Cape off skull

[Don K]

OK maybe someone can point me in the right direction or give me some tips. I have been bow hunting for over 30 years and know how to take care of the animals in the field. I can field dress, do the gutless, quarter, and take a cape off a animal (skull on). The only thing I have never done is take the cape off the skull I usually take my animal to a taxi and have them take care of it. This year my bull I took I decided I was going to boil the skull and go with the a European mount. I tried to take the hide off the skull to practice but had one hell of a time with it especially around the base of the rack. I really want to learn how to do this so If I'm in a situation where I need to get the hide cooled down before I can get it frozen I know what I'm doing.

So for those that take the cape off the skull give me some tips on doing this. What knife do you use, what do I need to know. Randy has a great video on the gutless to show everyone is there a video out there on how to do this?

Thanks for any advice

Don

 

[npaden]

Here's a copy and paste off an old thread of mine. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'm getting better. I'll add some new comments in bold.

The #1 tip I would give on caping the head out is to bring a small sharp knife. My regular Gerber was too big, although I was able to get it done, a smaller knife (maybe 3" long and 3/4" wide) would have been easier, especially on the eyes and scent gland right in front of the eye.

(I now carry a small caping knife with me, one of those ones you get for joining the RMEF, it makes the job a lot easier)

The #2 tip I would give on caping would be to go ahead and try it, it really isn't that hard and it is AMAZING how much easier it is to deal with the head when it isn't attached to the cape. We didn't saw the skull plate off, but we probably lost 10lbs just by being able to cut out the entire tongue and some more meat off the back of the neck that we couldn't get too until I caped out the head. Just having the 35lb head and the 45lb cape separated makes it way less awkward to try to carry.

The tips that the guide gave me were to start out around the eyes and get as far as you can all the way around them. Just put your knife in under the eyelid and start working on it. You can get a good ways all around the eye and that keeps you from cutting the eyelid when you are working the rest of the head. I nicked the eyelid a couple times because when I was going through the opening to get to the scent gland and open everything else up around it the knife was so wide that it nicked the eyelid. A smaller knife wouldn't have had that problem.

Next tip was to get your knife down inside the scent gland in front of the eye as far as you can and then work your way out just like you did on the eye. This is where a smaller knife really would help out because my knife was so wide when I stuck it down deep into the scent gland (tear duct) the side of the knife cut into the side of the scent gland a little. My friends taxidermist said it was still okay the way I did it and he could make it work, but a smaller knife would have done a better job and been alot easier. When you are done you should have about a 5" X 3" area around the eyes and scent gland where the hide is completely free of the skull. When you are caping the head instead of struggling when you get to the eyes, now you are home free.

Last tip the guide gave me was to get as close to the teeth as possible when skinning out the mouth. That was actually pretty easy and I didn't have the problems using the larger knife that I had with the eyes and the scent glands. I worked my way up from the front of the mouth and got quite a way back all the way to where I hooked up to where I had done my work on the eyes before I stopped from the mouth. That was probably the easiest part out of all of it.

I don't start with the eyes and scent glands anymore. I just start at the mouth and start working my way back. This last bull I got the tear ducts out intact without making any cuts in the hide. Make sure you keep the cut as close to the bone as possible on the nose, you should be able to get that out pretty much intact too without cutting the nostrils.

The antler burrs were the last part I did, making the Y cut up the back of the neck to the base of the burrs. I actually started at the burr and as hard as I could cut down from the burr to make the top of the Y on each side. A strong sharp knife is really important here as you need to make that cut in one cut and not have to come back and saw on it. Next I went around the entire base of each antler burr, moving the longer hair out of the way and really making sure I had a deep cut all the way through the hide to the pedicle all the way around the burr. Then I started working around the base of each antler making sure I was cutting deep enough to be going all the way to the bone. Here is another place where a smaller knife would have probably helped, but it needs to be a sturdy knife as there is a lot of bending and pressure applied. I think you would break a Havalon knife blade pretty quick on that part.

