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These pics are from various places in Germany and Austria.

In the more rural mountainous areas it was quite common to see the wood built houses adorned in various skull mounts. In a couple of places, the front doors to the houses would be left open to display some very impressive trophies in the hall way..













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Sorry Pete, but it seems such displays aren't very feng shui

alright.....where abouts does one hunt the saber-toothed deer(muntjac) and what kinda odds at actually getting the chance at one and what sorta trophy fee are we talking about for a Yank to come over and have a chance at one? im one for the oddball species.......my ideal African safari big game animals are hyena, croc and hippo

Great photos Pete. I guess dogs, like kids, can be a mixed blessing!

One other thing I saw when displayed on the front of houses was a carved head not unlike our shoulder mounts. The skull cap would be sawn with the antlers. These would be placed in the carving and a wood cap closed over it, leaving a wooden should mount. Normaly they were set over the door or at the peak.

rattler,

Muntjac breed like rabbits so there should be no problem getting a crack at one, nor should they be too expensive..

CWD are rather more restricted in range and to hunt them commercially can be very expesnive...

Both species are the most common down in centrel /southern England and you could hunt any of the other species with out travelling too far either. Muntjac can be stalked all year around as they are "aseasonable" breeders and have no close seaon, but the bucks tend to be in hard antler September through to March ish, but again they are not as fixed their shedding cycle as other deer.

Regards,

Peter

thanks for the info Pete......

Thanks a lot to all. I thought I was right.

cmg in the link you posted which I assume is from a taxidermy supply catalogue in the picture the one in the fourth row on the right is what I am talking about. Surely do like that one. Wish I could get one like it.

Andre thanks for the skull drawing. Now I have something to show them when/if I ever get a head I want to hang on the wall. You have some good stuff on your walls I enjoyed looking at them.

Pete the one in the first group bottom is just exactly what I would like to have done with one. Isn't that a roe deer?


BCR

BCR,

All three in that pic are Roe deer...

Just a question, but why don't you do the skull yourself? There's a bit of time and work involved, but its not too difficult once you know what you are doing..

Its a little easier for us as we can get a "jig" to put the skull which for the DIY challenged like me, helps a lot..Having siad that, cutting a saw "free hand" is not that difficult as long as you plan the cut/angles before you start...

I tend to do it before I boil the skull out as the skull is a bit stronger and less prone to breakages..

Regards,

Peter

Good Lord Pete, lots of things are easy if you know whotinhell you are doing!

Until I got that picture of how to cut the skull I couldn't figure the angle when I'd put a head up against a board. Whitetail antlers don't stick so straight up as roe deer antlers do.

I just may give her a try now that I sort of have an idea of what in hell I am doing thanks to you good folks.

BCR

Boggy, I DID note that Pete admitted to being DIY challenged!!! If he can does it, we can does it!! (now where did I put that hacksaw???)

It's pretty much a personal choice if you do the mount yourself, which I've done from day one hunting Europe. I like the longer cut to include the nose bone, even for Reh. When I have a bucket full I go to a shop with a bandsaw and it makes short work of it, cutting just under the nose bone thru the top of the top teeth and then a minute on the big belt sander gets them nice and flat. Interesting thread, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

Well, I tried to put a couple pictures up but it's just not working for me here :-(

I've done a couple whitetails and even antelope:

And not a muntjy, which I've never hunted, but a Roe deer I shot a few years ago had one eyetooth. Even whitetails can have them, but you'd have to skin the skull or chances are you'd never notice it:

BCR,

I'd recommend some practice with doe skulls or spiker skulls until you get a proper feel for making the cut..

Use a fine toothed wood saw as the broad width of the blade helps to keep the cut straight, unlike a butchers bone saw or hacksaw..

Once you've cut the skull you can either simmer it slowly for about 45 minutes to an hour, or put it in a bucket of water for about a month and let the bacteria rot the meat off..The water needs to be warm (around body temp) to allow the bugs to thrive, so the process won't work in winter unless you warm the water with a fish tank heater or similar...In your case, seeing as you like the very short cut skulls, I'd probably simmer it and get it over and done with...

Regards,

Peter

Thanks for the advice Pete. If I am going to simmer it can I throw some carrots and onions in the pot? Hate for that to go to waste.

BCR

Sure, and do it on the kitchen stove too Your cookery will be talked about for days!

I tried that many years ago with an antelope skull....come to think of it, thats about the time my first wife went away....
Ingwe

And dont get chatting on the phone! youll ruin the mount and the kitchen will never smell the same again

Don't listen to ingwe or UKDave, you go ahead and put a few carrots in with the head and it will be fine to boil out in the kitchen...

Hi,

Here are some typical mounts used in France, these trophies took by my gunsmith friend and my are exposed in his shop in Marseille.
Will try to show you more next time.
Regards
Dominique

Some few of us are. I got me a "cull corner" going..... screw the 'trophy room...

I know this thread has run it�s course but I just came across it. I�ve successfully used a technique for over 40 years that I came across as a lad in a hunting magazine. First locate a chunk of 4x4lumber and evenly cut off a piece 4 or 5 inches long. Next, draw a straight line down one side. Then drill a series of 3/8 inch holes closely spaced down the line to a depth of perhaps two inches. This block of wood allows you to insert a pencil into the hole at the height of your choice.

I will skin out a head, discarding the eyes and lower jaw, then place it upright on my work bench. Next I hold the head in place while I �slide� the wooden block all around the head/skull, all the while inscribing an even line around the head. I prefer running my line through the bottom third of the eye socket, which results in a nice triangular shape that includes the entire nasal cavity.

I�ve always boiled my heads on the kitchen stove, and if done with fresh heads, have never stunk the house up. I�ve used this technique on the heads of goats, sheep, deer, elk, and antelope and have always been pleased with the results. I use a hacksaw to cut along the line. Sometimes, on sheep and elk, it�s hard to make just one cut because of the horn/antler configuration. But the hole marking and cutting process rarely takes more than 10 minutes.

Cheers!
Matt
Jackson, Wyoming