Proper care of your trophy prior to getting it to a taxidermist is critical, and begins immediately after harvest. Dragging a trophy can rub out or damage the hair, especially if you are dragging it a long distance and/or over rough terrain. We recomend using a cart or similar means if possible, or dragging it on a tarp. Two of the biggest problems we see as taxidermist are specimens that simply didn't make it into a freezer soon enough and are already in the epidermal breakdown/hair slippage stage, and capes that were cut too short for a shoulder or pedestal mount. Obviously if a specimen has a cape that is too short or is at the point where it is losing hair and starting to smell bad there is nothing we can do other than mount it on a replacement cape, if available. In cold weather it may be fine if you don't freeze the animal for a day or so, however as a general rule the sooner you put it in the freezer the better. Bag it well with a heavy garbage bag (double bag with lighter bags) for antlered animals pull the bag up over the ears and try to get it closed nice and tight around the antlers (helps prevent freezer burn) It is a great idea to wrap the ears of larger species with moist paper towels and completely wrap the heads of smaller animals. this will help prevent the delicate ears from getting freezer burned. When caping a deer or other species for a shoulder mount keep in mind there needs to be enough skin left to cover pretty much all of the shoulder(especially for longer pedestal mounts) and then enough to wrap around the back some. I recommend cutting it well back of the shoulders, a good foot or so is fine, we can always cut off the extra. Feel free to call with any questions!