Cape Care

B

BCHunter

Guest
If you are up in the mountains on a 7 day hunt and you kill an animal on day one, what do you do to preserve the hide so you can mount the animal later?

Thanks for your help. Darran
 
>lots of salt

To clarify, skin off any remaining chunks of meat, lay it out in a cool place with the hair side down, exposing the inner skin to the air, salt heavily. You want to get it tried out as quick as possible.

Do not freeze a cape that has been salted though.


-DallanC
 
Would I be better off trying to get it down and take it too a Locker (don't want to) and let them keep it cool or just salt it?

What do I do with it when it is dry? Thanks, D
 
First off you need to cape it. It might be a wise move to turn the lips and ears. Then salt the crap out of it and roll it up to keep it from drying out.
That's how we do it in an outfitter camp.
Good luck!!
 
If you take care of it as you do the meat you wont have any problems. if the temps are on the warm side I'd salt it otherwise you don't need to. many taxidermist prefer you don't salt the cape if you can help it as it makes fleshing a lot harder.
 
Cape it. Then flesh it and flesh it good. (You got six days to do it right.)

Me and two friends fleshed a caribou I shot for an entire day. (Yes I know...we're slow). But there wasn't a single piece of meat left on it when I took it to the taxidermist. He said it was the best caribou cape he had that year. (Come to think of I should have asked for a discount.)

After that roll it up and keep it cool. If it gets real hot I've heard of people double bagging (w/ garbage bags) and submerging it in a cold strem to keep the temp down. Just make sure it doesn't leak.

Good luck,

Grizly
 
You can get taxidermy books at some book stores, it will show you how to cape and salt the animal.Make a copy and carry it with you.If you are gonna be there for seven days you'll to salt it twice.Unless you're confident you can do a really good job of caping and salting the cape you should spend the time to get it to a taxidermist or a freezer. If you do cape it yourself be sure to turn the ears and lips.
 
If you don't mind. What does turning the lips, ears, and nose mean? I ruined a coues cape from mex. this yr. b/c I didn't do this. I caped and fleshed it very good but the taxidermist said that I didn't turn the lips, ears, and nose.
 
It means you have to completely turn the ears inside out or seperate the outer skin from the tissue or cartelidge. The lips and nose have to be skinned out also. It's kind of hard to explain that's why it's a good idea to get a taxidermy book that has pictures, or have someone show you how to do this. It's not difficult but you have to do a thorough job or you can loose the cape as you have experienced.
 
What causes the hair to slip? I'm not sure what that means but I hear it referenced it all the time.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-06 AT 01:27PM (MST)[p]Bacteria causes the hair to slip/fall out! They need heat and moisture to grow. That's why cooling the cape is critical. Skin it and freeze it is the easiest way to control bacteria. If it is below 35 degrees you will be OK for a couple of days without salt. If warmer, you need to salt it (to dehydrate the skin). Salt does not kill the bacteria, it only slows its growth by removing moisture from the skin. Salting (after being properly fleshed) followed by complete drying is the absolute best preservative for a cape. Never ever salt then freeze! Never place in plastic bag (unless going immediately into a freezer)!
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom