Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game European mount

Well, I must admit that in the past I never cared for European mounts. That started to change a while back, and when I took my buck this year I knew the second I walked up to it I was gonna do a European mount.

I did a lot of research, both here and on numerous other taxidermy sites. There is a TON of varying opinions out there concerning how to do it "best". I took what I thought made sense and gave it a shot.

First tip I got was to detach the lower jaw, and cut off all the meat you can. The brains can be a real pain in the a$$ and unless you're a serial killer it's really gross, but it's got to go! I heard some people say to let the meat rot off for as long as the weather allows. It may make it somewhat easier for the remaining meat to come off, but it makes for a putrid, disgusting, chore. Next time I'm going to do all of this ASAP.

On the plus side if you're a dog lover, you'll attract every dog within a 5 mile radius once you start boiling.

I soaked the head in a water/powdered laundry detergent solution for 3 days prior to boiling. I poured the water out of the tub before I decided to take a pic.

A long flexible blade will help.

A 9 dollar turkey roasting pan gets the job done on a deer. One scoop of powdered detergent per pan seemed to work well. I would simmer for about 1 hour then change out the water. 4 total changes did the trick. Some foil around the bases going up the beam protects during boiling.

Yum yum...

After the first simmer. While warm it's a good time to get out the knife and pick off anything you can. A small wire brush works too, a 1/4 inch chisel was the ticket for me. Several people said they used pressure washers at this point, but I was skeptical about using one because of how fragile the nasal bones are. YMMV

After the skull was totally free of all tissue it was time to get it white. Lots of opinions here too. Regular store bought hydrogen peroxide, industrial strength peroxide from hair salon's, mixture's of the two, and a hydrogen peroxide calcium carbonate mix that I believe Brad suggested. I couldn't find any calcium carbonate for sale... No one carried it except a concrete company, but they wouldn't sell it to me. When I tried to buy some peroxide from a beauty supply store I was told that I needed a license to purchase it... So I went with regular hydrogen peroxide. A .97 cent foil container was perfect for a deer head. 5 large bottles of Wal Mart's finest hydrogen peroxide and 3 days later my buck was white as a ghost. I think it looks great next to my other mounts.

I love the contrast between the mounts. It might be my first Euro, but it won't be my last.
Total cost involved.
Turkey roasting pan - $9
Hydrogen Peroxide - $5
propane - $5
foil "bleaching" pan- .97
Total cost $19.97 (and a few hours and elbow grease)

looks good! I prefer the bacterial maceration method and only boil long enough to kill the smell -if you have a place to do it without inciting riots in the neighborhood!

Good job. Thanks.
I like a pedestal base that tilts the skull to a "natural" level to display the antlers better.

stumpy

for the stronger peroxide just buy Baquacil at a pool supply store. it is the stronger % peroxide and cheap.

Looks good. I did my first one the other day from a deer I'd shot a couple years ago. Was pleased with the results. Like you said, there are tons of ideas of the 'best' method, and they all seem to work for each person.

UtahLefty-

Whats the bacterial maceration method? I pretty much did it like the original poster here, but just used water in a 5 gallon bucket over a couple week period, changed the water when it got really really nasty. Then I powerwashed the soft tissue off. The OP was right though, the powerwasher will damage the cheek bones and roof of mouth if you're not careful.

sounds like it's pretty much what you did -- let the soft tissue rot off while submerged in water.

I did one a couple of years ago with a kit I got at Gander Mt. It includes an industrial strength detergent to simmer it in and a bag of calcium carbonate to mix with hydrogen peroxide. I used a pressure washer also, to get rid of some of the meat and stuff. It worked out pretty well and there was enough stuff left over to do another one with.

You might be able to soak out the grease stain you put that I think I can see in the center of the head... thats because you boiled the skull, but too late now.

Try taking it down, IF it bothers you, and soak that area with a rag wet with acetone... just keep getting it wet and sometimes you can get all that slightly yellow tinge out of the bone.

I may not see it right, but its about 99% odds to get grease into the bone if you actually boil the water.. and yours looked boiling to me.

Grease stains can be an issue when boiling a skull out. Often the skull will be very white when first done and then goes yellowish a few months down the line..

Soaking in acetone or white gas helps, and is very much recommended when doing say a pig or a warthog skull which is particularly greasy anyway.

I also think removing the brain prior to simmering and changing the water two or three times during the simmering process helps as well...And also once the skull is visually clean, ie all meat removed, and ready for bleaching, I think a final rinse with boiling water from a kettle also helps...

I notice most Americans prefer to leave the upper teeth on their skull mounts, where as in Europe and the UK, they are usually cut off..

Personally, I have settled on what is termed a "long skull cut" as below.



I prefer it aesthetically to having the teeth present (just a personal opinion of course) but the cut also opens up the brain cavity and so makes it *much* to remove the brain prior to simmering...

Just curious, but what does the calcium carbonate do?

how long do you soak the skull in acetone to remove the greese? and do you need to rinse with hot water afterwards to remove the acetone. my concern/question is if too long of an exposure could damage the natural bond of the skull and cause it to break up some time down the road if over done. how carefull does a person need to be when using acetone?

Jim,

The Muntjac skull above was soaked for about a week with no adverse effects at all and I've used the thinners meant for degreasing auto bodies prior to spray painting for about the same period, again with no ill effects. I've also heard of people degreaseing bear skulls in white gas (coleman fuel?).

With all these I would imagine the biggest hazard would be the fire risk from the fumes...With larger skulls I've stood them in an approriate sized container to allow be to submerge the skull and then sealed it as best I could using cling-film (kitchen wrap) to cut down the evaporation..You can't get a perfect seal as your trying to wrap around the antlers, but it does seem to cut down on the evaporation...I would still make sure I was working in a well ventilated area though as the fumes could still build up over a period of days..

Regards,

Peter

pete i just got a vision of someone taking your kitchen wrap a step further and useing shrink wrap to get a perfect seal but useing a heat gun to shrink it and .... well you get the picture from that point.

I should imagine they would only do it the once!

I take a coat hanger and snip off about 8" and make a small loop on one end and then chuck it in a drill. Then sick the loop in the hole in the back of the head (spinal column) and the loop will mush up the brain enough to get it out quick.

I use hair bleach from a beauty supply store. Paint it on with a paint brush and then put it under a heat lamp. This might take a few coats.

When all done (bleached) and dried, I spray it with Krylon UV clear matte acrylic.

I still can't figure out how to get all the tissue out of the sinus cavities. Even after simmering pretty much all day there is still enough (black tissue) to cause a pretty good stink.

If warm enough, maggots clean up a skull pretty quick if you don't have access to dermistid beetles.

I wiggle a screw driver in the brain cavity for a few minutes, then hit it with the water hose. Kinda messy but it comes out pretty quick.

Place the skull in trash bag. Place that in sometype of bucket or trash can and leave outside for 2 weeks. The trashbag will keep everything moist for the maggots. They will clean out everything just like dermistids, just takes longer.

After the maggots are done I soak for a few days in Biz. Let it sit a few days in the sun to dry out, then soak in 20 or 40% peroxide for a few hours. Leave out in the sun for a couple more days and it's ready to come in the house.

Here is an antelope that has not been in the peroxide yet. No boiling, just maggots and Biz. I got lazy on this one and didn't even remove the skin first. It left the bone a little more yellow than normal, but will still look good after the peroxide. Not a good idea to leave the skin on for the whitest skull.

I'm not sure. You mix it up into a paste with the hydrogen peroxide and coat the skull with it, then brush it off after it's all dried. Maybe it's just a non-reactive medium for making a paste with the hydrogen peroxide. Just a guess.