First European Mount Attempt

[makeithappen]

I searched the forum and didn't see any guides, so figured I would post my experience as I fumble through it.

I got this great 7 point on public land November 4th at 35 yards with my bow.

I started by skinning the head within a few hours of the kill. With the muscles and skin still warm, it was pliable and much easier to work with and remove. I used a filet knife to help skin it out. The nose area is tricky as it's mostly cartilage and easily cut. The same with the eye sockets, so be careful what you trim. I nicked mine up pretty good as I was a bit too aggressive with the trimming. The eyeballs are a pain, but with a screwdriver, you can ease them out a bit, then make your cuts around them with the filet knife to remove them. The more meat that is removed now will make your life easier later.

After skinning the head.

I filled a 5 gallon bucket with just tap water and soaked the skull for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, I pulled the skull out and used a screwdriver to remove as much of the brain as possible. The brain has started to liquefy, but the outer casing if you will is still somewhat attached.

I soaked him for another 24 hours before getting my wife out of the house so I could start boiling the skull. I filled the pot with water, placed the skull in, then set the burner to high. At this point, I added a few drops of dawn dish soap to help with the smell that I knew would occur but also to help cut the grease and fat off the skull.

After an hour, the water finally started boiling. I turned it down a bit as I wanted a slow boil. There was some random junk that had started to float, so I skimmed it out with a fork. Another hour later, I added about two cereal bowls full of water to maintain the water level. The water will start to boil again about 5 minutes later.

After 3 hours of boiling you could tell stuff was loosening off the bone and I used the fork to pull some of it away. 3 hour mark:

After 4 hours, I pulled the pot off the burner and headed for the garage. 4 hour mark:

I disconnected the lower jaw to get it out of the way and used a flat-head screwdriver, needlenose pliers, and an exacto knife to start pulling/peeling/cutting away the meat and whatnot. The fork came in handy for the larger chunks in gently pulling them away from the bone. The pliers and screwdriver helped in clearing the brain cavity pretty well. After about an hour of this, I am left with this:

I will be doing one more boil tonight (might be tomorrow) in an attempt to remove the rest of the junk from the nasal cavity, sinuses, base of the skull, etc. I'll keep the thread updated as to the steps I'm taking.

 

[Okie4570]

So was your wife out of town while this was boiling, or is she just very understanding!LOL I boiled one in the house....................once

 

[makeithappen]

She would rather the house smell for a day than leave it in the backyard and tick off the neighbors for weeks. Plus, with the eyeballs out, brain mostly out, tongue gone, and dish soap added, it really didn't smell. Had a bit of the "wet dog" smell but had two windows open so it wasn't prominent.

 

[Okie4570]

Lol, looks good, ready to see the finished product. Are you going to mount it on a board or a iron wall hanger, like the ones from Cabela's?

 

[SWRhodd]

I use an outside burner with a pot instead of doing it in the house. I do it pretty much the same way but add dish washer detergent and Dawn and let it boil for 8-10 hrs straight and pulling off the pieces throughout the boil. The nose/nasal cavity is the hardest to get cleaned out. And get a pair of small tongs or long pair of needle nose pliers to reach all the way to the back and pull all of the nose junk out. Also, if you boil it for a long period of time, i.e. longer than 10 hrs, you run the risk of the bridge part of the nose falling off, I know from past experience, lol.

 

[Tyson C.]

looks good and great work. you have a very understanding wife too....LMAO!!

some things i do is use the outside burner idea, a deep pot, the soap idea and tin foil around the parts of the antler that touch the pot. use a power washer to get some of the crud off, and go back and fourth from the boiling water to power washer. also be catious on what tips you use or you can knife off the nose....ask me how i know (lucky it was mine). the one i use sprays about 8" wide and i keep the tip about 1'-2' above the skull. total time we take to do a skull with hair on it, clean and ready for color is about 2hrs....give or take the beers...lol. (the dirty one in the pick was dug up so i left it...cool character i thought)

 

[justin_h635]

Mule Team Borax helps too.

 

[makeithappen]

Okie, I haven't decided on which hanger, but probably will go with the wall mount.

nvrsatisfied, Thanks for the pointers. Those mounts you have look great! The beer is a must-have ingredient. lol

I would have used an outside burner/camp stove, if I had one. lol My wife didn't say a thing about the smell, the open windows and dish soap did their job. I didn't think about the tin foil on the antlers, that's a great idea for protection. I don't have a pressure washer, but was going to use the host nozzle I use for washing the trucks on the jet setting. It's a fun project and something to tinker with.

As for the bleaching of the skull, I was thinking equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water and soaking the skull for 24 hours. I'll probably use the peroxide gel from a hair place to get the areas near the antler and base of the skull to prevent accidental bleaching. Ideas?

 

[Tyson C.]

we use the stuff from hair salons, goes on like a paste. on one of mine we used nothing, it just came out good and has stayed white for about 4yrs now?. we will put duct tape or eletrical tape around the base of the antler and go up the antler a bit if need be and lather the skull up with the bleach use, a small paint brush to get it up and inside the nose and eye socket area's etc... check on it time to time until desired color. you can use a wood stain of sorts to help add color if need be to the antler too.. those who tend to let mother nature take her course the stain will help bring back some of the the light brown from the sun bleach. start out with it watered down and add layer by layer to your likeing...

warning on useing the garden hose....don't get to close, because you might hit a cavity in the skull and not have enough time to move, so turn your head and long arm it...lol (you might tape the hose to the end of a rake or something). we use an outside deep fry/propane setup, so we can adjust the temp, and its a pretty cheap setup etc...

keep posting up your steps, your justt about there, good luck!

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Looks like you're on a great track to an impressive mount. We used to hang em in a tree and let nature take it's course, bit the bone pores would always open up and look odd. So we started letting them sit for a few days, wait until the maggots established, then bury them in dirt. A few weeks and they'd come out meat stripped. Boil in peroxide, and the occasional coat of krylon. This year, we'll order beetles.