Skinning your Trophies

A hunter who hopes to obtain a brilliant trophy is spending a lot to come to a foreign hunting ground. He may just as well do the most important part as the textbook prescribes. That is, handling the actual skin, scull and horns correctly so that the trophy may come to its full potential.

The outfitter, professional hunter or the hunter himself cannot predetermine exactly what the quality of the animal that will be shot may turn out to be. And to some extent, one have to satisfy yourself that the first shot was the best possible one under the circumstances. BUT: from the moment that the first shot hits the target, each action taken shortly afterwards, is those that determine the quality of that specific trophy in a very real sense. And the hunting group have everything in the world to do with the actions that follow. So remember:

• If a second shot is a prerequisite for safety, the hunter should take care not to ruin the skin, scull or horns, for he most often now have the time to plan this shot.
• Finish all safety precautions, meaning making sure that the animal is dead and that the other animals of the herd doesn’t pose a threat and then go through the safety drill of the rifle(s).
• Don’t spend too much time, but to take a good photo in the hunting field may be a good idea, for it should be skinned as soon as possible when arriving at the base camp. However, don’t damage the skin by pulling it on the ground, not even a few metres.
• If it is a trophy hunt, leave one of the hunting safari at the dead animal if you have reason to think that the hyenas, lions, jackals and other carnivores may arrive before the 4 x 4 crew. Usually you will have an hour or two to assemble your trophy before that kind of danger becomes very prominent, but remember that, if it is a trophy hunt, you do want to skin it as soon as possible. The danger of putrefaction is a most important aspect. If the animal is left alone to return to the base camp first, MARK THE PLACE VERY CLEARLY with a bright cloth, or a stick that is scratched on the ground all the way to the vehicles pathway (not a good method late in the afternoon shortly before nightfall), or even with toilet paper! It may also be a good idea to mark the first little road that vehicles will be using with a very obvious marking, in order that all may know where to start the search.
• Normally a bush vehicle will be used to assemble the catch. The vehicle will either go into the bush up to the dead trophy animal, or as close as possible. The loading, transport and delivery of the animal usually will be the outfitter’s efforts and equipment. If you haven’t taken a photo yet, now may be your last chance.
• Use only the very best skinning knives, solid patterns and a hand-sharpener to avoid accidental cuts (mostly, it still takes place even with good knives!)
• Skin the animal within a short a time after the hunt as possible (no more than two hours if possible at all). If it is possible to skin it professionally right away in the bush, do it, but if may be much better to skin it in the cool room of the outfitter
• Don’t drag the carcass over stones or even sand if possible, and be careful, when loading or unloading, not to damage it
• Don’t expose the carcass to hard sunlight after it is taken down. Try to carry it into the shade
• Skin the animal preferable in a cool room where flies can’t enter
• Be especially careful with the skin of antelope like the impala, bushbuck, nyala, eland, kudu and gemsbuck, as they may be damaged very easy
• Don’t leave any meat or fat on the skin and NEVER puts a undried skin in a plastic bag
• Blood and sand or dust should be washed off the skin by thorough care
• Let the skin dry in a cold wind for some time to dry it out somewhat before it is salted
• Carnivores and the zebra have a lot of fat on their skins, particularly at the mane area. This may take time, but it have to be cleaned thoroughly

Remember:

Your outfitter and his staff are used to handle the whole process of field preparation, skinning, salting and the storage of trophies. They know that the skin mustn’t be stained at all. Very few parts of the animal will be wasted. The meat will be handled with care an in good hygienic fashion. If the hunter is willing, some of the tasty cuts of most (but not all) animals may be served as a treat during meals at the base camp. It may be necessary to enquire whether the handling and preparation of trophies are included in the trophy fees or not.

Shoulder mounts

For shoulder mount trophies, the skinning must be done in the following way:

Cut 1: Start cutting the skin from behind the shoulders, along the backside of the neck and, when you reach the head follow with cut 2

Cut 2 : Do two cuts from Cut 1 onwards, to both sides at the horns (making the whole cut looking like a Y). Cut open right around the horns themselves.

