Field Care: The First 24 Hours Decide the Mount

No taxidermist can put hair back on a dragged shoulder or color back on a fish that dried out. What you do between the shot and the freezer sets the ceiling on how good the mount can be. The rules are simple, and asking first is always free.

The golden rules, every species

• Get it cold, fast. Heat is the enemy: it slips hair, spoils skin, and ruins plumage.
• Keep it dry and clean. Blood and water damage hair and feathers the longer they sit.
• Cut less, not more. Every extra cut is a repair. When in doubt, make no cut at all.
• Ask before you improvise. One quick question can save the whole mount.

Deer and big game: protect the cape

The cape, the hide from the shoulders forward, is the whole ballgame for a shoulder mount.

• Don't drag it. Dragging rubs hair off the shoulders and brisket, exactly where the mount needs it. Use a cart, a sled, or a second set of hands.
• No throat or brisket cuts. Field dress normally, but stop the cut at the sternum. Nothing forward of it.
• Leave more cape than you think. If you're skinning it yourself, cut well behind the front shoulders, mid-body is not too much. A taxidermist can trim extra; nobody can add it back.
• Cool it down. Get the deer or the cape cold as soon as possible. If drop-off can't happen within about a day, fold the cape skin-to-skin, bag it, and freeze it.

Birds: the freezer is your friend

• Don't field dress a bird you want mounted. No cuts at all.
• Dab blood off with a paper towel; don't wash the bird.
• Protect the feathers: slide the bird head-first into a nylon stocking or wrap it gently in paper towel, then into a plastic bag with the air pressed out.
• Freeze it promptly. A properly frozen bird keeps for months, plenty of time to sort out the mount.

Fish: photos first, always

• Photograph it immediately. Colors start fading within minutes, and the photos are what the painter works from.
• Measure length and girth before anything else.
• Keeping it? Never gut it. Wet a towel, wrap the fish, bag it, and freeze it flat and supported so fins don't bend.
• Releasing it? Photos and measurements are all a replica needs, and replica colors never fade.

One more thing: keep your tag

Pennsylvania taxidermy runs on lawfully taken, properly tagged game. Keep your harvest tag information with the animal, any licensed taxidermist will ask for it, and it's a good sign when they do.

Unsure about any of this with an animal down right now? Reach out and ask before you cut. It's free, and it can save the mount.