Disclaimer
The following information is not the last in many written texts of Hunting in bear country can be a dangerous proposition and in no way are we guaranteeing that taking It is also very difficult to care for your hard earned harvest from how and where to hang it to keeping the COOL 1. Hot conditions; bone out meat quarters put into a game bag then put game bag with meat into a Remote conditions in the Rocky Mountains or Alaska; there is an added twist and lots of work in meat care: a. If possible, hang the meat near the river under shade. Rivers have upstream or downstream As last resort – use method below: b. Warmer temperatures produce yet another option placing the meat in the game bags then placing c. If river floating be sure to keep the bags off of the bottom of the raft by using a cargo net. HANGING/LEANING – WITH OR WITHOUT TREES 1. If shrubs are present lean the meat into the shrubs this will allow air circulation. 2. If narrow willows or the like are present cut a branch about 6 feet long and tie each end to other 3. If trees are present but impossible to hang the meat it is likely that there are fallen tree branches, Dry Rain, snow, humidity can result in wet game bags. Wet bags greatly increase the odds of the meat spoiling The following precautions should then be put into play; Meat pole: locate your meat pole in a relatively open place. If your meat pole is in a brushy area, you're providing a hidden avenue for a bear to approach it. Make sure the meat is visible from camp. This will allow you to keep predators at bay. Here are a few other helpful tips; 1. Scarecrows Around camp tie plastic bags to branches about head high, at camp perimeter. Tie the bags at the very end of the open end of the bag, this will allow air to make the bag sway 2. The Wall Five feet back or so with branches or shrubs between the meat and the wall take a large piece of plastic or tarp and tie the top corners good and tight. Do not tie the bottoms! The bottom should 3. Human Scent (Body Odor) Around camp and the meat hang (about head high) a couple of your soiled (smelly) shirts around Caping your big game trophy Proper field care is extremely important because it affects the ability of the Take pictures and measure a few key points of the animal: 2. Nose tip to top of skull. 3 . Eye to eye. Instructions for proper caping: "Follow above Diagram" 1. Make a cut around the entire body behind front leg (about an open hands width apart). 2. Make a circle cut around both front legs just above the joint of the leg. 3. Join cut #1 and cut #2 by cutting through armpit and down back of the leg. 4. From the back of each antler cut a line in a V-shape, until both lines meet, take the v-shape and start to cut it and peel it towards the center of the rack 5. From this point, continue to cut down center of the neck and back until joining cut #1. Cut and peel the skin off the body until reaching the joint where neck attaches to skull at this point cut or saw the skull from the neck. Caping the skull The following is what has worked for me many times over and will or should work for you. Warning! While in bear country be sure your back is being watched at all times as your total focus and This should be done when you have the time it requires to complete the job, be patient and It is easier finishing the caping job with the head detached, over plastic or debris free area, if With the rack facing down begin cutting and peeling the area around the jaw, be sure not to cut Turn the head with the rack facing up, now take the skin that hangs from just above the eyes, skin Work both eye areas turning the head from side to side as needed, working your way down to the Once you reach the jaw opening put your finger into the mouth area back along the area If you’re to remain in camp or hunt over an extended period of time such as the remote hunts Salt the entire cape working the salt into the folds of skin, ears nose and lips. After doing this Treat the cape as you would the meat, keep it from getting wet and out of the sun! Note; Most taxidermists do not like the salt as it tends to start the curing process. The salt will dry out the cape and slightly shrink it, but remember this very process is what will
how to cape and preserve your very expensive trophy however,
is a starting point for those that have no idea where to begin.
Be sure to contact your preferred taxidermist for his opinion and
any additional questions or instructions.
Warning!
any of these preventive measures will guarantee your safety or prevent the meat from being taken by
bear or any other predator. Some bears may ignore most precautions, but your scent and preventive
measures will be a strong deterrent.
Contamination from dirt, hair and debris is a challenge anywhere you hunt!
meat dry.
Here are a few tips on keeping your harvested meat edible and keeping it yours!
CLEAN
Lay a sheet of plastic a few steps away from the downed animal, as you remove the quarters and meat
parts lay them on the plastic. Once on the plastic a person can bone out the quarters and store them
in the game bags.
Note: In some states it’s required that you keep the meat attached to the bone. Regardless of where you
live it is a good idea to keep the meat attached to the bone if at all possible. This keeps the meat from
drying out and skinning over or causing a greater area to become contaminated with debris resulting in
wasted meat.
August and September can be some of the hottest temperatures a person can expect while afield
depending on the location of your hunt. It is up to you to make the best judgment of the current weather
condition and do what’s best for the meat based on the temperature and location of the hunt.
If near camp it is likely that a cooler with ice is handy or available;
(DO NOT ALLOW WATER TO GET INTO THE PLASTIC BAG)
plastic bag, this works great on those hotter days; just be sure to rotate the meat and do not close
the tops of the bags so that moisture is able to escape. 2. Freezing conditions; obviously a person
does not have to worry about keeping the meat cool, just be sure to skin, quarter and bag the
animal before it freezes.
Drop and self-guided hunts can be a challenge regardless of the cool to warm conditions. The harvested
meat should always be kept in shaded locations if at all possible with tarp shading over top.
breezes that will cool the meat and help wick away moisture.
the game bags in heavy duty 55 gallon plastic trash bags and submerging the water tight bags in
the water (lake or stream). Be sure to remove the bag from the water and re-hang the meat
without the plastic bag at the end of each day.
Place the meat in a fan shape trying not to stack the meat atop one another. Place the rack
of the animal upside down (if there is no rack use branches) and place a small tarp over top
out of direct sun, be sure the tarp is allowing air circulation.
