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Long Term Care of my Trophies
What happens to my trophy after I pick it up from my taxidermist?

A. Why do I need someone to look at my mounts? B. What happens to my Trophy when I hang it on my wall?

The quality of your mount depends on how well the hide was handled in the field by you or your guide and then by your taxidermist/tannery. If your animal survived the mounting process and looks good when you hung it on the wall that normally means that you the hunter / guide handled the hide properly in the field.
When you get your mount hung at your home/office/hunting cabin etc. a lot of things can happen to your trophy from that point on. Your mount/s will last a long time if your taxidermist / tannery did a good job fleshing / tanning and applying the the hide to the form (with a good hide paste). Hide paste is applied to your hide during the mounting process for two reasons. One is so the taxidermist can slip the tanned hide over the polyurethane form and “taxi” (or move it into position). Two is when the hide starts to dry after it is mounted the hide paste sticks or glued itself to the form. It’s very important that the hide actually glued itself to the form to keep it from “cracking”! Even the best tanned hide can crack if it is not securely glued to the form. If it is not glued down then the hide flexes as the room gets warm, then cool and warm again. If it is glued properly it cannot flex and crack.
One of the most vulnerable places mount where a mount might crack is next to the brisket and where the indentation goes inward on the inside part of the leg. The main reason mounts crack here is because the taxidermist stretched the hide to tight when he stapled the hide to the back of the form. There could be a valid reason for this and that is the hide was not caped properly. It was cut too short when it was caped. The taxidermist has no choice to pull the hide tight. This causes what we taxidermists call “drumming”. You can check you own mounts to see if it is drumming by tapping the brisket area with your fingers and proceed to the where the hide dips down between the border area and the inside of the leg. “IF” the hide did not glue itself to the form you will hear hollow “drum” like sound. DO NOT PUSH on the AREA! Your finger could poke through the hide leaving a hole and in need of repair!
IF this area has already cracked (AGAIN) Do Not Push on it as it can TEAR very easily making a repair necessary OR a total remount with a fresh tanned cape may be needed!