Cut 3 : Cut, on the back, around the thorax of the whole animal.

Cut 4 : Cut the skin around both forelegs, below the joints of the elbow.

But:

- If the animal has a mane, Cut 1 should be done to the direct left or right of the mane. If the head are going to be turned sideways, do your cutting at the opposite side of the mane

- When skinning pigs, hippo and rhino, Cut 1 should be done from underneath, thus cutting from below the chest and neck

- Cut 2 is done on all antelope with horns

After the cuts have been made, remove the skin with as little meat, tissue or fat left on the skin, and with as little slips from the knife as possible. This can best be done by:

- starting from the shoulders (where Cuts 1 & 3 meets), working from there to the neck and forelegs

- cut the limbs at Cut 4 and remove them

- when the thorax and neck is skinned, cut the elastic, connective tissue of the ears right against the scull, leaving it with the ears as an “unskinned” part on the skin

Now, the skinning of the head follows. This isn’t all that easy. Great care must be taken at four distinct areas:

A1: the horns

A 2: the eyes

A 3: the mouth and lips and

A 4: the nose

Start at A1 and making the cut around the horns, working downward from there to remove the skin from the skull

Cut through the mucous membrane at A2 by first exposing the inner sides of the eyelids.

“Flap open” the skin before A3 is reached and cut the lips as close to the teeth gums as possible to loosen them. Use the shape of the mouth as your guideline.

Now the skin has to be cut loose from the nose bone (A4) without effecting the nostrils or nose cartilage, which have to stay on the skin’s side.

See to it that the skin is cleaned of any pieces of meat or fat. What follows, will be the detailed work on the scalp itself. Prepare for this work by placing it on a workbench and choosing a very sharp knife that can do the finest cuts. This includes:

• Splitting of lip’s inner mucous membrane without cutting too deep (or cutting it off) to remove all the tissue, fat or muscle possible. Special care should be taken when carnivore skin is handled, in order to protect the root basis of the whiskers
• Shallow cuts from the inside of the lip skin and between the root basis of the whisker’ linings may be good for the penetration of salt
• The same removal of tissue, fat and muscle must take place at the nose cartilage, the nasal skin and nostrils. This is done through the splitting of the nose cartilage along the mid-plane. Then, both have to be cut loose up to the nostrils to open it up before the removal takes place.

Ears should then be handled as follows:

• Meat and connective tissue between the cartilage and the skin should be cut away from the base of the ear upwards.
• The skin and cartilage now have to be separated by squeezing in a blunt object (like a spoon, even a finger) up to the edges and tip of the ear. Once separated, pull the skin slowly away from the ear cartilage to have it inside out
• Salting can take place once it have been given a good wash and some drying time was allowed
• The more delicate the animal parts, the more care should be taken to salt it thoroughly.

Full mounts

All animals are cut, by turning them on the back to be cut from the stomach’s side. Carnivores are cut from just beneath the lower lip to the end of the tail. The tail itself should be skinned out completely. Other animals must be cut from the breastbone to the tail tip. The limbs are cut on the inside, taking a route from the previous line at right angles first, through the “armpits”, taking the turn at the joints, then going down past the elbows and down to the feet in a straight cut that always takes the most inner line.

Remember the following:

• With antelope, makes incision the same as for shoulder mounts (above)
• Remove the skin totally from the carcass
• The marrow may yield oil. Store the skin apart from it.

