I wonder if anyone could offer me some advice. I shot a nice roe buck yesterday and want to get it shoulder mounted. I caped it off straight away, well behind the shoulders to give the taxidermist enough to work with, but as he's on holiday at the moment my question is, should I roll up all the skin around the head and freeze it or what? Is there anything in particular I need to do before I freeze it? Also whats the best way of sealing the bag I freeze it in before I send it to the taxidermist? I don't know if this is in the right section but hopefully someone thats done this kind of thing before will be able to point me in the right direction. At the moment it's hanging in a chiller at 3'c.

how lond is he away for?

He's away for another fortnight, I'm just concerned about hair slip and the skin degrading so just wondered what the best course of action was.

When in doubt, freeze it! The taxidermist can always thaw it out.

The important thing to remember is that the fur acts as a great insulator, so initially lay the cape out in the freezer so that it gets thoroughly chilled before you roll it up.

Otherwise, it's possible that you'll have "hot spots" where enough heat is retained to cause slippage of the hair.

Put it straight into the freezer ASAP
thou it may be too late as it has been left a little to long, but for some reason deer skins don't seem to slip as much or as quick as other skins , just warn your taxidermist about it when he comes back of his hols
you may be lucky, if not
it will be just a case of getting another cape at some point
as for future pointers which may help
what I normally do is cape them off fresh from behind the shoulder all the way upto the atlas joint, then remove head and cape in one, wrap it it up in a bin liner and straight into the freezer, usually with-in hours of shooting said beast
if doing a hide
I skin fresh and rub salt into the skin (flesh side) leave overnight , wipe off with dry cloth then rub more salt in leave for a couple of hours, then roll up and into the freezer or give straight to my taxidermist if he's about

If had been for a week it would of been ok in the chiller.

However get it in the freezer dont salt it as that will dry it and shrink it.

quote:

Originally posted by DJM:
However get it in the freezer dont salt it as that will dry it and shrink it.

I concur with that advice. Freeze as is and let the taxidermist deal with it.

He'll not be best pleased if he opens it up and finds you've been rubbing salt all over it.