Do you turn lips, ears, nose and eyes

[fire652]

On your back country hunts do you turn everything or just leave it attached to the skull. Going on hunt next year and if I need to know how to turn. The eyes nose lips and ears then I would prefer to practice on does this year. Does it matter if your in the woods for one day or a week. Also wondering how many actually carry salt. I am going mid September and then again mid October after elk and deer. Thanks

 

[tuffcity]

Back pack hunts I turn them, don't need the extra weight of skull coming out of the mountains. Even on other hunts they get caped at the cabin or at home depending where I'm hunting. It's a useful skill to learn! I keep lots of salt at base camp (take about a pound or two in my pack) or cabin, at home it goes straight in to the freezer.

RC

 

[CaseyU]

I am a little confused what your asking. Are you asking if we cape animals? yes the sooner the better not just for the cape but that skull is heavy. Are you asking if we split or turn the ears nose and eye lids? then no I don't. Even late September or early October hunts I have never had an issue with an animal's cape being ruined. It is some tedious work (most are definitely capable) I usually spend more time thinking about the meat, packing out, or chasing something with the other tag the groups holding. hope this helps and best of luck

 

[squeekieslayer]

Back pack hunts I turn them, don't need the extra weight of skull coming out of the mountains. Even on other hunts they get caped at the cabin or at home depending where I'm hunting. It's a useful skill to learn! I keep lots of salt at base camp (take about a pound or two in my pack) or cabin, at home it goes straight in to the freezer.

RC

you carry 2 pounds of salt with you all the time in your pack?

Joe

 

[tuffcity]

you carry 2 pounds of salt with you all the time in your pack?

No, poorly phrased by me. If we (and its usually my wife and I) are doing a pack in hunt, generally sheep or goats, I will have a pound or two with me. That way if we get an animal early in the hunt I can, at the very least salt the really critical parts, and not have to run back to base camp immediately. Especially doing August hunts .

RC

 

[RamDreamer]

Does anyone have a link or place to go to learn how to properly turn the ears, lips, nose and ears? I would like to start practicing on a few animals this fall.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Does anyone have a link or place to go to learn how to properly turn the ears, lips, nose and ears? I would like to start practicing on a few animals this fall.

Hit riverrat up. He is a taxidermist. He gave me a good link on it a month ago but I can't seem to find it now. It might be on his website http://www.kochtaxidermy.com

 

[switchback007]

Just my .02, I am a taxidermist and I don't turn the lips or ears. As stated before, getting the cape off and cut out the horns is what you are striving for. get rid of the extra weight. You should take some measurement. Measure corner of eye to the very tip of nose, and I measure from the tip of the right side of horn to tip of the nose and the same for the left. That way you put the horns pretty much back to where they were on the hoof. also take 2 measurements of the neck. One right behind the ears at the base of the neck and the other about 3" down the neck. Try not to lose those. That is what you will use to order your manikin. Ok, back on topic. Most places that will tan your hide will turn the ears and split the lips and eyes for a small fee. It is worth it if you do a few hides. If you get the hide "wet tanned" you usually get the hide back in 30-45 days. Your other materials such as the manikin, eyes, ear liners usually only take 1-2 days to get in the mail. I hope this helps. Give it a try. You will like it, and you will learn as you do more and more. Oh yeah, I take all the measurement before I skin out the skull.
t

 

[Larry Bartlett]

check out our Wilderness Taxidermy video. It shows everything from the trigger pull to turning the face and salting. Shows the process on both bear and caribou.

http://www.pristineventures.com/products/dvd-library.html

larry

 

[afteamroper]

Larry's DVD is spot on in my opinion.

 

[RamDreamer]

Thanks the dvd set looks great.

 

[RamDreamer]

So I got the dvd set and watched the disk detailing the process for the shoulder mount of the caribou and all I can say it that is a great dvd Larry! I am curious as to how you would do the rest of the body. Would you make the cut down the whole back and cut around the tail, similar to the bear, and then just tube out the legs? What do you do when you have it all the way down to the hoof? No rush really just trying to learn for future hunts.

 

[Browtine]

Hit riverrat up. He is a taxidermist. He gave me a good link on it a month ago but I can't seem to find it now. It might be on his website http://www.kochtaxidermy.com

Looks like RR does some nice work!!!

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Looks like RR does some nice work!!!

He does. The stuff I've seen of his looks great.

 

[Dapper]

Switchback007 made a good point on the measurements. Learn what measurements the taxi will want. My son who does taxidermy as a hobby, always has a prepared paper on measurements needed for the speices we're hunting. Its a 4x6 paper showing the animals head and how to measure with a space to write down the measurement. I just keep it in my pack.

Dan

 

[AK Troutbum]

All my hunts are pretty much remote and for usually no less than 10 days. I always turn everything and salt. I don't pack salt to spike camp but always bring it and leave it at base camp.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Well, honestly never pulled a full body hide off a caribou, but would imagine tubing the legs would be a challenge but doable.

With a sheep it's really easy to zip down the spine to the rear end, around the tail on one side and then down the inside or back of the leg. BUT, the specific cuts depend on how you'll want the animal displayed. If sitting position where the belly is covered and the top of its back will be the visual goal, then a belly cut removal would be appropriate. If standing high on a wall where the belly and head are the focal point, then a spine cut is best...

hope this helps, and glad that dvd set helped a bit.

 

[325 wsm]

COLD water can be your friend. Several times I have had hunters harvest a wolf or bear early in a sheep hunt. With a limited amount of salt available I didnt want to use it up that early on a 10 day hunt. After removing the cape I turned the lips, eyes, ears, nose and pads. i then went to a nearby creek, tied the cape to a stable branch or boulder and then piled rocks on the cape until it was fully submersed in moving water. In cold enough water it is good for up to 3 days. Over time the water will wash the majority of blood out of the cape which will help prevent hair slippage as well as wash the blood out of the hair. When I take the cape out of the water I wring it out as best as possible in the morning, hang it or drape it over something to drip dry more and salt it later in the day. Do not expose the flesh side of cape in the hot sun while it is air drying before salting.There are some risks involved in this as the scent will be carried downstream and can attract predators but I feel it is better than leaving it on the ground (usually no trees around to hang it high when sheep hunting). I have also done this with sheep capes still on the head (unturned) but never longer than 1 day. If you have a long pack out dont forget that the wet cape will add extra weight. This technique may work well for you if you tag an animal early in the hunt and want to keep hunting but dont have enough salt. Turning and salting
within 24 hours is still the best method.