-Never put a rope around the neck of an animal you will be mounting. 

Do not cut the throat or the brisket area. 

Bring the entire hide so you will not end up with too short a cape. If this is not possible be sure to cut the cape behind the front legs, the farther back the better. 

On lifesize skins be sure to leave everything intact including genitalia. I prefer to skin out the heads and feet. You can leave part of the lower leg bone in and I will do the rest.

After you have skinned the animal be sure to keep it cool. 
DO NOT put it in plastic! The hide needs to have air circulating to keep it cool. Ideally you want to get it to the taxidermist right away, if not get it froze. After it’s frozen, you can wrap in plastic.

For birds, wipe off any excess blood, tuck the head under a wing, wrap the feet in a wet rag and insert head first into an old nylon stocking. Then place in a plastic bag and freeze. For pheasants, you can help by taping it to a board so the tail will not get broken.

For fish, DO NOT gut, do not remove the slime, wrap in a wet towel, place in a well sealed plastic bag and freeze.