I have recently received my first caribou cape and was wondering if the procedures for splitting the lips, turning the ears,getting cartilage out of nose ect.is the same as the procedure that you use on deer or if there are other procedures I must use. The cape is currently been salted but nothing else done yet. Also was wondering if I can freeze this cape to work on later or do I need to address everthing immediatly. Any help would be greatly appreciated .
Thank you, Buddy
Return to Gamehead Taxidermy Category Menu
Everything is the same. chin pad is very thick and lots of facial meat to remove. Can be frozen till later. Lots of Caribou go bad because of poor care in the field. Wet climate where they live contributes to spoilage.
Tony
just remember that a salted cape will not completely freeze in the freezer as the salt will prevent that. It should be ok but I would work on it as soon as possible and not leave it in the freezer any longer then necessary.
Here is what I did with mine I just recieved in my shop. The cape looked to have been very well taken care of in the field by the outfitter. My friend that had taken this only gets the best on everything he does so I'm sure it was done write. The cape had been salted twice in the field and then wrapped in a plastic bag and brought to me five days later. It still had a lot of flesh on the face area and around the eyes. I thought this should be taken off write away as the salt had dryed things pretty well and no juices were comming out any where. I tryed to get some of the meat off but it was to dry. I did not want to freeze this cape as it was well salted and it would not freeze very well. I went a head and put it in a pickle for about two hours. I took it out and fleshed around the eyes and face and ran the whole skin over with my quebec shaver. I didn't shave the hide only cleaned it up real nice and white. I then placed it back in the pickle and will shave it again in two days. I plan to tan it then freeze it. I think that it would be much safer to tan it first then freeze. I'm not sure if Caribou are prone to slip or not but so far this one seems very tight haired. Good luck with yours. Jack