Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

European Mount?

beararchery

beararchery

Member
I have decided to do my own European mount on one of my bucks and im not to sure where i need to start. Can someone give a list of steps on what I have to do so it turns out looking good. Thanks.
 
I did one last year that turned out great. I skinned it first, took the eyes out and lower jaw and tongue off. Then I bought a big pot and simmered (not boiled) it over a camping stove. Simmer in water and borax 20 mule team (to cut grease) for about 15 minutes, pull out and scrape and pick junk off. Do this over and over and over again until it is as clean as you can get it. Us a piece of wire like a coat hanger to dig up in the brain cavity to get all that out. Once I had it as clean as possible, I took it to the car wash and power washed it, an amazing amount of junk came out when doing that. Remember, any flesh left on it will rot and smell funky. After I had it clean, I let it dry then covered it with a mixture of 40 volume peroxide and bright white (hair products for bleaching hair). Make a paste out of that stuff and cover every part of the skull with the paste. Once the skull is covered with the paste, cover it with saran wrap and put in front of a space heater and rotate. The heat will activate the bleach. Get it as hot as you can without burning the saran wrap. I would heat it for at least an hour, more if you can. Unwrap it, wash it off and walah, a great looking skull. Good luck!
 
Very nice Lyon. Did the teeth come clean too? I have never used the paste. I just boil pick boil pick etc....then power wash and its done but the teeth never come clean.
 
Yeah the teeth came pretty clean. Mine was pretty white before I bleached it, but man that bleach workes wonders, took all the dark spots from between the teeth and everything. The products aren't cheap though, but the containers I bought are enough to do probably ten skulls.
 
I boil them, however, boiling weakens the bone, so the trick is do get as much crap off of the bone as you can before you boil it. Also, there is a product you can find in a taxidermy catalog called "Salsoda".. It turns the meat into a gel and makes it easier to pick off.
 
if you have the time and stomach, you could use masuration (insert your own joke). it basically leaving the head in warm water for an extended period of time. a bacteria will develop that will eventually take care of all the 'meat'. warning: it smells horrible. the benefit of using this method is keeping the delicate bones intact, especially in the nasal cavity. to most this is not a priority but it does make for a very nice looking skull. a trick for degreasing the skull is warm water and dawn dish soap. it takes the smell out from inside the bone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom