Caring for a Sheep in the field Careful skinning and proper handling of your sheep hide will result in a better quality mount and avoid extra repair costs, irreparable damage or total loss.
Treat your cape like raw meat that you would eat. Do not leave it out in the sun and heat, to dry out or spoil. Keep it clean and cool.
Do not make cuts in the front of the neck, armpits or brisket.
Do not drag your animal, causing irreparable hair and skin damage.
Do not leave excess neck and neck meat attached to the head and cape.
Do not salt your cape. Leave that to the professionals. Keep it cool and get it to us as soon as possible.
We prefer a dorsal cut for all life size sheep mounts.
The Dorsal skinning method begins with a straight, clean cut from the back of the head and follows the spine down to the base of the tail. Avoid dragging the blade through the hair to prevent cutting the hair. The body is then skinned out through this cut. The quarters and backstraps are usually also removed during this process and there is no need to gut the animal. The tail, anus, and scrotum should be left intact with the hide. The front legs are skinned out by making a single, straight, clean cut from behind the hoof to the back of the knee. The hoof and toe bones may be separated from the leg bone and left intact with the hide. The rear legs are similarly skinned out by making a single, clean cut from behind the hoof and up to the Achilles’ tendon, following the natural crest line hair pattern on the back of the leg. The hoof and toes bones should be left intact with the hide. The head may then be separated from the carcass at the base of the skull and left intact with the hide, or caped off.
As soon as the hide is removed from the carcass, keep it cool. Fold the skin so the raw sides stay clean and are not exposed, to prevent it from drying out. Roll it up neatly and transport it in a breathable cloth game bag and store in a cool place.
Blood and heat can cause irreversible damage to your sheep hide. Sheep hair is hollow and blood will soak into it and cause permanent staining. While it is nearly impossible to keep blood from getting onto the hair, we recommend rinsing fresh blood off of your sheep hide with cold water as soon as possible. This can be done using water from your water bottle or even better, washing it in a cold mountain stream. After washing, squeeze out the excess moisture from the hair and let it drip dry for a short time before again folding the hide, raw sides in, and keeping it in a breathable game bag and in a cool place. It is imperative to keep your hide cool to slow bacteria growth and to slow the natural breakdown of the hide. If you can not bring your hide to us immediately, freeze it as a soon as possible. Do not store it in a black plastic trash bag in the bed of your pickup!
If you are only wanting a shoulder type mount, make sure you leave plenty of cape for us to work with. Do not cut through the brisket or armpit areas. It is much better and easier for us to cut off any excess hide than it is to repair or replace what is missing.
Begin skinning just like the dorsal method. At the midway point of the body, however, cut around the body and skin the hide off the carcass toward the head. If possible, leave the legs tubed. This avoids making improper cuts through the armpits or brisket areas. The lower leg, below the knee, may be separated from the carcass and discarded. Once the cape is skinned off to the head and neck junction, the head may be separated from the carcass at the base of the skull and left intact with the cape. The face can then be caped off if necessary, or if possible, left intact for us to cape off.
Blood and heat are a sheep skin’s worst enemy. Sheep hair is hollow, and the blood is absorbed into the inside of the hair, causing staining. Keep your skin as clean and cool as possible, keeping the raw skin side in so that it does not air dry.
Removing as much blood as possible from the cape in the field is best. This goes for the horns too!! If you get blood on the horns of your ram, clean it off as soon as possible with snow or water. Do not use chemicals to remove the blood from the horns. Chemically whitening a dall sheep cape is possible, and we do so with care as it is nearly impossible to have a blood free sheep skin.
