PRESERVING A BUCK'S HEAD FOR MOUNTING. 65 



CHAPTER IX. 



TO PRESERVE A BUCK'S HEAD FOR MOUNTING. 



Make a cut across the top of the head, from the edge of 

 one horn to the other. Then run the knife from the mid- 

 dle of the head and from the incision made, down the back 

 of the neck to the shoulders. Cut the skin around, and a 

 little below the neck, until it is free from the shoulders, 

 and continue to flay up to the ears. Sever them at the 

 base, and skin to the bur of the antlers. Cut the pelt away 

 from around the horns, and remove it to the eyes. Sever 

 the skin from the eyes, being careful not to cut it at 

 the cavities near them, and flay down over the muzzle. 

 Skin the ears part way down. Trim away most of the 

 flesh on the under side of the lips, and rub the whole 

 flesh side of the hide with powdered alum and saltpetre. 

 If no other preservative is at hand, use salt. 



Turn the flesh side to the open air, and dry as soon as 

 possible. The skin will shrivel up like an old boot-leg, but 

 it will be in a good state of preservation for mounting. 

 Enlarge the hole in the occipital bone, remove the brains, 

 clean the skull, and prime it with any preservative. 



Never cut a deer-skin down the front of the neck, as it 

 makes an ugly-looking seam to mar the beauty of a 

 head. Should a deer be wounded or killed, it is not nec- 

 essary to behead the victim, in order to bleed him. If 

 shot through the lungs or near the heart, bleeding is not 

 required, as the blood will settle in the thorax, and can 

 readily be discharged when the deer is dressed. 



Any animal's head can be preserved m the manner de- 

 scribed, but the cut across the top of the head should not 

 be made in the case of females, not having horns. 



