The mount starts in the field.
The best cape care in the world can’t fix hair that slipped in a warm truck bed. Five minutes of care on your end gives me a lot more to work with, and it’s the difference between a good mount and one you stop noticing.
- Archery
- Sept 26 – Feb 7
- Youth gun
- Nov 21 – 22
- Gun week
- Nov 30 – Dec 6
- Bonus gun weekend
- Dec 19 – 20
- Muzzleloader
- Jan 2 – 5
Dates per the Ohio Division of Wildlife, checked September 2026. Confirm at ohiodnr.gov before you hunt. Extended drop-off hours during gun week.
- Don’t cut the throat.
A downed deer doesn’t need to bleed out, and a throat cut ruins the cape. No cuts on the neck or brisket at all.
- Stop the gutting cut at the breastbone.
Field dress as usual, but don’t open the chest past the sternum. Everything forward of that point is the mount.
- Leave more cape than you think.
Cut around the body at the middle of the ribcage, a good hand’s width behind the front legs, and around the front legs above the knee. Extra hide is easy to trim. Missing hide can’t be replaced.
- Leave the head on.
Don’t try to skin the face. Cut the neck at the base of the skull and bring me the head with the cape attached.
- Don’t drag it by the neck.
Use a sled or tarp with the head up, or tie your rope to the antlers. Dragging rubs the hair off the exact spots that show on a mount.
- Get it cold, fast.
Warm-weather archery is the danger. Skinned or hung in a cooler within a couple of hours if it’s over 40 degrees. Heat and bacteria make hair slip, and slipped hair never comes back.
- To me within 48 hours, or freeze it.
If you can’t get it here in a day or two, fold the cape skin-to-skin, bag it tight, and freeze it. Don’t salt it and don’t leave it on wet ice in a cooler.
- Bring your game check.
Ohio requires me to record your confirmation number for every deer. Leave the tag on until it reaches me and bring the number to drop-off.
A frozen cape is fine. A thawed one twice isn’t.
A properly bagged cape keeps well in a freezer for months. Fold it hair-out with the skin sides touching, squeeze the air out of the bag, and keep the ears, nose and lips covered so they don’t freezer-burn. Keep it frozen right up to the moment you hand it to me. Thawing and refreezing is what damages hair.
If you skinned it yourself and aren’t sure the cuts are right, text me a photo of the cape before you drive over. Nine times out of ten it’s fine, and if it isn’t, I’d rather know before you’re standing in the shop.
Text me tonight.
The cape starts breaking down within hours. Get it cold, don’t cut the throat, and send me a photo. I’ll tell you what to do next.