Ohhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyy Gawd.

Yeah. Wow. I take my customers deer 4 - 5 ribs back of the shoulder and sock out the neck and twist the skull out. I'm not even about to cut the neck, much less knock a bunch of holes in it.

Good luck with that'un bro ... !

 

Geez, that looks bad! Hope you find a new cape!

 

Euro time!

 

we replaced the cape, this one made the trash. the horns were way too good to do a european mount on.

 

Do you have a diagram for completely caping a head? I hunt out west sometimes where cold storage besides ice chests isn't available, so if I want to do a mount, I need to cape the entire head. I haven't done it, just seen it done, but I would get nervous on the cut lines near the antler bases, ears, etc. and the skinning of the head near the eyes and lips.

 

here is a diagram and instructioin on how to do that. I believe that if you pull the skin you will see the membrane and thats what you cut. it might take a couple of times to get it right, but in your case, its something i would work on. hope that helps

http://www.ehow.com/how_8139831_remove-hide-deer-head.html

 

Many thanks.

 

Easy rule of thumb

I don't like that diagram. Always go half way back on the animal...no reason not to. And farther down the front two legs.....lots of drop shoulder work done now.

 

I usually start the cape from where the rib cage starts. I will also pull the front legs through all the way to the joint. I would rather give too much hide than too little.

That hide is butchered pretty bad!

 

Well ... you gotta realize, it's tough to get the hide off properly in the headlights on the side of 1488 at 1pm without getting gaffled ... !

 

i hope some 13yr old was hunting alone that pulled that one off

 

Looks like he picked that one up, from the road......

 

The trick is leave plenty of cape and don't make any cuts on the brisket or the inside of the legs!!

 

I have taught several guys that hunt in Mexico along with some that hunt out of state how to 'cape' a deer out for times like James Howell described. We have recieved animals that were caped out by guides that evidently had no idea what they were doing and left the hunter needing a cape. The most common mistake of Field Dressing is cutting down the inside of the front legs across to the other leaving the cape short in the brisket along with splitting the chest cavity WAY to far up. We had 1 guy that brought us a short cape one yr, the next he brought 1/2 deer >> unskint that was cut into midways with a chainsaw. One thing I told people is that "if you don't know what your doing>>don't do it.....WW

 

Copy/Paste Test

Let me see if this works:

Caping for a Shoulder Mount

With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at approximately the midway point of the rib cage behind the front legs. Slit the skin around the legs just above the knees. An additional slit will be needed from the back of the leg and joining the body cut behind the legs.

Peel the skin forward up to the ears and jaw exposing the head/neck junction. Cut into the neck approximately three inches down from this junction. Circle the neck, cutting down to the spinal column. After this cut is complete, grasp the antler bases, and twist the head off the neck. This should allow the hide to be rolled up and put in a freezer until transported to the taxidermist.
These cuts should allow ample hide for the taxidermist to work with in mounting. Remember, the taxidermist can cut off excess hide, but he can't add what he doesn't have.
Note:

When field dressing a trophy to be mounted, don't cut into the brisket (chest) or neck area.
If blood gets on the hide to be mounted, wash it off with snow or water as soon as possible.
Avoid dragging the deer out of the woods with a rope. Place it on a sled, a rickshaw, or a four-wheeler. The rope, rocks, or a broken branch from a deadfall can easily damage the fur or puncture the hide. If you do need to drag it our with a rope, attach the rope to the base of the antlers and drag your trophy carefully.