The head and cape

[foxvalley]

The prize for the second contest looks like it will work awesome for getting out the head and cape.
However, one thing that you should never do, caperoll or not, is to roll your cape warm. The heat inside the cape from the animal will spoil your cape very fast, and you will have hair slippage.(All the hair will fall out) The very best way would be to skin the cape off the head, open it up, and let it cool off. Treat the cape just like the meat. Another advantage of taking the cape off the head,is you will lighten your load by cutting off the rack and not having to pack out the heavy skull, and now you can share or split the load, between the cape and the rack.
If some of you would like to see how to skin off the head,I will post a short video,just let me know.

[CrazyElkHunter]

I am fortunate that my best friend that I hunt with, has been a Taxidermist for 40 years and capes out all our animals on the spot. We bone out every elk to lighten up the loads and horns are cut off with scull plate for transporting on pack frame.

[Harmy]

FoxValley, I have never saved a cape and would be interested in the video. Chris

[planebow]

I would like to see the vidio also.

[iRem]

I agree 100% about the heat issue! I do like the pack and roll to care for your cape in the pack out. But I can see it now, some one keeps it in there and doesn't take it out to cool and they get it home after a day or two and they ruined it!

[pointysticks]

is it difficult?

getting around the eyes and teeth cant be easy.

[one_elk]

I too would be very interested in seeing the video…

[ElkNut1]

If I'm in miles away (over 2) I do it this way, if not it's not a big deal to bring head out.

Here's a great way to consider & it cuts down wt. plus it's what taxis like. As you know most taxis want you to cut behind front legs, I give them 8" or so & it's been plenty of hide on normal shoulder mounts! Next cut hide like pulling a zipper down the spine & neck direction until you get 5"-6" away from center-line of base of antlers, make a Y cut to each base, now remove hide from around base or rosettes, it's best done with a screwdriver or similar tool & a rock used as a hammer, you push & pry hide away from the antler bone around those bases, it's not bad to do.

Once this is done now skin to base of one ear & cut the cartilage where it connects at the skull leaving all remaining cartilage inside of ear, you do not need to skin out the ear, do the same on 2nd ear. Skin down carefully around the eyes & skin out very carefully around the tear-ducts then stop just past it an inch or so & skin down lower portion towards jaw but don't skin jaw out, leave hide attached to that tedious area of mouth & nose. Now take your saw & cut the bone right there straight down leaving all hide still connected to entire jaw area, of course the nose area is still attached as well. If you are nervous about skinning out Eyes & tear-duct area then leave them & make your saw cut just above the eyes & down between the jaw leaving all teeth. Teeth are a bear to cut though so do not try it!

Now you have a nice tidy little bundle that's very light to roll up & pack out with very little bone left to pack, only the jaw/snout area is left! Your Taxi will now remove ear cartilage & finish skinning out all eyes, mouth & nose areas, that's part of his job! When rolling up cape, put flesh to flesh & hair to hair when rolling.

Now all you have to do is cut the antlers off leaving plenty of bone for sturdiness off of the discarded skull you just cut off, your taxi will trim back accordingly to fit mount form! You now have a separate rack & cape to pack out & get cooled down & you've cut the weight factor way down to haul out on a back-country type hunt by removing head & neck out of the equation! I will use the Caperoll this year & report its function! Hope this helps!

ElkNut1

[foxvalley]

Thanks Paul, That was a great description.
The hardest part of skinning out the head is around the eyes, and especially the tear ducts on an elk, as thy run very deep. However.... You are making more work for yourself by not skinning out the lips and nose!! This is very easy, and is hard to screw up. I will start a short video,but I don't have a fresh deer, so I will have to use a bear instead,same difference. I will have something posted for you guys early next week. This is not a hard proccess,and I think everybody should be able to do this. You guys with the havalon knives,this is where they will really shine!!!

[PREZ]

I learned how to cape out from taxidermist and it is not that difficult. I practiced on a few does and small bucks. The hardest part is the tear ducts, but if you take your time its not that hard. Lots of videos on YouTube.

[stringunner]

Paul, that was a great description of how to do it and very great idea for those whom have never done it before. I was very nervous caping out my first bull, cutting just above the eyes is a great idea for someone never having done it before.

[foxvalley]

http://youtu.be/ppwCYm5pcyE


Here is a short video on how to take the cape off of your animal, you would do the same exact thing for an elk.You don't need to take any measurements,as most taxidermists will measure the hide itself. If I can't find a good video on skinning out the head on u tube, I will use my little bear that is thawing out.