Without trees, get it off the ground!
If you’re in an area without trees large enough to hold the meat use deadfall and brush.
branches the same distance apart and just below the height of the leg quarters high, creating a
figure “H”, then take each quarter and lean them into each other, one on each side of the branch.
Tie each quarter to the other at the top. The rest of the meat parts bags can be blocked up off the
ground with deadfall stacked and staggered to allow air circulation, this is good for an overnight
situation until the meat can be hung.
broken branches or like debris. Take and stack the branches in a crisscross pattern large and strong
enough to hold the weight of all the meat bags. Meat bags should be at least 6” inches or more
off the ground to allow for best air circulation.
over a shorter period of time whereas dry bags extend this time. To insure dry meat it takes great effort on
your part.
It is always best regardless of sun, rain, snow and or humidity to cover the meat in a way that keeps the tarp
from making contact with the meat bags to insure the best air circulation possible. This also provides shade
from direct sun.
Cover a meat pole by stretching a rope from tree to tree about two to three feet above the pole and meat
bags. Drape the tarp cover over the rope and tie it down at each corner; again, be sure not to make contact
with the meat bags to allow best air circulation and not to close so the tarp does not trap the warmer
air under it. 
"KEEPING PREDITORS AWAY"
While afield there is no true safeguard against predators making claim
to your meat there are only preventive measures. Here are a few
precautions to take while in bear country! More often than not a hunter
is likely to shoot their animal late in the day then find themselves having
to work late in to the night and early morning hours.
If you gut and leave the carcass for the next day’s chore odds are you
will not have your harvested animal the next day! Wolf and bear will
surely zone in on the carcass and make their claim.
Be sure to at least quarter and remove all edible portions of meat. Then, bag the meat and relocate the bagged
meat no closer than 100 yards from the gut pile.
Scarecrows, The Wall, Human Scent:
in the breeze during the day and night hours.
be allowed to move in the breeze or wind making lots of movement and noise discouraging
encroachment of predators.
the perimeter of camp.
An added deterrent is to urinate on the brush at all the trails coming in the vicinity of the meat
and or camp. Human sent may help deter bears from entering the camp or meat perimeter.
taxidermist to re-create your prized harvest. Your taxidermist can provide
“their” specific instructions for their respective caping requirements.
However, the following techniques are very useful!
1. Neck area (take a few measurements between chest and ears).
Be patient and be careful mistakes in caping are difficult to repair and
may be an additional cost for repairs. "Be Patient"
"Be Patiant"
On self-guided hunts there are times that you may need to cape your own hard earned trophy,
in remote regions of the Rocky Mountains or Alaska. As a caped elk or moose will surely lighten
your load whether your packing it out, drop camp or rafting, the know how will surely help!
Just take your time and be patent!
concentration will be on the job in hand.
take your time. Or you may offer to pay someone in the party that has done this before; this
tends to be a tedious job.
possible lay out the cape with the head upright. Begin from the center of the rack at the v-shaped
created earlier cut and pull the hide back toward the nose. As you reach the base of the rack cut
and pry the hide away from around the rack base called the (burr) cut and pry away the hide
from the skull, go as far as you can.
The ears should now be in a position to be cut free, pull back the hide and expose the base
of the ear, cut as close as you can to the skull bone at the base of the ear. Work both ears and
continue to cut and pull the hide down and away from the skull until the head needs to be turned.
into the lip area just yet.
down to the eyes, as you reach the eye area put your finger into the eye socket and make sure that
the eye lid and lashes are away from the area being cut. Carefully cut into the area of the eye as
you pull the skin away and as close as you can to the skull cut and pull. Do this from the outer
portion of the eye towards the inner portion to the tear duct area, again being careful not to cut
the tear duct and as close to the skull as possible.
mouth opening.
between the teeth and the cheek, again pull and cut into the opening of the mouth as close
as you can to the skull and gum area, work the top and bottom of the jaws until you reach the
nose cartilage. On moose, deer and all hunted animals the nose area of the skull is basically the same.
The difference is the size and shape of the nose on moose, the nose is a huge bulbous
cartilage and meaty tissue.
Here again cut as close to the skull and as close as you can to the skull bone as you work this area
cut towards the front upper jaw and into the gum area. Do this to the top and bottom jaw; from
here you should be a few cuts away from completing the caping job.
of Alaska where you may possibly be in the bush for ten days or longer you will need to do the
following to complete the job.
Lay the cape flat and remove the remaining meat attached to the cape here again take your
time and be sure not to cut into the hide of the cape.
and using about three one pound containers of salt, fold the cape raw side to raw side (fur out),
fold this in half and roll the cape towards the nose.
You now have a neat bundled cape, put the cape into the cape bag in your big game bag pack.
After a day remove the cape from the bag, lay it out and re-salt, let the water drain from the cape
for an hour or so, then refold and put it back into the bag.
preserve the cape long enough, that is until it can be taken to your taxidermist, this is especially
good if you’re coming from the lower 48. There are many variables and field conditions along with state laws, rules and regulations that exist while afield it is up to each individual to do their very best when preserving game meat, cape or hide and to abide by the local wildlife management. We at Caribou Gear cannot be held liable in any manner or form for the failure or spoilage of game meat, or the inherent dangers of big game hunting and fishing. The information given here is a courtesy to you, in helping you fulfill your outdoor dreams and goals.
"Good luck in all your Hunting and Fishing Adventures"
We at Caribou Gear care for your safety and the enjoyment and privilege of hunting and fishing,
we wish you and your hunting party the best of luck in your outdoor adventures!