12 Tips for a Successful Hunter Private Land Missouri Kansas Nebraska llinois Deer Turkey Iowa

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You have the buck of a lifetime down and now the work begins.

Many hunters believe taxidermists are magicians, however, most taxidermists will attest proper care of the trophy while still in the field is the key to getting back a great looking trophy.

The crew at Schwarz Studio Taxidermy, the oldest taxidermists in America, located in St. Louis, Missouri recommends these tips:

GAMEHEADS:

1. Do not slit the throat or go up any further than between the front legs when field-dressing your deer.

2. Do not tie rope or other cord around the neck of the animal to drag it out, Keep the shoulders off the ground as much as possible to prevent the animal from dragging over rocks.

3. Once the animal has been "checked in" hang the deer by the back legs and skin it out towards the head. Once skinned as far as you can, which is usually to the base of the skull, cut the meat and leave all of the the hide, head, and antlers all in one piece, then place into a plastic bag and freeze, or at the very least keep your trophy on ice until you can deliver it to your taxidermist.

Perhaps you have a different trophy to have mounted. Bobcats, raccoons, coyotes and many other furbearers make excellent trophies. Squirrels are great table fare and also make a fine addition to any trophy room. These trophies require special care while skinning. Again, the experts at Schwarz offer these tips for other trophies

SKINS, DEER OR FURBEARERS:

4. Skin the animal; take your time to prevent cutting holes in the hide. If you want to save the feet and tail of the animal, leave the job of skinning the tail and feet to the professionals. They can do a better job of it than you. Once you have the skin off the animal, take time to get as much flesh off the hide as possible, then freeze the skin in a plastic bag until you can deliver the specimen as soon as possible. Small game like squirrels can be frozen whole.

Perhaps no trophy is as regal as a strutting wild turkey however, a wood duck or a mallard drake hardly takes a back seat in a waterfowler´s trophy room. Birds also need special care before delivering to a taxidermist.

DUCKS, GEESE and TURKEYS:

5. Choose a good specimen to have mounted. The choice of a specimen can make just another mount or a trophy you want to show off to your friends.

6. Do not field dress the bird.

7. Look for broken wing feathers, or where pellets cut the feathers on the wings, if you want an open wing (flying mount).

8. Try and keep as much blood and mud off the bird. Then lay the head back and under a wing, then put the bird in a plastic bag and freeze or at least keep on ice until it can be delivered to your taxidermist.

FISH:

9. Do not gut your fish!

10. Take a good close up photo of your fish; it will help the taxidermist when he is ready to paint the fish so he can duplicate the characteristics of your individual fish.

11. Lay the fish down on a wet towel, lay fins flat against the fish´s body and roll the fish up in the towel, then put the wrapped up fish into a plastic bag, seal as much air out of the bag as possible. Then put into the freezer or at least keep on ice until you can get to a freezer or a taxidermist.

12. Instead of having fish mounted, many anglers are choosing to photograph the fish and release it to fight another day. Most taxidermists offer a fiberglass replica of the fish painted to match the photograph that you took of the fish.

For more information on hunting private property visit our website at Hunting Sports Plus, or call 1-800-341-3444

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