[ElkNut1]

I'll check out that clip, thanks!

Too, the reason I've done it the way I suggested is because it is tedious work to do in the field! I'd rather take it down as described & then if at all work on the mouth & nose area at camp or home! Our 1st order is getting meat out. Sometimes (most of it) the flies & bees are so bad at the kill site that it's not easy to finish caping & you just want away from them so we try to be quick & move on. If you have the time then by all means cape out animal there! Thanks guys!

ElkNut1

[foxvalley]

Thanks Paul, Always good advice, sometimes the flies and bees are just too much to spend any more time than is needed at the kill.
I did find a good video that should help with skinning out the head. I think this is better than showing you the bear because this video shows how to work around the anters. You would skin out an elk head the same way,but the pedicals,the bone that the anters are attached to is much longer. Also, the tear ducts on an elk are much deeper, about an inch,so you really need to be careful. Where this guy made the "t" cut between the antlers, you might instead want to make a "y" cut. Don't worry if you cut through the hide or have an accident,we can repair just about everything as long as all the pieces are there! However, treat the cape just like the meat, and make sure that it is cooled off,and kept cool, because there is no way that we can repair the cape if it spoils and the hair slips. Then it's junk.

http://youtu.be/pN_ElG3laqo

[ElkNut1]

Man, you're going to have me watching all kinds of clips!! (grin) That's great though, I always enjoy learning & picking up tips to make a job easier! Thanks Foxvalley!

ElkNut1

[caperoll/Scott]

Ok, here’s my two cents worth on how to cape out the head. First get one of the light weight disposable scalpels. You can pick one up at most sporting goods stores for around five buck. Use this for skinning out the head.
First make a circle cut around the animal you should be at least five to eight inches behind the point of the elbow. (By going back that far it gives your Taxidermist enough cape to work with) Then make a circle cut around the front legs of the animal just above the knee joint. On the back of the front leg between or on the hair line cut up the leg into the elbow pit area. Then cut a straight cut from the pit area back towards the circle cut in the rib area. On the back of the animals head at the base of the antlers make a Y cut from each antler downward towards the middle of the back of the neck approximately 5 to 6 inches then cut from the back of the head down the neck towards the shoulders to the circle cut. Skin the cape towards the animal’s head, when you have skinned out the shoulders and neck area and are at the base of the head cut off the head as close the back of the skull as possible. If you are not comfortable skinning out the head allow the skin to cool down before you roll up the cape and pack it out. Remember skin to skin and hair to hair.
If you don’t wont to pack out the extra weight then skin out the head. Start by pushing the hair away from the base of the antler, than use your scalpel to cut around the base of the antler. Then skin towards the ears and cut the base of the ear next to the skull. When you get around the eye, use your finger to pull the eye lid and skin away from the eye so you don’t cut it. Next skin into the tear duct, this area of skin is very thin and can be cut easily so take your time. At this point you should have most of head skinned out. Turn the head over and place the antlers in the ground and the back of the head on the ground so the nose is pointing up. Open the animal’s mouth, with you scalpel cut along the lower jaw line inside the mouth below the teeth. Next do the upper jaw line above the teeth. When you get to the cartilage at the base of the nose cut along the skull until the nose comes off. Don’t try and skin out the nose let your taxidermist do that. Continue skinning out the head until the all the skin is off. Let the cape cool off before rolling and packing. Cut the antlers off starting from behind the antlers cutting forward through the eye area until skull cap and antlers are off.
At this point time and heat can be an issue with hair slipping. If you can get the cape off the hill and get it to your taxidermist as soon as possible so he can get it fleshed out and on the salt that’s the best thing to do. If that’s not possible get it into a freezer then to your taxidermist. And last if you’re going to be on the hill for a long time you may want to think about bring salt with you. If you do salt your cape in the field use salt that is iodine free, after the tanning process in done the skin will stretch out and be easier to work with. Salt with Iodine burns or sets the skin and does not allow skin to stretch after it has been tanned. This makes it harder to work with when being mounted. You should be able to pick up salt from your taxidermist. Remember how ever you roll up the cape heat will come into play. After the pack out unroll it and let it cool off.
And one of the easiest ways to get your cape off the hill is with a caperoll, it’s easy to use, you can roll up your head and cape in less than a few minutes and be ready for the pack out and only have to do it ounce, no more stopping and retying time after time. The caperoll keeps your cape compact, manageable, clean, and damage free during the pack out. The caperoll is light weight, durable and reusable. Check it on facebook or the web site at caperoll@yahoo.com. I hope this will help.