to break or stain feathers. Big game animals To properly skin animals for mounting, proceed as follows: 1) make initial cut behind the front leg in order to include enough brisket for a full shoulder mount, cut around the animal about 6 inches behind the front leags 2) skin out about 6 inches of the front leg 3) peel the skin forward from the shoulders up to the head leaving approximately 2 inches of neck attached to the head.