1. With the deer on its back, make a shallow cut through the skin just below the breastbone. Make sure that you start your cut well away from the brisket allowing plenty of uncut skin for your shoulder mount. Insert two fingers of the free hand, cradling the blade, to hold the skin up and away from the entrails

2. Cut straight down the belly and around the genitals, separating but not severing them from the abdominal wall. Slit the belly skin all the way to the pelvic bone.

3. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not to cut off or puncture the intestine. Pull to make sure the rectum is separated from the tissue connecting it to the pelvic canal. Pull the rectum out and tie string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat. Lift the animals back quarter a bit, reach into the front of the pelvic canal, and pull the intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area.

4. If you want to make a full shoulder mount, do not cut open the chest cavity. Cut the diaphragm away from the ribs all the way to the backbone area. Reach into the forward chest cavity, find the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up as possible, and pull them down through the chest.

5. Roll the deer onto its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the rectum / intestine with the other. Pull hard. The deer's internal organs will come out in one big package with a minimum of mess.

1. With a sharp knife, slit the hide circling the body behind the shoulder at approximately the midway point of the rib cage behind the front legs. Slit the skin around the legs just above the knees. Make a incision around the legs below or at the knee joint. As shown in picture on left. DO NOT cut up the leg toward the brisket. Slowly work your knife around the leg freeing the skin. At this point you can begin the remove the cape by pulling and cutting the connective tissue.

2. Peel the skin forward up to the ears and jaw exposing the head / neck junction. Cut into the neck approximately three inches down from this junction. Circle the neck cutting down to the spinal column. After this cut is complete, cut the spinal column.

3. This should allow the hide to be rolled up and put in a freezer until transported to the taxidermist. These cuts should allow ample hide for the taxidermist to work with in the mounting.

Animals Coyote sized and smaller should be brought to us unskinned. Don't gut the animal. Small animals, especially carnivores, will spoil quickly because of their thin hide and bacteria. If you can't bring the animal to me immediately, the animal should be placed in a plastic bag and frozen as soon as possible.

Do not gut the bird. Place the bird into a plastic bag being careful not to damage the feathers, including the tail. (If the tail feathers will not fit into the bag, leave them out.) Tie the bag loosely, and place in the freezer.

Do not gut your fish. Wrap the fish in a wet towel making sure that all fins are flat against the body and place in a plastic bag. Freeze immediately.