anyone ever bury a skull for a european mount?
#31
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: TEXAS
Posts: 247
RE: anyone ever bury a skull for a european mount?
If you live in the south and have fire ants it only takes two eeks for a finished result. I tape the horns up to keep out of the sun light. Then find a ant bed in the back yard and bury it. All I do is take the skin off. I still have brains meet eyes and everything then I bleached it done. Looks better than most pro mounts that I have seen and cost just a few cents.
#32
RE: anyone ever bury a skull for a european mount?
We don't have enough ants around here so I boil mine. Or to be more specific, I simmer them. Boiling for too long will damage the bone and cause the teeth to fall out. Get the water where it is just barely bubbling and you'll have a lot less risk of softening the bones too much or the teeth falling out. I use a turkey fryer burner with a shallow wide pan. I tend to avoid getting the antlers in the "soup" so I make a little cap out of tinfoil to catch some steam in the area between the antlers. The first time especially, take it out often and rinse, scrapeand pick. besides a small snap blade knife and a set of hemostats from my trout fishing gear, I also find dental tools (available at gun shows and flea markets) extemely usefull. It's a bit frustrating at first because the picking and scraping seems endless but the second one gets way easier once you learn how and where to scrape. The brain contains a lot of fats so some Dawn soap, borax or other is helpful in your "soup".
Once the skull is cleaned, I take bueaty shop peroxide and soak for about 24 hours. Be very careful not to get peroxide on the antlers at all. I use small strips of rags or paper towels over the portion of the skull that protrudes from the water. The peroxide wicks up into the rags and bleaches that part of the skull without getting any on the antlers.
Personally, I like the look of the bone's natural color when bleached mush better than white paint but that's just personal preference.
Here's one I did last year
Once the skull is cleaned, I take bueaty shop peroxide and soak for about 24 hours. Be very careful not to get peroxide on the antlers at all. I use small strips of rags or paper towels over the portion of the skull that protrudes from the water. The peroxide wicks up into the rags and bleaches that part of the skull without getting any on the antlers.
Personally, I like the look of the bone's natural color when bleached mush better than white paint but that's just personal preference.
Here's one I did last year
#33
RE: anyone ever bury a skull for a european mount?
[quote]ORIGINAL: bigcountry
I have tried burying them. I still had to boil it to get everything off and clean it up. And with either boiling, beetles, or burying, you still should skin, debrain, and take off as much meat as possible. I highly suggest debraining. Its easy with a wire hanger. Kinda scramble them up with the hole in the back of the skull, and shake out.
You can save the brains and eat with scrambled eggs later.
So in the end, I have came to the conclustion, just to go ahead and boil. That way, I don't have to wait 1/2 year to get my mount. I don't have to worry about mice getting to my horns.
You have got to be kidding me!!
do you have a glass of chianti and fava beans with that.
I have tried burying them. I still had to boil it to get everything off and clean it up. And with either boiling, beetles, or burying, you still should skin, debrain, and take off as much meat as possible. I highly suggest debraining. Its easy with a wire hanger. Kinda scramble them up with the hole in the back of the skull, and shake out.
You can save the brains and eat with scrambled eggs later.
So in the end, I have came to the conclustion, just to go ahead and boil. That way, I don't have to wait 1/2 year to get my mount. I don't have to worry about mice getting to my horns.
You have got to be kidding me!!
do you have a glass of chianti and fava beans with that.