I will be hunting Ohio this coming archery season. If I'm successful taking a mature buck I would want to mount it. My question is after I gut it out in the wood can I drag the deer out to my truck and transport it to the processor where it will be caped out and processed. I wasn't sure if I had to pack it out and cape it while leave the head because of CWD.
Pretty much I would guess if you are NY then you are traveling thru PA. Here is the rules for PA (simialar to most states) in which you can't bring high risk parts from other states into PA.
High-risk parts include: the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and any lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.
There are some taxidermists which will remove the cape and the skull plate from the skull for a cost to make them legal to take back to your taxidermist. The other solution is to use a taxidermist in Ohio. Sucks, but that is the rules. Wouldn't surprise me if NY has the same rules as PA, so a taxidermist in NY can't accept the whole skull.