Elk Ridge Taxidermy

Home
United States
Colorado Springs, CO
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.
(14)

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.

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 !!

02/08/2024

Colorado Pronghorn

02/06/2024

Double drop tine Mule Deer.

11/12/2023

Colorado lion.

11/11/2023

I love the pose on this Bobcat mount.

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.

08/08/2023

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

08/07/2023

Javelina pair just about ready to head home.

05/05/2023

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

04/22/2023

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

04/19/2023

I had high hopes for today’s mountain goat draw with 19 points, but came up short again. At least I’ve got dozens of client mounts to put together and preserve their memories. This big goat is heading home today. Maybe someday, I’ll draw mine.

04/17/2023

Nice Colorado buck heading home with happy client. Yoda supervising the event of course.

03/09/2023

Wood Wednesday today .

02/12/2023

Alaskan Wolverine and Lynx about to fight over sheep carcass. We love challenge of creating perfect scenes to represent life-like habitats.

02/11/2023

Pheasants Forever Banquet tonight here in Colorado Springs. My shop donated this pheasant mount to the cause and will be sold tonight at auction. Come out and support good cause if you’re free. Scan QR code on the brochure I have posted here for tickets.

02/02/2023

Whitetail buck

01/13/2023

Butterball heading home.

01/01/2023

Happy New Year from the Elk Ridge Team.

12/28/2022

Hunter wanted me to recreate goldeneye flying over ice/snow as they whistle across frozen reservoir. Stud drake for sure. Thanks Garrett for business.

12/14/2022

Colorado Bighorn rams heading out today. Thank you Russ and Ron for trusting us with your rams.

10/21/2022

Colorado and Canadian moose stacking up at Elk Ridge. Thank you all for trusting us with your trophies.

07/28/2022

Thanks to the guys that help me run Elk Ridge Taxidermy. We are entering our 18th season and many of my team have been with me those years. From left to right…..Keith, Jordan, Sam, Christian and yours truly. Beagle, Chad and Stirling couldn’t make it to our get together. I am blessed to have these guys on The Elk Ridge team. Good luck to our hunters this year.

06/06/2022

No time to score this big 7x6 Colorado bull, but I’m guessing he’s 340 ish. Owner disappeared and I’ve had it on racks for 5 yrs waiting for response. Decided to mount it and let someone else enjoy the mount. $2500 takes it otherwise I’ll make it shop mount.

05/29/2022

Lots of African trophies coming back. If you’re planning a trip to Africa, give me a call at the shop to ensure trophies make it back safe and sound. The Good Lord was showing off when creating the zebra!!

05/11/2022

Colorado Archery Ram.

04/13/2022

Just hanging on the shore. Pintail drake.

12/30/2021

It’s awesome when buddy tells me to do whatever I want with their mounts. Wyoming cat and bear on artificial tree that Elk Ridge Team built. It disassembles in two spots to make it through doors.

Address

10705 S Holmes Road
Colorado Springs, CO
80908

Telephone

(719) 495-3258

Website

http://elkridgetaxidermy.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Elk Ridge Taxidermy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

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.