Hunters Chapel Taxidermy

02/11/2024

Good morning, hunters!
Tip of the day:
How to cape a deer for a shoulder mount.
Please, do not cut around the tops of the front legs.
Notice the first picture. Your taxidermist needs approximately 4 inches down the front legs.
The second picture is a great diagram.
Approximately 4 inches down the front legs, make a cut all the way around.
Approximately 4 inches behind the front legs, make a cut all the way around the body of the deer.
On the inside of the front legs, the hair changes from white to brown.
Cut along this line under the leg onto the body to connect the first two cuts.
Now you can skin the cape away from the body until you get 4 inches from the antler burrs.
Cut the head away from the body at this point.
Put the cape and head in a heavy garbage bag and tie it between the antler burrs.
Freeze it until you can get it to your taxidermist. 
Now, you just need to harvest one!🤗

23/10/2024

Pop’s Place and Hunters Chapel Taxidermy are sponsoring our first ever Lucky Buck contest! Any hunter who harvests a buck tagged in zone 12 can enter! That means kids, too!
Just bring your freshly harvested buck to Pop’s Place Monday - Saturday during business hours! We will take a picture of you with your buck to be placed on our brag board and your name goes in the pot for a drawing of $100 cash! No entry fee!
Be sure the buck is tagged electronically so we can verify it is legal and harvested in zone 12 ! Happy Hunting Y’all!

29/09/2024

Please, do not cut through the brisket.

29/09/2024

Found on Google from m.youtube.com

23/09/2024

Thank you so much Howell Pop's Place for doing Dylan’s latest deer. 🦌 we highly recommend using her.

07/09/2024

Best of luck to everyone participating in the Velvet Hunt this weekend!!
Please, read my additional posts that discuss proper handling of your trophy before you get it to your taxidermist!
Yes, I am ready, willing, and able to preserve your trophy of a lifetime!
Call me @
870-941-0888
Or come on down to Pop’s Place Beer Store at
5499 Hwy 9 in Leola during store hours.
Hope to see you, soon!!!
Brenda Howell

07/09/2024

Prep for Success
Archery is a low-odds game when it comes to success, but you still need to take a few extra precautions in the event that you manage to take a deer during the early hunt. Have a plan that gets the deer’s meat cooled as quickly as possible, even if that means bringing a cooler of ice and a mobile skinning rack in the truck.

It’s also important to have a plan to preserve the velvet on the deer’s antlers if you are planning to have the deer mounted. According to Cary Copeland of Wildlife Illusions Taxidermy and Processing of Jacksonville, even touching the velvet can damage it.

“I know the first thing everyone wants to do is go over and pick up that deer by the antlers, but that’s a major mistake,” Copeland said. “Oils in your skin can degrade the velvet, so you need to avoid handling the antlers at all costs. That velvet has shrunk up and is about ready to fall off. Handling and pulling on it will tear the velvet loose,” Copeland said. “The best way to pick the deer up is by the bottom of the chin and back of the head. Do whatever you can to avoid that rack from rubbing against things.”

Copeland said a product called Velvalock also will help the velvet stay on until you reach the taxidermist.

“It’s a spray bottle that you use as soon as you get your deer that helps the velvet stay on,” Copeland said. “If the velvet comes off, there’s no sense in trying to save it. But we have ways to add velvet at the shop for the mount.”

Col. Brad Young, chief of AGFC enforcement, has taken multiple deer hunting trips during other states’ early seasons and has used the Velvalock product to help preserve the antlers as well.

“You also really want to keep from bumping those antlers or letting them rub against anything on the haul out,” Young said. “On private land, you can load the deer carefully on an ATV and put a blanket or something between the antlers and the rack of the ATV or side-by-side. On public land, a deer cart is an absolute must to prevent dragging off the velvet. Position the deer’s head up and strap him in well for the ride.”

The use of a nonplastic game bag over the antlers also can protect the velvet and prevent flies from laying eggs in it until you get the deer to a taxidermist.

07/09/2024

https://www.agfc.com/news/early-deer-hunt-offers-new-opportunity-for-bowhunters/

Get caught up on Early deer hunt offers new opportunity for bowhunters from the AGFC.

01/05/2024

Hello!
As you know, I just opened my taxidermy shop last fall. My mentor and teacher, Putt Russell, taught me many things, and I am grateful beyond words. However, preserving the natural beauty and details of your amazing animals as a new artist/taxidermist is quite time consuming and complicated. Maybe one day, I’ll be comfortable enough to post videos, but for now I’d like to introduce you to my favorite page, Amy’s Animal Art Taxidermy.
Amy began taxidermy at a very young age, as a self-taught hobby. I will be sharing many of her videos, and I hope they intrigue you as much as they do me.

01/05/2024

01/05/2024

18/11/2023

Thank you to my amigo, Ronnie, for helping me uncoil and bury the biggest slinky you’ve ever seen!
Here are a few pics from Skull mounts I worked on yesterday and today.

14/11/2023

Hello, fellow hunters!
Just a reminder…
How to cape a deer for a shoulder mount:
*If you field dress it, stop at least 6” short of the front legs.
Follow steps 1,2, & 3.
Next, separate the hide from the buck up the neck.
Cut off the head.
Use a heavy bag to help preserve the hide.
Tie the bag around the base of the antlers.
Freeze or refrigerate.
Get it to a taxidermist.

14/11/2023

Business is going great! Keep them coming!!!
For a shoulder mount or a European skull mount, this is how they should look. Bagged up to the horns and kept refrigerated or frozen.
🤗🥰😍