Like most lessons in life, the ones you remember best are the painful ones. Years ago, I was trying to help an injured hawk that had flown into a power line. The hawk didn't know that I was trying to help, and in self-defense sunk one of his talons through my hand. Eventually both the hawk and I recovered, but ever since, I have remembered to be really careful when trying to help an injured critter.

            Another lesson I learned a couple years ago was when I got a call from my taxidermist telling me that he couldn't save the hide of bear that I had shot.  As is often the case, my son and I had hunted on a long weekend and were an 8-hour drive from home when we finally got my bear. We drove home and immediately got the meat to the butcher shop for processing. While I had taken care to refrigerate the bear meat, it hadn't occurred to me to refrigerate the bear hide too. Sure enough, my lack of attention, to taking care of the hide caused it to spoil and cost me a nice bear rug.

            A few weeks earlier I had watched as my son got a nice bear, which we got to the taxidermist without any delay. Every time I look at my sons beautiful bear rug, it reminds me that bear hides need just as much TLC as the meat.

            The art of Taxidermy is probably almost as old as the human race itself. Archeologists have found ancient Indian duck decoys in caves around the Great Basin that were made from preserved duck skins stretched over a tule decoy body. Those ducks aren't all that different from the mounted ducks I see in hunters homes and offices today. A taxidermy mount can help remind you of a hunt just last year or of those long ago. Although mounting a critter can be quite expensive, it can last you a lifetime.

            My Dad was once fortunate enough to catch a really big Brown Trout along the Merced River just outside Yosemite National Park. He had it mounted and the taxidermist did a great job with it. Every time I went into Dad's den, and saw that trout, it reminded me of the smile on Dad's face as he walked down the shoulder of the road back to camp with that 5 pound trout.  Dad is gone now, but that darned stuffed trout still brings back a smile.

            If you are fortunate enough to be successful in your hunting or fishing expeditions, you might want to consider having a taxidermy mount made. Interestingly enough, your stuffed critter doesn't have to be a monster trophy. It can be your son's first bear, or your daughter's first deer. It can be a crappie from that spring vacation when you rented the houseboat on Lake Don Pedro and the kids had a blast catching a tubful of fish with minnows and bobbers.                I have a raccoon hide on the wall of my garage that brings back memories of the family dog fighting that coon in the garage. For months we couldn't figure out why the cat was getting so skinny until old Buddy caught that coon stealing the cats food and put a stop to it.

            Last weekend my son and I were out in the hills in search of rattlesnakes. A couple weeks before, the wind was blowing so hard I had to carry my Stetson to keep from losing it. There wasn't a snake in sight.

            This weekend, we happened to hit everything just right, the sun was warm, but not hot — just a hint of breeze to cool us a little. The snakes were sunning themselves and looking for prey, and so were we. We caught six nice snakes from 2 feet in length to 3 feet. One of the larger snakes had been lying on a stack of fence posts waiting for a squirrel. That snake was exactly the same color as the fence posts and will make a great mount. While I usually skin my own snakes, this one I took directly to the taxidermist so that he could handle the delicate skinning around the mouth and eyes. In years to come I can look at that mounted snake and recall a perfect day with my son.

            Once you do get a critter worthy of mounting, here are a few tips to preserving your catch successfully.

            If you're going to take a fish to the taxidermist, never clean the fish as you ordinarily would. Just wrap it in a damp towel, keep it in your ice chest, and get it to the taxidermist as soon as possible. For both fish and mammals, take lots of photos. Take pictures from every angle possible and in every light possible. They will help your taxidermist immensely.

            For small mammals it's ok to salt the hides but on large critters like elk, deer, and bear, it's best to just keep the hide cool and get it to your taxidermist as soon as possible. When your skinning your critter, do not attempt to skin the head. Unless you're really a pro, you'll foul it up and ruin the mount. Let your taxidermist do the work on the head. A good taxidermist is a true artist, so let him do what he's good at.

            Taxidermy can be a wonderful way to relive trips over and over again, if you'll just take a few steps to get the critters back in good shape. Before you go hunting, check with your taxidermist for more tips.