I suggest you call a person with authority to correctly answer your question, in each of the states you are traveling thru. You do not need to cut the skull plate off to meet the CWD requirement in WY, per the Chief Game Warden for WGF.
Here is what Wyoming has communicated to NC on their rules and what not. It can be found here
N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission > Hunting > Cervid Carcass Regulations
pretty neat little tool to keep you legal, believe some other states have a similar page on their sites. Anywho,
Importation of Animal Parts:
No deer, elk or moose taken from any other state, province or country within areas designated by the appropriate jurisdictional agency as positive for CWD in either deer, elk or moose shall be imported into Wyoming. The Department requires that deer and elk hunters transport only the following items from areas where CWD is known to exist:
Cut and wrapped meat;
Boned meat;
Animal quarters or other pieces with no portion of the spinal column or head attached;
Hides without the heads;
Cleaned (no meat or other tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached; and
Antlers with no meat or other tissue attached.
The head, spine and other nervous tissue shall be left at the site of the kill or bagged and disposed of in an approved landfill. NOTE: Nothing in these requirements allows hunters to remove evidence of sex, species or horn or antler development as required in the regulations. For more information, visit Proper Carcass Disposal and Transport.
Exportation of Animal Parts (Within the CWD Hunt Areas):
No deer, elk or moose taken or possessed from any hunt area shall be transported to any other hunt area within Wyoming or to any other state, province or country. Deer, elk and moose carcasses harvested from any hunt area in Wyoming may be transported within Wyoming to a camp, a private residence for processing, a taxidermist, a processor, or a CWD sample collection site in Wyoming, provided the head and all portions of the spinal column remain at the site of the kill or such parts are disposed of in any approved landfill in Wyoming. Only the following parts of any deer, elk or moose harvested from any hunt area in Wyoming may be transported to any other hunt area in Wyoming:
Edible portions with no part of the spinal column or head attached;
Cleaned hide without the head;
Skull plate or antlers that have been cleaned of all meat and brain tissue;
Teeth; or
Finished taxidermy mounts.
Only the following parts of any deer, elk or moose harvested from any hunt areas in Wyoming may be transported to other states, provinces or countries:
Edible portions with no part of the spinal column or head attached;
Cleaned hide without the head or skull plate;
Antlers that have been cleaned of all meat and brain tissue;
Teeth; or
Finished taxidermy mounts.
Whole deer, elk and moose carcasses harvested from any area shall not be transported out of Wyoming. NOTE: Nothing in these requirements allows hunters to remove evidence of sex, species or horn or antler development as required in the regulations. For more information, visit Proper Carcass Disposal and Transport.
