Field Care Guide for Your Trophy

Many trophies are ruined in the first few hours after death due to improper field care. Bacteria will attack your specimen in just a short time. Whitetails and all large game should be skinned by a competent person, leaving the head intact and a large cape. Refrigerate the head/ skin, or freeze solid. Get the specimen to us as soon as possible!

Blood is also another troublesome agent. Blood left on white feathers or white hair may stain the specimen permanently. Carefully wash blood off immediately with wet paper towels or anything available. The key here is immediate attention, this applies to all species, not just light colored ones.

Never cut the throat, or make any unnecessary cuts on horned or antlered game. This could virtually ruin your trophy. Always leave plenty of cape for us to work with. The cut should always extend beyond the front leg.

Photographs of fish, habitat, and anything pertinent to the desired finished mount are very important. Don’t trust your memory… photograph it! This will help us to insure you will get a mount more like you had pictured.

Smaller animals should be left intact, and never field dress birds. Simply wipe all blood from them, keep tails, feathers and fur smooth and tucked into the body. Wrap the specimen in several layers of regular freezer wrap and freeze flat or in a natural position. Specimens can also be wrapped in sturdy plastic bags after the body heat has dissipated. Squeeze out as much air as possible and close the bag tightly. Again, the animal should be shipped or brought to us as soon as possible.

Birds

Birds should not be field dressed prior to bringing them to us. Bring the bird in as soon as possible, if you are unable to bring the bird within a few days wrap it in a plastic bag and freeze it till you can bring it in. If you will be shipping it to us, first freeze it in a garbage bag, insulate it with newspaper, then put it in a box and send it via UPS.

Small Game

Small game should not be field dressed. Bring it in fresh as soon as possible,if you are unable to bring it in within a few days put it in a garbage bag and freeze it till you can bring it to us. If you will ship it put it in a garbage bag and freeze it then insulate it with newspaper and put it in a box and send it via UPS.

Big Game Shoulder Mounts

Skin the animal for butchering, cut off the head but leave the skin attached to the head. Cut the skin 6 inches behind the shoulder and bring the head and cape to us for skinning. For moose, elk, and similar sized big game, it may be necessary to cape the head for packing it out of the backcountry or shipping. For further instructions on caping, please watch these videos.

Big Game Lifesize Mounts

Field dress the animal and bring it to us for skinning. If you are hunting out of state, your guide will skin the animal for you. if you don't have a guide please contact us prior to your hunt for skinning instructions.

Shipping Information