How To Cape A Deer *CAUTION*

Good to hear from you Tim !!! I thought maybe you quit fishing…NOT !!!!

note to self…teach Tim how to start a new post…as I do not sell glitter jigs anymore

In this post I will be showing photos of what it takes to cape a buck deer out. Some photos will be graphic due to the nature of caping a Deer out. Since we are all Deer hunters we should be good!

Ok here we go…………

1st of all here is what a guy needs. A nice pair of rubber gloves a couple new razors and a sharp knife.

I always wear gloves no matter what. Just a good idea!

So you have your buck skinned up to the neck and now your thinking ah man I have to take it to klink to have it mounted well this will help;

Take your trophy and place it on a table or whatever is comfortable for you. Find the dark line that runs from the back of the skull down the back bone. This is where you will make your first cut.

Your first cut should be made as a “V”. One cut from the base of each antler to form a “V” This cut should be done behind the anlters and brought back about 3″ to 4″. This will give the taxidermist a chance to hide the cuts later.

The second cut is a continuation of the “V” into a “Y”. At the base of the “V” simply cut in a straight line ( Following the god given black hair on the back bone) to the end of the cape.

After this is done skin your trohpy around the neck and antlers beign careful not to cut through the hide. I always say take a little extra meat on the skining we can take it off later!

Working around the antlers is easy with a sharp razor blade. Simply cut in a downward motion around the base of the antler being careful not leave to much hair on the bases.

When you come to the ear a clean cut of the ear cannel is a must. This also can be done with a good razor blade.

Continue skining around the neck and down to the face. Make sure you are working at a even pace on both sides of your trophy.

Ok so you have made it around the antlers and you have come to the eyes. Take your razor and slice a slit through the very top of wear the eyeball meets the socket. Put your finger through the slit pulling the cape. Continue to cut slowly around the around the cartilige working your way down to the tear ducts.

Now here is where most guys mess up. Take your finger and feel how deep the tear ducts are. That is how deep you need to cut so you dont lose them. Cut into the skull you are not hurting anything by going to deep with your blade!

Your around the eyes Half way there

In the pictures you should be able to see where the cheeks start. You want to make a vertical slice in the cheek meat. This will open up to the gums. After making your vertical slice put your finger alonside the cheek. You should feel little bumps this is the inside of the cheek. Hold on to that and pull forward towards the nose. Use your blade to seperate the cheek from both the upper and lower jaw.

Cool EH!

Now you have made it to the nose and your past the cheeks.

Skin the nose until you hit the cartiliage. Be very carefull not to cut through it yet!!!!!!!!

Take a knife as shown in the pictures. Find where bone meet cartiliage. Cut in a downward motion till you hit bone again. Then rotate your knife towards the end of the nose and finish your cut. You might need to pull down on the nose after the cut to finish seperating it. Then take your razor blade and trim the excess off.

The bottom side of the jaw is really simple! Just trim to the end of the jaw as shown

There you have it you just caped your own deer!!!!

Now you just need to cut the rack off and trim the meat off around the base of the rack.

Cool EH ??

Now the cape is off the skull now what?

Well you need to remove the meat and fat from the hide. This is done with a skinning board and a sharp skinning knife. You can work the meat and fat from the hide using gravity as a your best friend.

I use a tape measure to tell what phase of the rut the buck was in by measure the girth of the neck as shown. A typical pre rut neck is going to be around 17″ behind the ear and 3″ to 4″ lower then the ears should measure 21″ to 23″. When the rut is in full swing they measure around 17″ to 18″ behind the ears and 3″ to 4″ lower around 24″ to 30″. This measurement is also used to order a form specific for your trophy.

I have included a picture of a taxidermists nightmare for mounting a Deer head.

Guys always ask how far up should we cut the brisket?

NOT THIS FAR! It is really hard to sow up the hide when the brisket is cut to far forward of the front legs.

Rule of thumb stop before the last rib and you will be fine!

Hope this all makes sense

Well done sir!

Excellent posts!

Thanks…learned quite a bit with this post.
Ted

I guess I am going to make another suggestion here if anyone is going to attempt caping out there own deer for a head mount.

Its a very good idea to coat the area you are going to make a cut with Dawn dish soap. You can use a comb to be sure the hair is laying exactly perfect so you dont take a chunk out anywhere. Once you come the hair and have some soap on it, you should be able to make a crease and carefully make your cut with a sharp razor blade.

The dish soap wont hurt the hide, and its easy to wash out. The more perfect the cut it, the less repairs will be needed, and the better your mount will come out overall. You really want to take your time when caping these out, and make exra effort not to make a bunch of slits/holes in the hide. I highly suggest doing all of the skinning with a razor blade and take your time. If an accidental cut is made to the cape with a razor, its much easier to repair than a messy hole of a skinning knife.

Cool post colklink!

Its very informative, but I really suggest if someone is not experienced, or confident in their ability to do a great job of skinning a deer for mounting purposes… I will suggest to anyone just to take in the whole deer to the taxidermist on the way home(field dressed) and they will usually remove what they need on the spot, or bring them the entire head, neck, and about everything in front of the front legs and let them do the skinning.

PS… NO MATTER WHAT … dont kill your deer by cutting the throat if you plan to have a head mount!

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but I really suggest if someone is not experienced, or confident in their ability to do a great job of skinning a deer for mounting purposes… I will suggest to anyone just to take in the whole deer to the taxidermist

PS… NO MATTER WHAT … dont kill your deer by cutting the throat if you plan to have a head mount!

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Come on Dave it took me longer to take the pictures then it did to cape the deer

No seriously Dave is right if your unsure take the whole thing in.

Also most butchers will take the cape up to the back of the head.

I speak from experience colklink. I also used to work at a taxidermy and people can hack up the deer pretty good, and it never seizes to amaze me what some people will bring in.

We had to find replacement capes a few times over a couple years. Its no big deal getting one with an extra cut or 2, but it is a big deal when there are huge chunks of hide missing, rotten hides, etc…. We even had one guy bring in 2 deer shot the morning before that werent field dressed? This was in early october and it was warm. It looked like he picked up bloated road kill.

You did an awesome job of displaying the proper technique for caping for a head mount. I just encourage everyone to use extra care when attempting it. Its not difficult, but you have to be patient.