taking capes home

[wmihunter]

so..you kill a big buck outta state. technically your'e supposed to cape the head out. do you do it yourself or have a taxidermist do it? what do they usually charge? Or.. do you break the rules and take the head home without caping it out...I am looking for ideas as I hope to get lucky this fall....

[wmihunter]

along the same line-how do you keep the cape cool til you get home...large cooler?

[Brad]

I would cape it out. I was toying around with becoming a taxidermist and watched it done a few times and its really easy. The biggest thing to remember is if your unsure of what to cut, leave plenty extra and they can trim off what's not needed, Better to do that than cut something short. The hardest part is around the nose and the lips. If your going to be a few days before you get it to your taxidermist I would coat the hide with 2 or 3 inches of salt to deter bacteria from forming and it cant rot when its salted. Check with your taxidermist to see how he wants it cut I.E, y cut, 7 cut, short y cut, full length cut etc. Dont use a knife, they call them caping knives but the best thing to use is a scalpel with a brand new blade. Way faster and you have way more control than a knife.

[Brad]

Another good product to use is called stop rot, spray that on both sides of the cape, it helps set the hair and prevents slippage. If your getting to the taxidermist right away just cape it off the body, don't do around the eyes nose and lips etc. If it will be more than a day or two forget trying to keep it cool, by then the bacteria will be well along and the hair can very easily slip. use salt and a lot of it, when you think you have enough use more and then after a day get rid of the old salt and apply new. This will buy you weeks as long as its salted. A lot of taxidermists don't freeze caped out hides anymore, a lot will salt and store in rubbermade totes. This is also the preferred way to ship a hide if you ever have to mail one.

[Stanley]

What if you're doing a European mount?

[Spysar]

When traveling, I take a smaller chest freezer with me in the back of my truck. That's how I bring home the meat and capes.

I cape all mine and my friends deer. Find out how your taxy likes them caped. The short Y, the 7 cut, or all the way down the back. I usually do the short Y, and rarely do the all the way down the back cut. The 7 would be my second choice. Use a sharp exacto, or scalpel. When in doubt, cut down toward bone. Extra crap can be removed later. Eyes are the hardest part.

Next time I do one, Ill take a series of pics to demonstrate....

[kenn1320]

My advice, if you have never caped out a head, don't start with a buck you want to mount. Shoot a doe or two and practice on them. While Brad says its easy (and after watching a couple videos it does look easy) I paid the local taxi $50 to do it for me and he cut one of the eye lids . That $50 also got me the cape rolled and packed in 2 bags and put in his freezer over night. He also cut the antlers off and boiled the skull plate. Also when packing meat, its imperative that it does not touch the water/ice. After you debone the meat, cut it up so it fits in those gallon freezer bags and place that in your cooler. I found this out the hard way, kept plenty of ice in that cooler only to find out the meat was ruined according to my butcher . I was able to salvage some of it, but anything that turned gray he said was bad.

Oh as for not caping it and just sneaking it back home, don't be "that guy".

[Spysar]

so..you kill a big buck outta state. [glow=red]technically your'e supposed to cape the head out.[/glow] do you do it yourself or have a taxidermist do it? what do they usually charge? Or.. do you break the rules and take the head home without caping it out...I am looking for ideas as I hope to get lucky this fall....

Who says that?

[kenn1320]

Who says that?

Lots of states say that Spy, its due to not wanting CWD to spread. Check your states game laws and they will have the states they do not want you transporting any "bones" home from.

Here is a cut/paste from the Michigan page.

Regulations for bringing in harvested animals from other states and Canada

Michigan Hunting and Trapping Guide 2007-2008

Due to changes (dated 08/08/03) in USDA regulations concerning the importation of ruminant carcasses from Canada, there has been some confusion as to what a hunter can bring into Michigan from other states and provinces. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that there are 2 distinct sets of regulations set by 2 different agencies applying to 2 different diseases.

As a precaution to prevent bringing Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) into Michigan, the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) passed a Wildlife Conservation Order in which limited the parts of free-ranging elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer that can be imported from states and provinces that have CWD in their free-ranging deer or elk. These restrictions are published in the Michigan Hunting and Trapping Guide, and limit hunters to bringing only:

De-boned meat
Antlers
Antlers attached to a skull cap cleaned of all brain and muscle tissue
Hides cleaned of excess tissue or blood
Upper canine teeth
Finished taxidermist mount

From these places: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, New York, Alberta, or Saskatchewan. Though USDA has overturned its ban on wild ruminant meat imports, the NRC order still requires that any meat that comes from a state or province where free-ranging deer or elk with a CWD have been found must be de-boned with any excess tissue or blood removed.

If you are notified by another state or province that a deer or elk you brought into Michigan tested positive for CWD, you must contact the DNR Wildlife Disease lab within two business days (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at (517) 336-5030 and provide all information rerquested by the Lab.

[Brad]

The biggest thing with the eyes is you need to stick your finder in the eye and grasp the membrane, when you think you have enough get more just in case. If you make little nicks and cuts here and there most can be fixed, the eyes and teardrops cant be fixed very easily. When you do the teardrop area, the scalpel needs to go down into the teardrop from the back side and go suuuuuuuuper slow, its not a race by any means. If you want to see it done go over to taxidermy tube and I think they still have a few free demo videos. If your doing a euro mount just get the skin off in one shape or the other, if you go slow and salvage the cape, you can often times sell it for 50-100 bucks depending on the size.

[rudy78]

I just found a good taxidermist by where I hunt, so drop it off to him, then pick it up in spring when down there shed hunting. A couple big pluses for me are that his prices are good & he is used to mounting giant bodied deer, unlike most taxi back home.

[ Post made via Palm ]

[Dor]

I/we cape ours on the spot. I'm lucky in that both guys that I hunt with are taxidermists.....I usually do my own, but it is not uncommon for one of my partners just to crank it out for me.....I don't argue. It's really not that hard of deal. Somewhat of a dirty, time consuming job, but it's just part of the fun. If you are caping that means you have been successful!

Like mention before, just take your time on the eyes.