· While leaving the hoofs, claws or toes attached to the skin the limbs all

have to be removed

• The total skin have to be preserve and it is no good if some small parts are cut off and thrown away
• Keep the pelvis bone, as well as a fore- and hindleg bone. Remove all decomposable parts and salt the bones good. Do not boil the bones!
• If you are afraid that the measures of your trophy may be misunderstood (for example, if it is near record breaking sizes), take measurements of the different parts and give that to your taxidermist as well
• Small animal mounts needn’t to have the incision all along the legs. The legs can be cut loose from the body and skinned by turning it (with some force) inside out
• Never cut too deeply when skinning, especially when skinning the over the stomach, for your knife may go into the intestinal cavity, which can make cleaning all the more tiresome

Rug mounts

Some people prefer to have their carnivore trophy’s skin together with the head intact. In such instances, do with the head as is described under the shoulder mount heading and with the skin as is described under the full mount heading. BUT: now use the chin as your point of departure for the incision and do not cut through the lower lip and clean and detach the scull with the skin coming along all the way.

Feet Souvenirs

Some hunters prefer to have elephant, zebra, buffalo or antelope feet as souvenirs. Incisions on the feet are made to most animals, although it isn’t always necessary. But it is recommended, for it still is the easiest way. Feet should then be cut open at the back and to the base of the hooves, the bones removed – including the ones in the hooves – and all the fat and tissue removed. After it is salted and folded, it can be dried in a cool place and, when ready, taken to the taxidermist. It may be necessary to skin the elephant and rhino feet without cutting down the back. Incisions on the feet of carnivores should be cut at the back of the leg, going through the pad, and severed at the lowest joint. Then the skinning out of the paw follows in an inside out manner and the fat at the pad should all be removed. The whole paw can then be turned in again and filled with salt.

Don’t dry out elephant or rhino feet in their natural shape. It will take up an uneconomical amount of volume for which the hunter will have to pay extra if it is exported.

Some other useful tips about skinning includes:

• Take extra care to transport the carnivores as quickly as possible from the hunting field to the cool dispatching chambers, due to a very rapid decomposition process.
• Remember that most hunters will want to have - at least – the skin of a carnivore. It should therefore be skinned with great care in one complete piece!
• Birds, fish and reptiles can simply be put into the freezer (with intestines intact and as quickly as possible). But the conservation regulations the export of birds are rather strict.

Storage of the skins

Rats and skin beetles, apart from the carnivores, may cause you to keep all skins locked away in an insect-free place. This place cannot be wet and oily, and must not house any fuel, chemicals or other smelly products that will ruin your plans to put your trophy into your guest room.

Protective insecticides that can be used to clear your store from harmful insects includes Sevkol from Coopers, Dazzle from Agricura, Karbadust or Reskol.

Treatment of skulls

Although some taxidermists don’t expect hunters to bring along the lower jaw of a scull, the most will insist on it being part of the trophy-making-process.

Don’t take of the horns, for the taxidermist will have to fit these again. If the taxidermist can be contacted before the hunt, an even more precise assessment can be made, for they may use different styles. Most of them would like it if you have done the following with the skull:

• Removal of the skull from the neck should take place at the fist joint of the neck
• All tissue and muscle should be removed, with the inclusion of the lower jaw, which should be brought along separately
• The skull have an opening at the base which should be used to remove the brain through it. The steel of a long spoon or wire, or even a stick can be used with enough water
• All parts of the skull, especially the openings of the brain, nose and sinus, should be filled with salt. The skull may then be put away to dry. Separate it from the skin
• Boiling isn’t recommended
• Your tag and marking system should be clear and any record of measurements should be done in simplicity and without any room for misunderstanding
• Preserve the teeth of carnivores as good as possible, for they form an important part of the trophy

