European Mounts

[kansashunter2013]

I found a deer skull last year while hunting andI was wondering how to do it, and what would be the best way to do it.

[chrowski]

look at the taxidermy section of this website, they'll get you headed in the right direction.

Boiling the flesh off works well as the first step,(after you give it a go with the razorblade of course)especially for skulls where the meat has had a chance to rot onto the bone as it kind of sounds like, i'm guessing, in this case.

[Stonewall308]

Boiling too long can ruin the skull. I bought dermestide bettles and putmydeer headin my garage with a heater but they all died within a week. Now it is buried in my backyard and I am going to dig it up at the end of may and see how in looks.

[chrowski]

ORIGINAL: Stonewall308

Boiling too long can ruin the skull. I bought dermestide bettles and putmydeer headin my garage with a heater but they all died within a week. Now it is buried in my backyard and I am going to dig it up at the end of may and see how in looks.

Before my workplace got our beetles we did euros by boiling and I've never seen a skull ruined by it.
Note to others: While beetles may seem like a great thing to do there are some problems:
1) Not cost effective for the individual doing a couple skulls a year
2) They're only 1 step of the process...after that you need to get your hands on comercial grade chemicals for a professional looking skull, also not cost effective for the individual.

Boiling is definetly the way to go IMHO for the individual not looking to invest an arm and a leg for a euro mount or two over the course of a year.