How to Carry An Animal Back From a Hunt

beautiful stag in richmond park © by snappybex

Previously I talked about the best method of hunting an animal for the purposes of taxidermy. This article will look at the best ways of carrying that specimen back home after it has been killed. It is important to read this article as a lot of unnesscessary damage can be created if the animal is not carried back properly after the hunt.

With the animal killed it is useful to bring some cotton along with you so that it can be placed into wound holes that have been created. You need to do this otherwise the blood can stain the hide. The animal can then be wrapped in paper and this can be used as padding when placing the animal in the bag. For most small animals a leather bag with a strap is the best way of carrying a specimen back home to your hunting lodge.

Because of their size, the carrying of a bird back from a hunt tends to be fairly easy.  First place a piece of cotton in to the throat of the bird. You can use a small twig to help this insertion. This helps to stop any juices following out of the bird which can damage the plumage. Also, because birds are much more delicate than land creatures you need to handle them with more care. If this is a small bird such as a pigeon then one simple solution is to use a large paper magazine. This can then be rolled up around the bird to protect when it is placed in a bag. String can then be used to tie the rolled up magazine together and then paper can be stuffed down both ends to stop the bird from falling out.

However, for larger animals such as deer this can be much more difficult. Here are some of the best solutions, in order of easiest first:

• The easiest way is to drive a truck as near to the deer as possible and then to load the deer on it. This will often require you to hack away at the undergrowth so bring a saw or machete with you.
• The next easiest option is to bring along a small trailer or sledge to carry the game by hand back to your truck or lodge.
• The next easiest option requires you to have a friend present and for you to carry a pole. Bind the animals feet with some rope at both ends and sling the pole through it. Then each person can lift either end of the pole and carry the deer back on foot.
• If you have brought some rope along then tie the rope around antlers of the deer and use this to drag the carcass.
• Finally the least recommended solution. Drag the deer along the ground by holding it’s antlers. However this last two methods are the least preferred because of the damage they usually inflict to the taxidermy specimen.

Did you find this article useful? Please check out Taxidermy Made Easy which covers everything you need to know about the art of taxidermy.

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