Hi,
I read that you buried your deer skull and antlers in the ground,was this done to let the skin and flesh rot off the trophy.
Over here in england we do it a different way,if we are just going to skull it,i put a big dixie on a gas ring and bring the water to the boil,i then add 2 handfulls of washing soda and put the head in with the skin and flesh still on it.After about 30 minutes i take it out and start cutting the skin off it,this comes off pretty easy,i then put it back in the dixie for another 30 minutes,checking to see how the flesh is looking, and is it ready for the last of the flesh to be taken off.Once the skull is free from flesh,remove the bottom jaw,and then lay the skull on its side and with a sharp handsaw cut throughthe skull just below the eye cavity and carry on right to the end of its nose.This is called the long nose trophy,i think it looks better than a short cut nose.After boiling it will be fairly white,but to make it really white,i use white acrylic primer in a spray can this really looks great,this is what the english taxidermists use,the antlers all i do to them is to mix boiled linseed oil mixed with a small amount of turpentine,apply it with a rag to the colour required.
The last job is to fill the open part of the skull with plaster of paris,select where to drill hole through trophy shield,marking the plasterfix raw plug in plaster and screw skull to shield.
I hope the above will be helpfull for you.
regards,
Chinese Water Deer.