Standing over your animal right now?
Don't cut until you've called.
Emergency Field Line — (816) 447-2033I'll walk you through the cape, step by step, while you're standing there.
The Field Manual
The first 24 hours decide how good your mount can be
How you care for your animal before drop-off matters as much as anything I do in the shop. Follow these steps and you'll hand me a cape worth preserving.
- 1
Cool it down fast
Field-dress your animal and get it shaded and chilled as soon as possible. Heat is the number one enemy of a great mount — bacteria starts working on the hide within hours.
- 2
Skin with room to spare
When caping, make your incision well behind the front shoulder. Extra hide is always better than not enough — I can trim what I don't need, but I can't add back what's gone.
- Stop your initial incision at the sternum and work your way up from there. Cutting through the brisket leaves a seam that's very hard to hide.
- 3
Stay off the show side
The chest, throat and armpits are what everyone sees on the finished mount, so keep your knife away from them. If you're unsure, stop and call me before you cut.
- 4
Never freeze a wet or folded hide
Fold the cape skin-to-skin, bag it, and keep it cold if you're dropping off within a day or two. If you must freeze it, do it flat — a wet, wadded-up hide can freezer-burn and ruin the hair.
- 5
Handle birds gently
Keep the feathers flat and the bird cool. Slide it head-first into a plastic bag so the feathers don't break, and never wring or carry it by the neck.
- 6
When in doubt, call before you cut
One five-minute phone call before you cape your animal can save the entire mount. I'm happy to walk you through it while you're standing over it.
Bird specific
Freezing a bird the right way
Fresh is always best, but if you can't bring your bird straight to me after the harvest, freeze it using one of these two methods:
The Ziploc method
Slide the bird head-first into a freezer Ziploc bag and press out as much air as possible before sealing. Less air in the bag means less frost on the feathers.
The Saran Wrap method
Lay the bird on its back and wrap it in plastic wrap, following the grain of the feathers so they stay flat and protected. This reduces feather damage in the freezer.
Whichever method you use, wrap the feet and bill in a damp paper towel first — it prevents freezer burn on the parts most likely to show it.
Please get the bird to me within 6–12 months at the very latest. The longer it sits in the freezer, the greater the chance of freezer burn.
Do
- Keep the animal cold from the moment of harvest
- Leave plenty of extra hide — I trim, I can't stretch
- Label your bag with your name, date and tag number
- Get it to me as soon as you can — fresh is best
Don't
- Keep dragging to a minimum — it wears on the hide. Get it loaded onto a machine or cart to be driven out as soon as you can
- Don't salt the hide — that's my job, at the right stage
- Don't cut the throat to "bleed it out" — it ruins the mount
- Don't freeze a wet, folded cape and hope for the best
Caped it and ready? Let's arrange a drop-off.
Call or text me and we'll talk through your animal, your options, and an honest price — usually within a few minutes.
