Trophy preparation

Birds:

• inspect the finished bird, if the blood gets on the feather carefully, wash it off with a rag or cotton wool soaked in cold water. Place a tampon in the beak and anus, which can be made from cotton wool, rags, nettles, junipers and other materials.
• let the carcass cool, do not put the bird in a bag – there must be free access to air. Protect prey from dogs, do not tie the bird to a belt or bag.
• in a cooled bird, carefully fold the wings. In ducks and other long-necked birds, you can bend your head to your chest. In this form, without wrinkling the pen, wrap the bird in a newspaper or place it in a woman’s stocking. Then put in an airtight bag and freeze.
• in this form, the bird can be stored for 2-3 months.

Mammals:

1) Small animal squirrels, martens, etc. can simply be frozen (see birds).

2) If you want to make a trophy head of an ungulate or other animal:

• cut off the skin behind the shoulder blades so that the front legs remain with the skin (they can be cut off at the knee).
• remove the skin with a stocking to the base of the skull, if this does not work out, you can make cuts: for a wild boar – from below to the base of the skull, for an elk and a deer – along the ridge to the base of the horns. The cuts should go in the middle of the skin, be even and neat.
• if it is possible to immediately deliver the trophy to the workshop, or to freeze the head (skull), it is better to leave the skins inside.
• if this is not possible, it is necessary to remove the skin completely and salt it properly with coarse salt. After the first salting – drain the liquid and the first salt, salt again, fold in an envelope and store in a cool ventilated place (but not in a sealed bag!).

When removing the head, pay special attention to:

• eyelids leave as much tissue as possible, cut from the inside, strongly pulling the eyelids.
• nose – keep it whole.
• lips – the mucous part should remain.
• – ears – completely separate the cartilage from the back wall of the ears.

3) The skins of medium-sized animals (fox, wolf, lynx, etc.) are removed with a stocking, try to make cuts correctly.

To make a whole stuffed animal, the cut goes along the back from the base of the tail to the skull along the ridge, the legs are cut from the back side from the hoof (pad) to the elbow of the leg, the tail is cut from the base along the underside.

For the manufacture of carpets, the skin is cut along the middle of the abdomen from the anus to the base of the skull, the legs are cut from the hoof (pad) to the middle part, then the skin is removed with a stocking.

Please note: the skin of a wolf, and especially foxes, must be removed immediately after prey, the tail is cut from the bottom to the middle, otherwise the safety of the skin is not guaranteed. Also pay attention to the safety of the anus and genitals (huntsmen have a habit of removing this immediately).