Euro mounts w/pics

[IAhuntr]

In response to a couplerequests I've gotten in regards to my seemingly easier than most euro mount method, I'll post a couple pics of two of mine:

archery buck from a few years back:






gun buck from a couple years back (cool third pedicle):


closer view of extra pedicle:


Closer view of skull:


These were done by the following method:

1.boiling for 30-40 minutes with plain water
2. picking off any loose tissue
3. boiling another 20 minutes or so in same water
4. immediately taking to local carwash and thoroughly blasting with high-pressure hot soap water to includebraincavity and sinus cavities.
5. after cooling, remove any remaining sinus contents and majority of sinus honeycomb bone with forceps. Rinse sinuses again.

No bleaching done to either of these and no chemicals used aside from carwash soap. About2-3 hours from skinning to completion. The more time you spend removing tissue and facia before you start and in between boils, the quicker it gos and the better results you'll have.

[TEmbry]

Sweet deal. I love Euro mounts. Im more than likely going to switch over to Euro mounts from here on until I get one that nets P&Y. Mounts are expensive, and Euros look sweet.


Im letting my buddy do mine for me. He has 2 beetle colonies, and a very high % peroxide solution....only takes 1-2 weeks (minutes of his time...most is waiting) and it is snow white. It is amazing how fast those beetles demolish any flesh or tissue matter left on the bone.

I would do exactly as you do if he didn't have these beetles.

[IAhuntr]

ORIGINAL: TEmbry

Sweet deal. I love Euro mounts. Im more than likely going to switch over to Euro mounts from here on until I get one that nets P&Y. Mounts are expensive, and Euros look sweet.


Im letting my buddy do mine for me. He has 2 beetle colonies, and a very high % peroxide solution....only takes 1-2 weeks (minutes of his time...most is waiting) and it is snow white. It is amazing how fast those beetles demolish any flesh or tissue matter left on the bone.

I would do exactly as you do if he didn't have these beetles.

My Taxi had a colony but ended up letting it go. He said the money he spent on meat to feed the beetles in the off season dug in to his proceeds of the mounts and made it not worth his time so now he refers euros to a buddy. He suggested I give the boiling a try and after a bit of research and trial and error, I found a fairly easy routine that give very good and natural looking results. Full mounts are indeeda bit spendy these days and I've reserved that treatment to the biggest of bigs!

[RobinAim Low]

Pretty much how I do mine too, except I have a pressure washer here and I do brush on some bleach as a last step to get it more white. Some guys swear you just can't boil them...but it has worked for me on many skulls just fine.

I don't even mess with skinning the skull anymore. Just boil it skin on and it will come off easily after cooking.

[GMMAT]

I have a quick question....as I may try this, now.

No. 1.....I have a turkey cooker.....pot....all that....but is it easy enough to get the skull in there and submerged?

No. 2.....Where (IA???) would I get the board to mount the skull on? I'd be looking for something to go on the wall.

No. 3......Is it really OK NOT to bleach the skull? What if I did want to do this?? How would I go about it?

Thanks!

[Rob/PA Bowyer]

ORIGINAL: GMMAT

I have a quick question....as I may try this, now.

No. 1.....I have a turkey cooker.....pot....all that....but is it easy enough to get the skull in there and submerged?

No. 2.....Where (IA???) would I get the board to mount the skull on? I'd be looking for something to go on the wall.

No. 3......Is it really OK NOT to bleach the skull? What if I did want to do this?? How would I go about it?

Thanks!

Jeff, check the local salons for the big jugs of peroxide, it's a better plan than bleach. You have to be real careful with bleach or you skull will disintegrate or be very chalky.

[IAhuntr]

Jeff- I used a propane camp stove with a big turkey pan I picked up at Goodwill to boil mine. You definately want to do it outside as it stinks to high heaven and I imagine yours will be even worse than normal.
I've run across several taxidermy places that used to sell the pedestal mounts like you are wanting. I simply made mine from a piece of 6" wide rough cut cedar. It would be just aseasy to make one that mounts to the wall rather than a stand like mine. With the method I used, the boiling and high pressure cleaned the skull so well that I didn't need or want to bleach it any further. If you do, Rob is right that peroxide is the way to go. The key to this method is picking out the sinus contents well and removing most of the thin loose bone in there and then blasting it well with the wand. Do the high pressure wash right after the boil for maximum tissue removal. Wear some rainwear while you do the blasting as you'll get nice and wet. It does a marvelous job though.

[Critr-Gitr]

Bleach is generally a bad thing, in addition to the things already mentioned, it can turn the skull yellow also. When boiling be careful of the bosses on your antlers, keep them out of the water or it can discolor the bottom of them. A neat trick here is to make a "Y" out of a piece of rope and tie it to each side of the antlers, adjusting where you tie it untill the head balances correctly in the water. The skull will be hanging from the rope, not balanceing on the rim of the pot, if this makes sense. Makes it where you can adjust it just right. Put some Cascade automatic dishwasher soap in the boil water, it has enzymes in it designed to eat food, it really helps break the tissue down during boiling, and helps get rid of the grease/oil that boils out of the tissue. Pressure washer works good, but be careful, you can tear a skull up also.

[wis_rifle_hunter]

those are awesome. im doing one on my grandpas montana mule deer

[BowtechHunting]

Looks good IAhuntr! I'm not a big fan of full head mounts. I like Euro mounts....just me.