Post by: duckman18 on July 07, 2020, 02:58:25 PM
Post by: vandeman17 on July 07, 2020, 03:00:19 PM
Post by: duckman18 on July 07, 2020, 03:08:31 PM
Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
Post by: Igor on July 07, 2020, 03:09:57 PM
Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
Make sure you do NOT put it in a plastic bag. If you do, it's a goner.
Post by: vandeman17 on July 07, 2020, 03:30:20 PM
Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
Post by: Rainier10 on July 07, 2020, 04:01:02 PM
:yeah: And make sure they are cool before you roll them. Hang them out all night in cool temps, roll them in the morning and then put them in a cool spot for the rest of the trip.Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
No plastic bag.
Post by: vandeman17 on July 07, 2020, 04:03:32 PM
:yeah: And make sure they are cool before you roll them. Hang them out all night in cool temps, roll them in the morning and then put them in a cool spot for the rest of the trip.Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
No plastic bag.
The one in my avatar actually spent 7 days from the morning I killed him until we got home and it got warm during the day.
Post by: Rainier10 on July 07, 2020, 04:04:35 PM
Did you completely cape it out? Take it all off the skull?:yeah: And make sure they are cool before you roll them. Hang them out all night in cool temps, roll them in the morning and then put them in a cool spot for the rest of the trip.Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
No plastic bag.
The one in my avatar actually spent 7 days from the morning I killed him until we got home and it got warm during the day.
Post by: vandeman17 on July 07, 2020, 04:08:59 PM
Did you completely cape it out? Take it all off the skull?:yeah: And make sure they are cool before you roll them. Hang them out all night in cool temps, roll them in the morning and then put them in a cool spot for the rest of the trip.Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
No plastic bag.
The one in my avatar actually spent 7 days from the morning I killed him until we got home and it got warm during the day.
We didn't. At that time I didn't trust myself to do it without messing something up :yike:
Post by: Rainier10 on July 07, 2020, 04:18:23 PM
Very lucky but understandable.Did you completely cape it out? Take it all off the skull?:yeah: And make sure they are cool before you roll them. Hang them out all night in cool temps, roll them in the morning and then put them in a cool spot for the rest of the trip.Not sure if its correct but I have carefully rolled the cape up and it stayed just fine for a week in the back countryThat’s my plan if I kill something on the last day or two we did that two years ago my main concern is if you kill something on the first day and you have seven more days of hunting before everybody goes home what to do hopefully you can just do like you said and keep it dry put it in a bag and keep it on ice
I have had them out 5 or more days. I just made sure to roll them up hair side out and kept them in a shady spot. Don't put them in a bag
No plastic bag.
The one in my avatar actually spent 7 days from the morning I killed him until we got home and it got warm during the day.
We didn't. At that time I didn't trust myself to do it without messing something up :yike:
If you are going to leave it on the skull I would make sure to split the cape all the way up the back of the neck as far as you can and get as much of the heat from the head dissipated over night.
Post by: duckman18 on July 07, 2020, 04:26:12 PM
Post by: Born2late on July 07, 2020, 05:29:34 PM
I personally skin them off the skull so you don't have the heat from the skull to deal with.
If you not sure of yourself on doing that,Practice on every small buck or even does till you get good enough to do it.It's actually not to hard once you've done a couple and know where to pay close attention to.
Post by: greenhead_killer on July 07, 2020, 07:04:57 PM
Post by: Stein on July 07, 2020, 08:27:14 PM
Post by: Magnum_Willys on July 07, 2020, 08:43:28 PM
Treat it like a fine piece of steak. Keep dry and refrigerated. Good for a week.
Post by: Buckjunkie on July 07, 2020, 08:54:25 PM
Post by: BlackRiverTaxidermy on July 07, 2020, 10:51:19 PM
Heres a few tips for ya based on hunting in the backcountry myself as well as being a taxi and actually doing some experiments with my own harvested animals in regards to cape preservation. Keep in mind that all game animals are different, meaning some capes last a while and some tend to start decomposing faster (predators)...but lets stick with deer for now....
If you don't know how to the remove the skull from the head for a shoulder mount you did the right thing, don't. It doesn't take much know-how to do it, especially on a deer, but unless you've done it (watching YouTube vids doesn't count) before I would highly suggest letting your taxi take care of the step. If you do have to leave the head in here's what to do. As some have said, split the cape right up the spine-line and stop between the ears and antler bases. Open the cape up and let it cool. In my experience if the cape is kept cool and slipping starts its usually not necessarily due to heat in the head, which cools off rather quickly. The real culprit is the bacteria levels in the mouth which starts decomp much quicker, affecting the hide around the mouth such as in the cheeks and throat. Let the head with the cape cool off and then put in a cloth bag such as a meat sack. You said you have access to a cooler....perfect. Put the cape in there with the head (if you can also fit the antlers), and pack with ice around it. You DONT want the cape sitting in water tho...so keep it up out of the melting ice water. If your temps at night are freezing then open the cooler and let that bugger freeze during the night. I did an experiment with a blacktail a couple of year ago and put a cape (my own of course) with the head still in it in a fridge set at 36 degrees (bacteria is significantly slowed and halted at anything below 37 F). The cape was unwrapped but rolled up and cooled. It lasted about 8 days before I started to see some signs of hide degrading.
