Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting European mount - DIY

My first attempt to do a European mount. No beetles, no extensive cooking. Skinned head than soaked in hot water for 1/2 hour. Pressure washed with fan-tip nozzle and used needle nose pliers and dental pick.

Hung up in garage for a couple weeks, then applied a beauty salon 40% solution of hydrogen peroxide. Hung in the garage for about a month until I remembered to either put on the wall as is or put it on a plaque. Noticed it yellowed somewhat so applied Redken Pro-Oxide cream.



In retrospect, I wished I had done this to some racks in the past, rather than cut from skull and mount on plaques.

That turned out great!

Like you, I wish I would have started doing euro mounts years ago.

Scott, I already got a signal from my wife that it is not coming in the house. However, in her defense, she has been very patience with me and my big game mounts and other taxidermy sundry. I guess the death almost voo-doo look isn't her cup of tea.

LOL. Similar deal here but she does as she pleases on the first level. The lower level is all mine.

Picked this one up last weekend (I don't have your patience for the work).
Parked it on "her level" and sent her the pict for a bit of torment......it worked.

Lots of great mounts in this town that live in the garage or some place of business. One or our first mounts on the wall was Cookie's pronghorn. There after, everything was OK.

Looks great, but I am not too fond of the pink dot. Just saying...

I did my first one five years ago and liked it alot at first. Did another the next year and then decided to go back to just antlers on a plaque. Still haven't decided if the Euro's are wort the extra work or not.

That looks pretty good from the picture, but if you're concerned about the yellowing...soak the skull in soapy water for a few days. Change the water twice daily, otherwise it'll just be soaking in greasy water. Paper towels laid upon the top of the skull between the antlers will wick up the soapy water if you don't want the antler burrs in there (which really won't do anything but clean them too).

The point is to completely degrease the bone and then whiten with the hydrogen peroxide.

The Bindi buck.

I basically did what you described, but evidently did not degrease adequately.

Guys, my method after skinning/cleaning is to soak in hot simmering water and soap. 1/2 hr - 1hr should do it.

Then a soak in a mixture of 1/3 WATER / 1/3 HYDROGEN PEROXIDE / 1/3 MAGNESIUM CARBONATE. Use your judgement here, but it takes time.

The yellowing you're experience is coming from the Hydrogen Peroxide. The Magnesium Carbonate will keep the skull from yellowing.

You can buy Magnesium Carbonate by the lb (about $10 per) from any pottery/ceramics supply house. It's an additive for glazes.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact times, etc as it's been a lot of years since I've done skulls myself, but I'll root around and see if I can't find my notes.

But I found the Magnesium Carbonate is critical to getting a good job, and is usually the missing link to getting a perfect job.

I like to macerate mine, but I have the outdoors to do it in. Leave that skull in some water with aquarium heaters for a couple weeks and basically good to go. Very little actual work involved.