AFTER THE SHOT

Saving a Possibly Lost Trophy

EDITOR'S NOTE: The decisions you make once your game is down are what make for the best of memories or the worst of nightmares. This week we'll look at the best ways to take care of your deer once you bag it.

Often in a hunting camp, someone mistakenly will cut your buck's throat or split the deer too far down the neck. Another hunter will pronounce the deer ruined and tell you you can't have it mounted because of the badly cut neck. But realize that asking another hunter about your deer's ability to be mounted means the information you receive will be just as accurate as asking that hunter how he will perform brain surgery. If you have taken a buck you want mounted, then regardless of the problems you've encountered, take the full cape and head to a taxidermist for a final determination.

I'll never forget one day when I still did taxidermy 20 years ago before going into fulltime outdoor writing when an elderly man about to cry, a young boy already crying and a big buck appeared at my door. The man's 13-year-old grandson had bagged a buck weighing over 200 pounds that easily would score in the 140s on the Boone and Crockett scale. But someone had ruined this trophy of a lifetime. The boy had shot the buck in the neck twice, someone had cut the animal's throat, and the skinner had left a large cut from the deer's chin to his vent when he skinned the deer.

"Four other taxidermists refused to mount the deer," the old man said. "You're our last hope." I really didn't want to mount the deer. I realized how much sewing and cutting I would have to do to save the cape. I offered the elderly man the option of trying to find another cape on which we could mount his grandson's antlers. "Mr. Phillips, I don't care what you have to do or how bad it looks," the elderly man emphasized. "We really want you to mount this deer with his cape." From behind the old man, the shy young boy pleaded with me, "Please Mr. Phillips, mount my deer if you can."
I couldn't say no. Two days of sewing and cutting, pasting and tacking produced a mount I knew looked good. The older man and boy thanked me when they came to pick up their trophy.

Many times a taxidermist can save what others may consider a lost trophy if he spends the extra time and effort required. However, you can ensure a quality mount by taking a few extra precautions in the field:
* start skinning the deer from behind the two front shoulders. Make a cut all around the deer, split down the back side of the legs, roll the hide away from the meat as you skin, much like rolling a sock off your foot; continue to roll the hide away from the meat until you disconnect the neck at the base of the skull.
* take the head either to a taxidermist or put it in a plastic bag in a freezer immediately. Or,
* have the head professionally skinned out, the antlers cut out of the skull, and the cape frozen, if you'll fly or drive back and can't keep the deer refrigerated. You can ship a frozen cape next-day's service to any taxidermist in the nation without the cape's thawing out. In the same box, send the antlers. Make sure you've padded each point with insulting foam.
* call the taxidermist before you ship the head. Get the correct address for shipping, and notify the taxidermist when the head will arrive.
* contact the taxidermist to see if he has received your specimen for mounting on the day the head should arrive.

Often you don't get a quality mount on your buck of lifetime because of errors you've made in the field. However, often an expert taxidermist still can produce a quality mount, even if you've made errors in skinning or caring for your trophy. Hunters don't receive the quality of meat they want from their deer processors or the quality of mounts they expect from their taxidermists because they haven't decided on the taxidermist or meat processor they intend to use prior to bagging their bucks. You invest hundreds of hours and spend thousands of dollars trying to take that one big buck of a lifetime. When you finally do bag the trophy you've searched for all your life, be prepared to care for the trophy and the meat properly to make the memory last a lifetime.

To learn more about preparing and cooking venison, go to Night Hawk's home page and click on books to see the "Deer & Fixings Cookbook," written by John and his wife, Denise, who now have more than 80 combined years' experience of cooking venison. Call (800) 627-4295 to order with a credit card, or you can send a check or a money order to 4112 Camp Horner Road, Birmingham, AL 35243.