That's about as good as I can describe it without taking a video while I'm doing it. The tips on starting at the eyes, scent glands and mouth were new to me and really made it less daunting. Once we had it caped it was much easier to deal with the cape as well since we stayed out for the rest of the week we just put the cape in a cooler and kept it on ice and didn't have to worry about it.

We tube the front legs at the knees instead of cutting down the back side of them as well. That way if you end up with some of the floor pedestal mounts you for sure have enough hide and you don't mess up on a errant cut down the side of the leg or anything like that.

I'm going to start caping all the animals I shoot even if I don't plan to mount them as it will be good practice and you can always sell the cape or trade it to your taxidermist for discounts or at least some good faith. You might not ever want to mount a raghorn bull, but there are plenty of folks that may and often those are the guys that may have butchered the cape on their bull and need one.

Hope that helps a little.

Nathan

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Take the cape fully off the head/face whilst the head is still attached to the body. You can get good leverage with the skull still attached to the neck and i fully turn the ears in the field whilst the head is also still attached to the animal.

Don't need nothing but your fingers and a sharp knife to cut the sinew around the middle of the back of the ear and at the base and you should be able to work your thumb down there until the ear skin and cartiledge is full separated. Make sure you work the ears fully out to the edges. The less you have to rely on tools or instruments with caping the better. A sharp knife and your hands is all you need.

Keep pulling down on the skin when you do the eyes, keep the knife close to the skull, don't cut over the glands under the eyes, work the knife into the groove pulling the skin at the same time. Leave plenty of gum for the taxidermist to use, split the nose down the middle once the capes is off, turn all the lips fully, trim excess meat and fat.

I start at the back, do the y to the back of the coronets, then work the skin off the pedicles, then do the ears, eyes, glands, etc and work down. Sometimes its ok to start or do a bit at the front, but it can be a bit tricky going that way and you might cut things a bit short.

Any questions holler out and maybe we can help.

 

[Don K]

Thanks for all the advice, tips and ideas. Great Idea on doing this on the animals your not mounting just to get practice in.

Will have to work on this!!!

 

[Bambistew]

Check Youtube, lots of clips on there "how too"

Getting the cape off the head is pretty easy once you do it a couple times. Agree, practice on ones you won't mount. You will have trouble around the horns, I've done countless animals and still struggle. For me it just takes time, go slow and cut upward toward the burr/base of the horn/antler. A screwdriver works pretty well if you have one, otherwise a stiff knife helps too.

The part I dislike, or should say screw up the most is turning and fleshing once its off. I always mess up on the lips around the front of the mouth. Ears are easy once you do a few of them, eyes no big deal, but the nose and front lips... What a PITA . I get so frustrated when I spend a couple hours turning a cape only to cut a hole in it right at the end. Its always in a spot you see too.

I've been putting off getting a Havalon but will be adding one to my kit just for turning. A good sharp knife is a must.

FYI, all those capes you aren't going to mount... are worth $$$, some more than others.

 

[trevore]

the best recipe is practice. get to know a local taxidermist and offer to prep skulls and skin/cape animals in exchange for teaching you how to cape an animal. I use a 3 1/4 paring knife by victorinox for caping. the blade on the havalon will work, but i usually end up breaking them. great for skinning though

 

[Lv2hnt]

You mentioned specifically how best to free up the cape around the antler base. Once you make your typical y-cut up to the antlers, take a flathead screwdriver and hammer and gently work your way around the antler pedicel. Using a screwdriver rather than a knife will also help you avoid cutting off hair --- the cape should peel off fairly easily ...

 

[Outwestoutdoors]

Eastmans has a video if you scroll down the page the video should be there. http://www.eastmans.com/tips-and-tactics.html#top

Hope it helps.

 

[Don K]

Some more great information and tips!!!


Thanks!