If you can get the cape off the skull you have a hell of a lot more ways and extended time to keep it good for a trophy mount. Either you can learn how to do this or the other options is most game processing places, such as where you take your meat, offer 'trophy caping' for a minimal fee, which is well worth it. If you take it off in the backcountry some of the same process applies...open the cape up and cool in a shaded area, preferably where a breeze can get to it, put in a meat cloth bag and get chilled. If you don't have access to ice, another trick is to let the cape cool overnight and then put the chilled cape in a plastic bag and seal it up and submerge in a creek or snow bank to keep it cold. Again, you really don't want to make a practice of putting any cape in a plastic bag, but for this chilling option it is a must as you don't want the cape coming in contact with water. I kept an elk cape for almost a week in this manner, in a creek. A cape removed from the head, chilled, rolled and in a cloth bag lasted in my fridge for about 17 days before I started to see problems or concerns, but again, it was 36 degrees.
DONT salt a cape!!!!! Unless you have FULLY turned the lips, ears, eyes, and nose the salt wont do much for you. The meat layers around the lips and especially the ears hold more meat and tissue than you think and salt will not permeate that tissue well enough for preservation for your taxidermist, which you should check with before even attempting any salting. I've had salted capes come in before with people claiming it was turned and fleshed properly and I've only had a scant-few that were truly done correctly and it caused problems (random slippage spots) for the cape. Salted capes, when not done correctly are a HUGE pain and I know of some taxi's that wont touch them or charge additional fees if done without the cape being 'turned' first.
Wow, sorry for long winded response, but hope this helped. If you want to practice or see how to remove a cape from the head to retain eye, lips, and nose membrane for mount work, I would be happy to show you. Best of luck in your hunt(s) this year!
Joel-BRT
Post by: 7mmfan on July 08, 2020, 08:25:00 AM
Post by: bornhunter on July 08, 2020, 08:40:07 AM
Duckman,
Heres a few tips for ya based on hunting in the backcountry myself as well as being a taxi and actually doing some experiments with my own harvested animals in regards to cape preservation. Keep in mind that all game animals are different, meaning some capes last a while and some tend to start decomposing faster (predators)...but lets stick with deer for now....
If you don't know how to the remove the skull from the head for a shoulder mount you did the right thing, don't. It doesn't take much know-how to do it, especially on a deer, but unless you've done it (watching YouTube vids doesn't count) before I would highly suggest letting your taxi take care of the step. If you do have to leave the head in here's what to do. As some have said, split the cape right up the spine-line and stop between the ears and antler bases. Open the cape up and let it cool. In my experience if the cape is kept cool and slipping starts its usually not necessarily due to heat in the head, which cools off rather quickly. The real culprit is the bacteria levels in the mouth which starts decomp much quicker, affecting the hide around the mouth such as in the cheeks and throat. Let the head with the cape cool off and then put in a cloth bag such as a meat sack. You said you have access to a cooler....perfect. Put the cape in there with the head (if you can also fit the antlers), and pack with ice around it. You DONT want the cape sitting in water tho...so keep it up out of the melting ice water. If your temps at night are freezing then open the cooler and let that bugger freeze during the night. I did an experiment with a blacktail a couple of year ago and put a cape (my own of course) with the head still in it in a fridge set at 36 degrees (bacteria is significantly slowed and halted at anything below 37 F). The cape was unwrapped but rolled up and cooled. It lasted about 8 days before I started to see some signs of hide degrading.
If you can get the cape off the skull you have a hell of a lot more ways and extended time to keep it good for a trophy mount. Either you can learn how to do this or the other options is most game processing places, such as where you take your meat, offer 'trophy caping' for a minimal fee, which is well worth it. If you take it off in the backcountry some of the same process applies...open the cape up and cool in a shaded area, preferably where a breeze can get to it, put in a meat cloth bag and get chilled. If you don't have access to ice, another trick is to let the cape cool overnight and then put the chilled cape in a plastic bag and seal it up and submerge in a creek or snow bank to keep it cold. Again, you really don't want to make a practice of putting any cape in a plastic bag, but for this chilling option it is a must as you don't want the cape coming in contact with water. I kept an elk cape for almost a week in this manner, in a creek. A cape removed from the head, chilled, rolled and in a cloth bag lasted in my fridge for about 17 days before I started to see problems or concerns, but again, it was 36 degrees.