SALTING PROCESS

• Your drying quarters should be mouse and dog/lion/hyena proof.
• Table salt wil be the best. Use quality salt in very huge quantities, for if it isn’t attended to correctly, your trophy may be damaged easily.
• The salt must be rubbed in completely. It has to penetrate the inner parts as well. You can fold the skin and rub salted skin against salted skin to make sure no part of it is overlooked at all. Rub it, roll it, fold it, but get that salt in!
• Shave the inner parts of a thick skin such as an elephant, hippo and rhino skin more thinly, otherwise the salt will not penetrate it and the whole skin may be lost.
• Thinning can be done by folding the skin around a smooth, cylinder-shaped object of the right proportions. The hair needs to be downwards. A very smooth, big tree trunk may do the trick.
• Thinned parts of the skin must be salted during the thinning process
• The skin should be carved thin to the extend that the salt can reach the roots of the hair. Only then will the “hair slip” be minimized. Of course, no decomposition ought to occur.
• Incisions into the skin, done from the inside, about three each inch, may serve as an (second best) alternative to thinning. Cut should penetrate about halfway into the skin
• Several skins can be salted simultaneously by stacking them in the order salt, skin, salt, skin, etc. Put down the first on enough salt, hair down. After 24 hours, the salt may be shaken off and the skins dried out. Tropical areas have to take extra precautions to prevent any humidity to take its toll in the form of fungus or bacteria
• Take along enough cloths or thick, big bags to transport the trophies in. If plastic bags (or similar sealed containers) is used, you better make sure that the trip isn’t going to be long. The sealed transportation may, after a while, make the use of your trophy impossible
• Attach your name to the trophies with galvanized wire (or some good tagging, like aluminium disks with which serial numbers can be stamped with) to ensure later identification. This should take place on each individual part of the trophy.
• Remember that the dry skin keeps its form. Make sure that it is folded in time into the form of dispatch. It will crack if it is later forced into a form
• Totally dry parts of the trophy may, of course, be stored or transported in plastic bags.
• Liquid insecticide is recommended to prevent your trophy from becoming an insect nest.
• Don’t dry out the ostrich or crocodile’s skins, but roll them up and cover it with a damped cloth. However, cleaning and re-salting must be continued on a weekly basis.
• Fold all skins with two things in mind: Firstly, protect the hair of the skin and secondly, remember that many transportation company are calculating their tariffs in volume, rather than weight. Once the skin is dried, it can’t easily be folded (and should be folded) again. Therefore, fold it economically with the hairy side to the inside, and press it down while it is still damp. After it has dried out, it will easily fold back into this shape again. Therefore, once dried out completely, the old salt may be removed and the skin folded back into a economical shape again.

Your trophy and the taxidermist

Veterinarian control are to be kept in mind before dispatching the dried out bones and skins to the taxidermist or if exporting is to be the next step.

The taxidermist will be happy if the hunter and his outfitter have done the following:

• Treat the final trophy parcel with the respect that all your safari efforts and costs deserve. This means that the taxidermists address on the parcel, the packaging, the treatment of dried parts of the trophy, etc. are finished off in style
• No taxidermist can perform wonders. This means that he can only work with the quality he receives. Therefore, do everything possible to ensures that he receive all goods, prepared in the best way
• Close the parcel or crate thoroughly. Sharp horns or bones should not be in danger of opening up the parcel and result in the lost of prized pieces of the trophy.
• Use soft material to keep the package from harmful chafting
• Use cheap, but protective material such as hessian in which individual pieces can first be sewn in, after which it can be pack in the crate with some additional softening material
• Skins can also be sewn in hessian for a more sturdy transit.
• Fix the markings and tags with extra care. Have the hunter’s name and the body part’s detail on it
• All fresh horns shrink somewhat, so don’t blame the taxidermist when the sizes differ from your fist measuring. But be careful: if fresh horns are removed from their bone core, if may later fail to fit again. If it is sawn, put it back first for some time to dry out with the core. Only later can it be taken off and dispatched.
• To reduce the volume of the parcel, long horns (or the bone core) is sometimes sawn off. Do it in the following way:

- Put the entire horn into water for up to two days. Then pull off the horn (turning may help) from the bone core

- Saw the bone core off 12 inches (30 cm) above the skull. It can then later be fixed on again. Only a fraction of the length may be lost in this way.

• Most registered taxidermists can, for a nominal amount extra, take care of most of the veterinarian and export duties, permits and paperwork. It may be money well spent and his expertise in this regard could without doubt be used by the hunter