Before stating to dress out your animal, consider the finished piece. Pelts can be tanned and displayed alone, or used in either a head or full-body mount. How you go about the skinning of any animal will depend on what you're going to do with it.
Pelts that will be displayed alone need fewer cutting skills. This type of skinning is a great place to start. Smaller animals such as squirrel and rabbit should make great practice. Larger projects should be reserved for later, when you're more skilled.
Once skinned and prepared, animal pelts can be used for a variety of things. Pelts of beautiful animals are sometimes used for public and private display. They can also be used to make animal fur rugs, and of course robes and fur coats as well.
Full-body and head mounts need very careful cutting and attention to the details. Every cut can mean the difference between a skin that fits the mount and one that doesn't cut it. Leaving enough of the skin to work with, preserving the integrity of the face, dealing with claws and ears are just a few of the concerns.
Well before you make the first slice, you will need to get some vital statistics on the animal. Inaccurate measurements of the body will need to be taken and noted. This is most important when the skin is going back on the animal in a mount. Good measurements now will make the work later a lot easier.
Now that you have your measurements, it's time to get the tools you need together. One is your standard hunting knife, it's typically large and sharp, ideal for first cuts. But for fine detail work, a short bladed knife such as a utility knife or kitchen paring knife is an absolute neccesity.
If you intend to mount the head of a elk or deer only, you need to skin down to a certain point on the shoulders.
Then, you need to preserve the entire head until you get back to your shop. Prepping to do a life-size mount means you need to get that animal completely skinned and back to the shop in record time.
Maybe you just want to tan the hide itself as a trophy. Get the steps right, keep your end goal in mind and you'll have beautiful trophy mounts and hides.
Hunters often make the same mistakes out in the field. They don't know how to take care of their kill and drive around for days with their deer in the back of the truck showing it off. By the time it gets to the taxidermist, it just isn't salvageable.
So don't make those mistakes, once you bag the prize, pack it up properly and get back to your shop where you can start the process.
About the Author:
By: Vin DeWolfe
For more information and to get your Free DIY Taxidermy reports, visit:
taxidermy.biblioflip.com
K.L. "Vin" Hayes leads a great team of independent writers and researchers. Over the last 10 years, they've worked together to produce high-quality digital reprints of vintage documents as well as original works. Vin specializes in how-to information that includes a wide variety of subjects such as
hunting & fishing, hobbies & crafts, construction, self-improvement and more.
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