Elk Ridge Taxidermy

Elk Ridge Taxidermy Being an avid hunter and fisherman, I know how your trophies should look once completed. Capturing t TROPHY CARE
Treat your cape as good as your trophy's meat.

The cape will spoil just like the meat if not taken care of.
1. With sharp knife, slit hide circling the body behind the shoulder at the midway point of rib cage. Should be at least 8 inches behind shoulder for full cape.
2. Slit skin around legs just above knees (completely around leg).
3. From behind knee slit BACK of leg all the way up to shoulder. Important not to slit in front of leg as this

will show on your shoulder mount.
4. Begin to skin from shoulder to the base of head as shown on diagram 3 below.
5. Once you reach base of skull, cut head from carcass leaving cape attached to skull.
6. Keep entire head cool or frozen to ensure that cape does not spoil. Keep in mind, bacteria will begin to grow as soon as animal is dead and hair quality is directly related to this bacteria being minimized. If you have antelope or small deer that can be placed into freezer, that works well on warm days.
7. Wash blood from cape if at all possible. BIRDS
1. Freeze entire bird....DO NOT gut bird. FISH
1. Wrap entire fish in wet towel and place in freezer. DO NOT gut fish.

Knocking out a bunch of birds this week.  Hoodie and Eagle Head dropping into dekes.
02/02/2025

Knocking out a bunch of birds this week. Hoodie and Eagle Head dropping into dekes.

Yoda says it’s Moose Monday for my Dad’s shop.   We have been caping lots of good Colorado moose this weekend.
09/16/2024

Yoda says it’s Moose Monday for my Dad’s shop. We have been caping lots of good Colorado moose this weekend.

Elk Ridge Team work.   Christian, Keith, Chad and Beagle push themselves to provide top notch work on your trophies.   H...
07/05/2024

Elk Ridge Team work. Christian, Keith, Chad and Beagle push themselves to provide top notch work on your trophies. Here we have a South African Sable for a friend of mine, Mike Jennings.

200 class giant out of Kansas.
05/20/2024

200 class giant out of Kansas.

Lifetime of hunting for Ken and look what he brought in last year!  True giant from Colorado. Thanks for trusting us wit...
04/13/2024

Lifetime of hunting for Ken and look what he brought in last year! True giant from Colorado. Thanks for trusting us with preserving this hunting trip.

Biggest Billy mounted in shop in a couple years.  Scored 47 1/2.  Congrats John and thanks for trusting us to mount your...
02/14/2024

Biggest Billy mounted in shop in a couple years. Scored 47 1/2. Congrats John and thanks for trusting us to mount your trophy!

02/12/2024

We are officially FULL on shoulder and full body mounts and will not be taking in any more until August 1, 2024. I have 15 more spots open for waterfowl and then will be doing the same with birds. This decision will allow me to catch up over the spring and summer and in return, present a more reasonable turn time starting this new season. Thank you all for supporting Elk Ridge Taxidermy !!

Colorado Pronghorn
02/08/2024

Colorado Pronghorn

Double drop tine Mule Deer.
02/06/2024

Double drop tine Mule Deer.

Colorado lion.
11/12/2023

Colorado lion.

I love the pose on this Bobcat mount.
11/11/2023

I love the pose on this Bobcat mount.

Colorado Mountain Lion
11/01/2023

Colorado Mountain Lion

09/23/2023

One of the biggest issues we’ve been seeing this year on the first 100 trophies dropped off at shop are damaged capes. Capes are sometimes cut too short, legs are missing from the cape, or missing brisket area are top mistakes made. It’s important to us to use your cape and never want to add habitat to hide missing cape pieces. Habitats cost us valuable time and cost hunters extra money.
Sometimes tubing is appropriate for a cape but it’s difficult to tube some animals when they are on the ground. In my case, I like to use the gutless method when taking meat off the carcass so making a dorsal cut helps me keep meat clean.

Treat capes like the meat. Heat will destroy cape. Take empty coolers with ice already inside waiting for harvest of animals. Here’s a short video that may help you in the field.

Check out these two from Hawaii.  Beautiful Mouflon ram and Axis Deer.
08/08/2023

Check out these two from Hawaii. Beautiful Mouflon ram and Axis Deer.

Javelina pair just about ready to head home.
08/07/2023

Javelina pair just about ready to head home.

Colorado studs heading home.  Canvasback on left and Ringer on the right.
05/05/2023

Colorado studs heading home. Canvasback on left and Ringer on the right.

It’s that time of year.  Big Tom gobbler heading home today.
04/22/2023

It’s that time of year. Big Tom gobbler heading home today.

Address

10705 S Holmes Road
Colorado Springs, CO
80908

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