European Mount

[huntallday]

Hey guys shot a buck this january and wanted to do my own European Mount on it. I tried it once on my first bow kill, but it didn't turn out as well as i wanted it to. Was wondering if i can get some pointers from any of you. Anything will help i just want this one to look good. Thanks a lot.

 

Dan - shortshooter

[Coues79]

What didn't work out for you? What didn't turn out? Are you needing help skinning the head out, or boiling the skull or what?

 

-I always skin the head from between the ears, going forward to the nose.

-A good sharp knife makes it real easy to do.

-Once you get to the nose, just start skinning one side all the way down to the jaw.

-Then do the other side.

-Once you get to the bottom jaw, skin the lower part of the jaw, back towards the neck.

-After that, or right at the beginning, (either way is fine) take a knife and skin as close as you can to the base of the antler to the skull. An exacto knife works really well in this thick skinned area.

-Once the hide is off, take it to the pot.

-Have a good pot that will allow the antlers to rest on the side, with the full skull immersed in water. Try and not to put the antlers in the water for too long. The water can take off some of the natural color that has been rubbed on the antlers. Let it boil for a couple of hours, repleneshing the water once it boils down below the top part of the skull.

-Take it out and clean it as much as you can with a knife or some kind of scraper.

-Pull the lower jaw off

-Refresh the water with clean water

-Repeat until you are able to get all of the meat and matter inside of the skull out. I put a little bit of salt inside the brain cavity just to help with the smell. Sometimes I am left with a faint odor a couple days later.

-If any bones fall off, keep track of where they came from and you can easily super glue them back together.

 

Hope this helps

[jamaro]

I would practice on the neighbors cat...

 

Practice makes perfect...

 

Jason

[IHunt2live]

What I do is after I get off all the skin is just start carving away at any meat that is on the scull. No real science to it but I found that the boiling time is a lot shorter that way. To get the brains out I take some wire or bend a cloths hanger and put it on a power drill and basicly turn the brain into mush. Be careful or you might end up with some on your face. and then just wash out the mush with water. After that just boil it out, it won't take long, a couple of hours tops. As mentioned they sometimes can have a little oder to them for a few days but that goes away. The problem I have come acros though is sometimes oil spots begin to show up on the skull after a while, they are no problem exept for looks. maybe someone else has pointer to prvent that. Also, I've learned not to use the ordinary houshold bleach, it will eat away at the skull.

[huntallday]

Hey guys thanks a lot both tips helped a lot and its looking pretty good. I have a second question though. Is there anyway i can make the skull whiter? Its looking a little "dead" with the crap colors on it. Thanks for the help!

[PRED8R]

I do mine in my turkey deep frier. It has worked well as described by cochranj. Call me if you want some help, I see that you live in Sierra Vista heck we might be neighbors

Grant. 678-3144

[JohnFriddle]

Lots of good tips here... I add baking soda to the water when it's boiling, it turns the meat into a jelly type stuff which is easier to get off the skull, it will tend to boil over pretty bad when you add it but it's worth it I think... I use IHunt2live's trick getting the brains out too, it works great, just make sure you do it before you boil it... When Boiling lower the heat, you should just simmer the head rather than boil it, hard boiling makes the bones much more brittle... I bring the water to a hard boil than back it off to a simmer, then when I'm ready to put the skull in I add the baking soda... The more stuff you get off before boiling the better, get as much as you can with your knife... I use hydrogen peroxcide and baking soda to clean the teeth with picks, knives, and brushes, it can be a job but the more you get off the better it will look after you bleach the head... I bleach the head in peroxcide for 24-48 hrs then put it up on the roof for a couple days and let the sun whiten it. Don't leave it up there too lond or the antlers will whiten too... Then I hit it with spray polyurethane to protect it, I also like the carmel color it leaves, but thats just my taste... Good Luck with your mount...

[buddydog]

I have had real good results boliling heads in mule team borax, you can find it at any Safeway or Walmart. Make sure you change the water a few times. Your skull will come out like a taxidermest did it. It also keeps all the bones and teeth intact.

[Red Rabbit]

Some soap and Borax in the water will help remove the meat, fats, oils while boiling. You can get some stronger hydrogen peroxide and whitener at a hair salon supply store. After brushing on the whitener, put the skull in a plastic bag.

http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php?board=17.0

 

Doug~RR

[singleshot]

I have done quite a few euro's on both deer and elk and have learned a few things. I add a little liquid dish soap to the water

it cuts through the grease and helps to lift off the meat and gristle. Do not bring your skulls to a rolling boil as this will eventually cause the growth plates in the skull to seperate. Keep your water at a simmer and slowly cook them. I wrap aluminum foil around the bases of the antlers. You can push the foil in tight around the burrs and this keeps the steam from whitening the natural antler

color. Do not add any clorox, it whitens the bone and removes grease but leaves the bone chalky. If you have simmered the skull slowly the small pieces of the nasal cavity will usually stay in place and what I do is place the skull in a five gallon bucket and take it to the car wash and use the high pressure sprayer on it. You get a few strange looks but it works great to remove all the brain matter and small pieces of meat and tendon. The bucket catches any teeth, and bones that may fall off. Just be careful when spraying out the sinuses as this area is thin.

I rarely have to reglue anything as the trick is to slowly simmer not boil. Once the skull is dry I again carefully wrap the bases with foil and spray paint the whole skull flat white. The paint seals the oil in and makes dust cleanup later easy. Some guys will mix elmers white glue with a little water and use it to paint the whole skull. This works well but I like the FLAT WHITE paint a lot better.

This works best for me, hope it helps.

[huntallday]

Hey thanks a lot for the help guys it turned out a lot better then i thought it would. I had a hard time cleaning up the teeth but other then that everything turned out great. Thanks for the help and advice.

 

Dan - shortshooter

[davecinaz]

Glad it turned out good for you. There were a lot of good tips on this thread. I wanted to add that I've had good results by adding Tide with bleach to the water before boiling it and putting the head in.

[JVS]

Come on dude. All this writing and no pics. Let's see him.

 

Congrats on the buck and good mount.