European Mount

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thedrake
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2012/12/10 11:46:44 (permalink)

European Mount

Yesterday I bleached the skull of the buck I killed this season. Although it's not quite as white as some of the skulls I've seen, it turned out pretty well for what is my first time attempting it. I used oxyclean and dawn dishwashing liquid in the water, and changed out the water a couple of times over the 5 hours total that it had in it.
 
The only mistake I can tell I made, is the base of each antler lost some color which you can see in the pic. Have any of you ran into this, and have any easy fixes?
 
On another note, I still don't have my appetite back after dealing with the smell of skull soup.
 

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    Guest
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    Re:European Mount 2012/12/10 12:13:11 (permalink)
    Drake, that's very cool and looks good. 
     
    I set out to do a modified European mount (got the idea from a friend) for my son's buck that he shot this year.  What's left is basically the top of the skull down to above the nose.  Sawed it off about 1/3 of the way down the eye socket so that you can mount it on a nice piece of wood. 
     
    But with this being the first time I've ever messed with anything like this, I was wondering how you prepped the skull before boiling and what you did in the boiling process.  For a bigger buck someday, I'd like to do the full skull. Can you do a step-by-step of what you did and how you did it? 
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    dakota kid
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    Re:European Mount 2012/12/10 12:16:06 (permalink)
    The bleached antlers are an easy fix. Well it's an easy fix if you have experience matching colors with paint. 
    Get a cheap set of watercolors and try to match the dark color brown of the antler, which is actually a mix of bark, mud, and leaves. You may want to clean some more of antler so there isn't such a noticeable line. Once you feel you've matched the paint, apply with a brush and blot with a rag, sponge or paper towel. You can build up layers of color this way, almost like the  way it occurred naturally. The paint can be removed from the bumps and ridge lines with a wet cloth. Don't get scared about ruining it cause with watercolor you can just wash it off and try again. Once you get it the way you like it spray the whole skull with a flat clear coat or artist fixative spray. After that it should be rather permanent. 
     
    I usually wait for a day with a good breeze to boil them. That smell is just awful. 
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    dakota kid
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    Re:European Mount 2012/12/10 12:36:14 (permalink)
    Step by step euromount:
     
    1. Kill a nice buck
    2. Cut off it's head
    3. Skin the head. The skin on an animals head is the hardest to remove. I use a small 3" super sharp knife. 
    4. Remove as much muscle and tissue as you can. It seems like every year I get my skulls little more stripped down than the previous year. The first one I did was basically just a skinned head. I took 8 hours to boil everything off. This year I was able to cut enough away to remove the jawbone and top vertebrae before I started. 
    5. Boil the skull. I use oxyclean 1/2 cup to start and I add another 1/2 cup after I add more water halfway through. ADD IT SLOWLY TO BOILING WATER IT FIZZES. After a few hours check it and start scraping off any loose pieces of tissue. Add water when it gets low and keep an eye on the temp. You want just a simmer, too hot and you'll boil the fat into the bone giving it a mottled plastic looking
    appearance. At one point you'll need a coat hanger with a tiny hook bent into one end to remove the brain. after poking around up there rinse the cavity with water. That gets most of the stuff out, but the brain stem will be rubbery and need to be removed with the hook. After everything is fairly clean, I usually rub it down with a brass brush to help release some of the remaining soft tissues and cartilage. The two bones that make up the nose will probably fallen off by now. It's best to remove them when they get loose rather than have to dig them out of the nasty pile at the bottom of the pot. I reattach mine with glue. I know other that prefer the look of the skull without them.
    6. Dry the skull. Find a warm dry spot and let it dry completely. I use a UV flat clear on mine, so I want to make sure I don't trap any moisture when I paint. 
    7. Hang on the wall and impress hunting buddies. 
     
    That's pretty much it. If you do it a few times it gets pretty easy. If you have any issues, there's a bunch of tutorials online. That's how I got started. Good Luck.
     
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    Re:European Mount 2012/12/10 12:47:07 (permalink)
    Very helpful DK, thanks for the info.
     
     
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    kristmas725
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    Re:European Mount 2012/12/15 13:23:54 (permalink)
    This is where i got my info, on how to do it. So far im very pleased and it helps prevent bleachin the antlers.
    http://www.handloadersbench.com/forum50/14182.html
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