Well mounted trophies of the chase are a source of delight to the fortunate sportsman who possesses them.
Antlered game heads that are mounted true to life in form and expression may go far to beautify many dining rooms, dens, and hallways, enhancing the artistic tone of the rooms in which they are well placed.
As in all taxidermy work, outline sketches direct from the fresh specimen, top and side views, both before and after skinning, are of great value in mounting deer heads.
As in other specimens, deer scalps for mounting should be as fresh as possible. If a scalp is to be kept for some little time before mounting it should be well salted.
Roll the scalp up and lay over night to drain. Next day scrape off the first salt and rub in another thorough salting. Keep the skin rolled up to prevent drying hard until mounting or sent to the tanner.
An ideal deer scalp includes the neck skin entire to swell of shoulders and brisket. The incisions to be made for removing a deer scalp are shown in [Fig. 32]. A good sharp knife will be required for peeling the skin from the neck.
Fig. 32.
Cut very carefully up under rim of horn bases when removing skin from around them, using care not to haggle edge of skin. Use same care in skinning out the face, splitting lips and eyelids and skinning out the ears as in small mammal specimen. Remove the ear cartilages entire, after skinning their backs, beginning at the thick top edge and proceeding very carefully, looking out not to tear open the edges.