Once the animal is down, the pictures are taken and your heart rate finally starts to normalize, the real work begins. In this case I pack a 1L plastic bottle of fine salt. ![]() I keep my salt at base camp unless I know I’m going to be more than a couple days away from base camp or I’m anticipating warm weather. Generally speaking, my caping kit only includes a scalpel handle and a few spare blades. There are only a few items needed for field care and when on a backpack hunt especially keeping gear and tools to a minimum is important. This way the incisions you make to field dress the animal won’t compromise the quality of the cape and the meat can still be promptly taken care of with no risk of spoilage. The meat is always important, however, I like to take the shoulder or life-size cape off of the animal before gutting or boning out the meat. As a taxidermist, caping is the first thing I do in the field. To ensure you end up with the most representative mount, proper “in the field” care of the animal’s hide is absolutely essential. It is also a way to respect and preserve the beauty of the animals we chase. It is a memory, an accomplishment, a symbol and reminder of the hunt, the difficulties overcome, the people I was with and the country we were fortunate enough to experience. To me, taxidermy is not about preserving a “trophy”. Over the next few paragraphs, I’m going to go over what I feel are the essential skinning and caping tools and techniques. If you are planning on preserving the cape and hide for some form of mount it is imperative to inform yourself on what you’ll need and how to properly care for your animal in these types of situations. Far away from freezers or friends who know how to look after the hard earned animal you were after. We are more often than not required to go the extra mile to access our planned hunting area by means of backpacking, packtrain, float plane or jet boat, and we often find ourselves at least a day or more away from civilization. One of the biggest challenges for many hunters is dealing with the skinning and preservation of capes, especially on an extended backcountry hunt. ![]() From field dressing to meat care, caping and skinning, as many will say “the real work” starts after the kill. Many non-hunters have a simplified view of what’s involved with a true backcountry hunting trip and can’t fully grasp the extent of the planning and work required to come home with an animal. And although this represents a large part of the appeal of mountain or wilderness hunting it comes with numerous “logistical” challenges. ![]() However, to access many of the areas these animals inhabit means travelling deep into the mountains where very few people have ever set foot. ![]() The remoteness of the country combined with the opportunity to chase this variety of game is second to none. Mule deer, moose, elk, caribou, four sub species of mountain sheep, mountain goat, and black and grizzly bear are all available to hunt in this great Province I call home. My home province of British Columbia, especially, allows us to take to the wilderness in search of an amazing variety of game. For those of us fortunate enough to live and hunt in the Western portions of Canada and the United States we are afforded many amazing hunting opportunities.
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