DONT salt a cape!!!!! Unless you have FULLY turned the lips, ears, eyes, and nose the salt wont do much for you. The meat layers around the lips and especially the ears hold more meat and tissue than you think and salt will not permeate that tissue well enough for preservation for your taxidermist, which you should check with before even attempting any salting. I've had salted capes come in before with people claiming it was turned and fleshed properly and I've only had a scant-few that were truly done correctly and it caused problems (random slippage spots) for the cape. Salted capes, when not done correctly are a HUGE pain and I know of some taxi's that wont touch them or charge additional fees if done without the cape being 'turned' first.
Wow, sorry for long winded response, but hope this helped. If you want to practice or see how to remove a cape from the head to retain eye, lips, and nose membrane for mount work, I would be happy to show you. Best of luck in your hunt(s) this year!
Joel-BRT
Great info for all of us. Thanks Joel.
Post by: duckman18 on July 08, 2020, 03:35:26 PM
Duckman,Thanks Joel if or when I get one I thinks worthy of a mount it will be going to you. 3 years ago You did a bear skull and re-did another one for me that the taxi didn’t get all the grease out of.
Heres a few tips for ya based on hunting in the backcountry myself as well as being a taxi and actually doing some experiments with my own harvested animals in regards to cape preservation. Keep in mind that all game animals are different, meaning some capes last a while and some tend to start decomposing faster (predators)...but lets stick with deer for now....
If you don't know how to the remove the skull from the head for a shoulder mount you did the right thing, don't. It doesn't take much know-how to do it, especially on a deer, but unless you've done it (watching YouTube vids doesn't count) before I would highly suggest letting your taxi take care of the step. If you do have to leave the head in here's what to do. As some have said, split the cape right up the spine-line and stop between the ears and antler bases. Open the cape up and let it cool. In my experience if the cape is kept cool and slipping starts its usually not necessarily due to heat in the head, which cools off rather quickly. The real culprit is the bacteria levels in the mouth which starts decomp much quicker, affecting the hide around the mouth such as in the cheeks and throat. Let the head with the cape cool off and then put in a cloth bag such as a meat sack. You said you have access to a cooler....perfect. Put the cape in there with the head (if you can also fit the antlers), and pack with ice around it. You DONT want the cape sitting in water tho...so keep it up out of the melting ice water. If your temps at night are freezing then open the cooler and let that bugger freeze during the night. I did an experiment with a blacktail a couple of year ago and put a cape (my own of course) with the head still in it in a fridge set at 36 degrees (bacteria is significantly slowed and halted at anything below 37 F). The cape was unwrapped but rolled up and cooled. It lasted about 8 days before I started to see some signs of hide degrading.
If you can get the cape off the skull you have a hell of a lot more ways and extended time to keep it good for a trophy mount. Either you can learn how to do this or the other options is most game processing places, such as where you take your meat, offer 'trophy caping' for a minimal fee, which is well worth it. If you take it off in the backcountry some of the same process applies...open the cape up and cool in a shaded area, preferably where a breeze can get to it, put in a meat cloth bag and get chilled. If you don't have access to ice, another trick is to let the cape cool overnight and then put the chilled cape in a plastic bag and seal it up and submerge in a creek or snow bank to keep it cold. Again, you really don't want to make a practice of putting any cape in a plastic bag, but for this chilling option it is a must as you don't want the cape coming in contact with water. I kept an elk cape for almost a week in this manner, in a creek. A cape removed from the head, chilled, rolled and in a cloth bag lasted in my fridge for about 17 days before I started to see problems or concerns, but again, it was 36 degrees.
DONT salt a cape!!!!! Unless you have FULLY turned the lips, ears, eyes, and nose the salt wont do much for you. The meat layers around the lips and especially the ears hold more meat and tissue than you think and salt will not permeate that tissue well enough for preservation for your taxidermist, which you should check with before even attempting any salting. I've had salted capes come in before with people claiming it was turned and fleshed properly and I've only had a scant-few that were truly done correctly and it caused problems (random slippage spots) for the cape. Salted capes, when not done correctly are a HUGE pain and I know of some taxi's that wont touch them or charge additional fees if done without the cape being 'turned' first.
Wow, sorry for long winded response, but hope this helped. If you want to practice or see how to remove a cape from the head to retain eye, lips, and nose membrane for mount work, I would be happy to show you. Best of luck in your hunt(s) this year!
Joel-BRT
Corey