Common Mistakes

[Michelle_Nelson]

What time of the year is it and where are you hunting?  It is bellow freezing?

[bucklucky]

OK. It's Saturday am on a 3 day hunt. I just took a nice buck but I'm 3 days away from coming home. I want to have a shoulder mount done perhaps. How do I keep the cape in good enough shape until I can get it to one of you? Or a out of state hunt? I think I've learned enough to leave more hide than I think and to cut up to the base of the antlers, etc. But I do not think I'd trust myself to flesh out the lips and turn the ears decent enough not to ruin it.

Way too many variables on this question. You'll have to be more specific on the scenario with time of year, weather, whether your in 10 miles or hunting from the truck. Is there a town close with a cooler. Did you bring a small chest freezer to plug into a generator to keep it frozen  Is it snowing, is it 90 degrees. Do you have a nice cold stream near by. Are you in the middle of the nevada desert .

[elksnout]

Just throwing some scenerios out. Situations we all could face. I would hate to get that buck of a lifetime and want to do a shoulder mount only to ruin it by not being well informed beforehand you know. But beings you ask last fall my son took a damn fine Oregon muley opening morning in a wilderness area we backpacked into. { We go approx every third year}. I tried to talk him into doing a mount but he just wanted a euro done. It was hot so we decided to get the meat to a cooler we know of. Five hours of packing meat we were at the trailhead and headed for the cooler. But they do not want heads in with the meat so we kept it in the truck for a few days. So if we would have wanted to do a mount it's best to learn how to at least try and prepare it.

[Black Ghost]

Use the knife sparingly and fist the hide off.  Hold skin on hair side with one hand, and push other fist seperating skin from flesh.   You would be surprised how fast the skin pulls off and there is no risk of knifing a hole thru the hide.