Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Deer Skull Cap Mount Questions

I have the skull cap of a nice 10 pointer my son shot last year. It's not a huge rack but about as symmetrical as they get so I'd like to dress it up a little and put it on a wall plaque for him. I'd like to do something different than the plain skull or leather covering that you usually see.

Somewhere I saw one with a camo covering that I thought looked really cool but I'm not sure how it was applied or if there is a kit for that.

Has anyone done something like that or know of a source for the camo kit? How about other materials? Skullhooker has some kind of a cap that looks kind of neat on their website also. Any ideas or help on this is appreciated.

Happy New Year!
Bill

A simple way to display them that I use is to make a sawdust/wood glue mix that I shape around the skull cap and let dry, then cover with felt. Could easily be done with any camo material. Once it is dry it is easy to then be able to use screws to attach to an oak or walnut plaque.





I just finished our son's buck from this year and have it drying right now.

Those look great! Do you use glue to attach the felt on the skull form?

No glue needed on the felt. (I don't want to risk having the glue show through the felt.) When it dries the surface is somewhat rough, so when you stretch the felt it holds in place pretty well and then I use pliers to simply push 1/2" brad nails into the back to secure the felt.

I make the sawdust/glue mixture pretty thick to get it to stick together, then work to shape it as needed as it dries. Really a pretty simple way to give the antlers a nice look. A little something we like to add is a picture to go with the antlers and add to the memories from the hunt.

Thanks for the info and pics! I think I’m going to give that a try. Hoping one of the local fabric stores has some suitable material.

just use a camo t-shirt

+1 - Yes, anything like that will work great!


You're welcome, Bill. Look forward to seeing a picture when you get it done!

Did not do anything in camo, but I use the same sawdust/glue procedure as ProudDad. Rather than cover in cloth I use buckskin. Here are some examples.





Sometimes I add something to the plaque...the cartridge case.



or key holder.

If I don't do skull mounts next year, I going to do what you all did with the sawdust and glue. I never thought or heard of that before. Looks pretty damn good to me, brilliant idea.

I was thinking of micro suede. Something like that if I can find it.

Here's a skull cap mount my buddies Dad made for me of the first branch antlered buck I shot behind his house in Maine back in '86. Similar idea but I want to make his a little different.

Have you tried flocking? It is used by taxidermist and sold by their supply shops. You add glue to your form and pour flocking over it. When it dries it looks very nice. Flocking is like a powdered felt.

Bill N, if you did not save the skull for a euro mount, get the skull kit that uses a reproduction skull.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Mountain-Mikes-European-Deer-Skull-Mounting-Kit/742255.uts

I would then purchase a plaque from walnut creek hardwood to mount it on.

Your son will have a mount you will both be proud of. It will be much nicer than a skull cap mount.

http://www.walnutcreekhardwood.com/shop/products.cfm?catid=244

I saw the camo deer skull kits. They look nice but I was thinking of going the DIY to kind of personalize it. I cleaned it up yesterday. If I can’t do it justice with a camo cover I may go that route in the end. Thanks for the link to the plaques.

i have used socks to cover the skull caps sense they are real stretchy.

What's the best way to get hide and meat off

Boil, or actually keep the water temp to just below boil

A few minutes work with a good knife if the hide hasn't dried, it's a bear to remove once it gets hard....

My son didn’t skin this one. I soaked it in a basin overnight cut it down the middle between the horns and peeled the hide back with a pair of vise grips using a blade underneath. Took about 20 minutes. Then I let it simmer for about an hour and a half and wire brushed the gristle off.

Those look really nice. I have one in the freezer that I'm going to try that on after season.

Bob.

+1 - Yes, the sooner this is done the easier it is. Pulling with pliers and cutting underneath with a sharp knife it doesn't take long at all.