Couple Euro Mounts to Share

[simmered]

Just wanted to share a couple Euro mounts I have done. I like doing little projects so I figured I would give this a try. Pretty happy with the results.

Friends 2011 Whitey
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/af411310.jpg

My Spring 2011 Bear
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/982d5db1.jpg

Friends 2012 Whitey
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu245/simmered1/ChadeuroDeer.jpg

[Rackmastr]

Very nice stuff!!!

[yamaha 1]

I like the old wood on the last one, looks cool, nice stuff.

[bonecollector10]

what was your recipe?

[Walleyes]

Very nice indeed..

Would you be interested in sharing the process with us.

[bear-scat]

Nice work, the personal touch is definetley satisfying

[Hagalaz]

Nice work. :)

[FlockedUp]

Very nice indeed..

Would you be interested in sharing the process with us.

x2, I plan on euro mount my whitetail this year? and would like any tips I could get? Mostly what to use on the skulls?

Thanks

[300 tc win mag]

Looks good....

[simmered]

Thanks for all your positive thoughts!!!
The process I found was fairly easy.
1)Once you have the skull caped out, remove as much of the flesh as you can. This will make the rest of the process quicker. I remove the eyes and the bottom jaw. Some people keep the jaw and whiten that as well, all depends on what you are after. I then take a coat hanger and make a little loop on the end and "stir" up the brain. I then try to wash as much of it out as I can. Garden hose will work but a pressure washer works much better. Again I found that this helps in the long run, as the brain becomes cooked and harder to get out later on.
2)While I am working on step one I have a pot of water coming to a boil. The pot I use is an old canning pot but you can use anything that will fit the skull. I do this in my gargae or outside so I just use a turkey fryer burner. I add borax and Dawn dishsoap to the water. The borax helps with removing the flesh from the skull and the dishsoap aids in the degreasing process. As far as amounts I just kinda eyeball it.
3)Once the water has come to a boil I add the skull to the pot making sure the skull is completely covered. I dont leave the water at a full boil but rather at a point between simmering and full boil.
4) I then boil the skull for around 45 min and then take out and scrape as much meat off as I can. Do not force any off, if it comes off great if not it will in the next time.
5)I then continue this process in 30 min intervals until most if not all of the flesh is off. I then use a pressure washer to blast the stubborn stuff off, usually around the ear canals. One thing I have found is to blast water in through the nasal cavity from the roof of the mouth and the stuff in those nasal bones will come out. I also give the cranial cavity a wash to get the rest of the stuff out of there.
6)Once its all cleaned, I place the skull in a tub or container full of white gas. This is a degreasing step. I leave it in there for 48hours.
7) take the skull out and let it dry throughly for couple days or so.
8) The skull now is fairly white, and some like the natural bone colour so if you like the way it looks its all done. My preference is to have them a little whiter. I have heard of two ways to whiten further liquid peroxide and the hair dye style of peroxide. DO NOT use bleach as this will degrade the bone and make it weak. I use volume 40 peroxide paste from a hair dresser. My sister in-law works at a salon and was able to get me some. I've heard of people just asking a hair dresser to bring some in for you to buy and have had no problem doing this. So just mix up as per the directions and and coat the skull in the paste being careful not to get any on the antlers. Cover skull (i use saran wrap). This stuff is heat activated so I have placed a couple skulls over top of a space heater to get some heat over it but most of the time I just place it under a heat register in the basement. It will still whiten without heat but I have found it works much better with some heat. I let it sit for 48 hours or so and then rinse it off. If the skull is not white enough for you, you can just repeat the peroxide paste step.
9)My last step is coat the skull with a clear urathane. If you do this step the most important thing is to make sure it is a "Non-Yellowing" formula. Learned this step the hardway!

By no means am I taxidermist and I'm sure there are better ways to do this, this is just my procedure. I'd love to hear other peoples ideas always looking for better tips.

[whitetailhntr]

what exactly is white gas?

[Walleyes]

Great stuff simmered thank you..

I have a question,, when a person boils the scull how do you keep the bottom of the horns out of the water or is this not a concern, will it not whiten the horn bases ??

Again thank you..

[simmered]

@whitetailhunter: I say white gas only cause thats what I call it. Its just camp stove gas you can get a camping stores.

@Walleyes: I'm sure if you leave the skull with horn bases in the water for an extended period they might whiten but for the amount of time I've boiled the skulls this hasn't been an issue for me. Depends on the pot and the size of the skull but for smaller deer skulls I've put the jar lifter in the bottom to postion the skull so it sits nicer in there with minimal amount of the antlers in the water.

[ishootbambi]

Great stuff simmered thank you..

I have a question,, when a person boils the scull how do you keep the bottom of the horns out of the water or is this not a concern, will it not whiten the horn bases ??

Again thank you..

the bases will turn white. it is easily colored in a few different ways. there is a product available from taxidermy supply places called antler brown. some guys like using oil based paint thinned down...usually minwax walnut color. i prefer to water down a latex wood stain and apply a few coats and blend it in. if you care, you could search it as i have posted results step by step in the past.

[Rackmastr]

Great stuff simmered thank you..

I have a question,, when a person boils the scull how do you keep the bottom of the horns out of the water or is this not a concern, will it not whiten the horn bases ??

Again thank you..

Using tin foil around the antler bases will keep the colour in the antlers and will allow you to partially submerge them in the simmering water. If done really well, you hardly need to do any repair work to darken them up afterwards.

As ISB posted, you can also let them simmer in the water and then touch them up after if you like.

[Dark Wing]

Great stuff simmered thank you..

I have a question,, when a person boils the scull how do you keep the bottom of the horns out of the water or is this not a concern, will it not whiten the horn bases ??

Again thank you..


I use tinfoil and duct tape over top of the foil.

[Walleyes]

Thx guys,, apreciate it..

[dadof5]

Look real nice. Thanks for sharing!

[biker0205]

How do u mount it to the wood base? Screws?

[bigbuck19]

Love the look of that last one, great mounts.

[simmered]

How do u mount it to the wood base? Screws?

Was never to keen on using screws in the skull itself. What I do is use a dremel tool and cut a long piece out about a 1 1/2" in length starting at the brain stem hole. Then I make a piece of wood that will fit up inside the skull and screw that piece of wood to the plaque. To hold the skull on the wood mount piece I use bondo. Works awesome, easy to use and you can pack as much into the skull as you like and then just press the wood into it. One thing I was told was to make sure you drill a hole through the wood piece that you will put up into the bondo. Then press the bondo into this hole and press into the skull, that way the bondo will make a "loop" of sorts through the wood and hold better.