easiest way to do euro mount?

[bankwalker]

whats the easiest way to do a euro mount at home?

thanks

[PolarBear]

Throw it on the wood shed and bleach it out in the spring.  That's not the best or prettiest way but the easiest, other than beetles.

[bucklucky]

Easiest way to do a euro would be to pull out the local phone bok and call your local Taxi  

Just kidding. Id do Maceration and fallow Michelles maceration post. I macerate all my skulls now.

[shedcrazy]

what is macerate, is that with the beetles?

[Lowedog]

http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/103534/european-skull-mount-kit  I have done several of these.  price has gone up a bit though.  Last time I bought one it was about $20 cheaper I think. 

[bucklucky]

what is macerate, is that with the beetles?

Beetles is Beetle cleaned 

Maceration is bacteria doing the work for ya in water, preferablt heated water around 80-90 degres.

[Pathfinder101]

what is macerate, is that with the beetles?

Beetles is Beetle cleaned 

Maceration is bacteria doing the work for ya in water, preferablt heated water around 80-90 degres.

I am doing my first one that way right now.  And you don't want to go anywhere near my shed in the back...  
The other way to do it is boiling and picking, but it will take you several hours, and from what I have seen maceration does a cleaner job, and leaves the nasal bones intact...

[724wd]

boiling and a blower (compressor) work well.  with enough pressure, you can blast most meat off and get the brain out, too.  wear a facemask!   

[tralam]

Easiest way to do a euro would be to pull out the local phone bok and call your local Taxi  

 

I did my last deer and swore I'll never do it again. It's a lot of work, and not very fun. Though I didn't try any maceration technique.

[bankwalker]

thanks guys.

if i get a deer this late season i really want to try a euro mount. and i wanna get a head start on getting anything ready that i might need

[sporked horn]

The last few years that I harvested bucks I took them to Skull duggery in Toutle, he does a good job stripping the skull with beetles  and bleaching the skull. It usually runs me around $100 and no stink or mess, been a few years though.

[champ41]

All you have to do is skin out the head take out the brain and boil it for as long as it takes to get all the crap off of it. It took about 4 and a half hours for everything. It cleaned up good and its something you can do on a weekend with some buddys and just BS while your doing it. Its pretty easy

[pods8]

I've heard mention of folks just burying the skull (and marking the spot) to let the natural bugs do the work before.  Anyone have any actual feedback on that?  I'd have some concern offhand about deterioration or discoloring potential but no idea if the concerns are of merit or not. 

[bankwalker]

I've heard mention of folks just burying the skull (and marking the spot) to let the natural bugs do the work before.  Anyone have any actual feedback on that?  I'd have some concern offhand about deterioration or discoloring potential but no idea if the concerns are of merit or not. 

thats is what i was gonna do? i have a huge pile of grass in my backyard and there are tons and tons of worms in it. i would that would take care of the job nice.

i cant do anything with a skull that would smell up the neighborhood 

[Michelle_Nelson]

If you can't handle the smell than boiling and picking or taking it to your taxidermist is about the easiest option.  Unless you have beetles. 

If I kill a small buck this year I am going to Boil the skull and hang it in my shop next to a Macerated skull (my method).  Kinda like the clorox comercial with the 2 white socks.  One that has been bleached and one that has been washed in laundry soap.  That way people can see the difference.  Lot of people don't know what they are looking at until it is pointed out.

[Michelle_Nelson]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,16008.0.html

[champ41]

also i soaked it in peroxide for a day or so. i forgot to mention that on the last post i put up.

[elkslayer069]

skin it out and get as much meat off of it as you can and cut out eye balls, once you skin it you must boil the same day or the skull will stain and not turn out as white. The easiest and the way i like to do mine is after ive done all that i cut the skull in half which gets rid of the teeth and the base of the brain cavity (the hardest part to clean). then i boil mine in a metal pot over a burner like what you would deep fry a turkey in for about 25-30 minutes. Then i pressure wash it. ive done about 63 of them for friends and my family. they look good and side by side to a beetle skull you cant tell the difference. if you really want to go crazy about it you can go to your local beauty salon and get so 5% peroxide and put that in a clean bucket with the skull but dont allow it to get on your horns. Hope this help you out.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Hello all,
This is my first post on this site.  I'll introduce myself more later, but I do have a little experience with this.  Everything depends on what's handy, but what I have done for most of my mounts is put them in a crab pot with the doors tied open.  Hang it from a dock or boathouse for 2 weeks in the salt water and crabs will clean it, brains and all.  The only thing you may want to do in addition is soak it in a little bleach water to kill the bacteria before mounting.  I've also had friends tell me to find an ant pile.  I like the crab pot idea better because it keeps the smell down.

[bankwalker]

Hello all,
This is my first post on this site.  I'll introduce myself more later, but I do have a little experience with this.  Everything depends on what's handy, but what I have done for most of my mounts is put them in a crab pot with the doors tied open.  Hang it from a dock or boathouse for 2 weeks in the salt water and crabs will clean it, brains and all.  The only thing you may want to do in addition is soak it in a little bleach water to kill the bacteria before mounting.  I've also had friends tell me to find an ant pile.  I like the crab pot idea better because it keeps the smell down.

thats not a bad idea right there. the crab work really fast to clean a bait thats forsure.

[Michelle_Nelson]

I would not put any type of bleach solution on a skull.  Bleach can not be neutralized and it will continue to break down the bone.  Peroxide will not.

[PolarBear]

Bleach will also cause the bone to yellow.

[PolarBear]

Yes, chlorine will turn bone yellow especially when used in too high of a consentration.  Compare side by side a chlorine based bleached skull to one bleached with peroxide.  The difference is night and day.  As Michelle said, bleach also continues to eat and soften bone but peroxide is pretty much done working after it has dried and can be neutralized.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Good Idea.  I'll change my process to include peroxide instead of bleach.  Thanks for the tip.

[Pathfinder101]

I did one with bleach a few years ago.  It didn't turn yellow, but you guys are right about one thing; it sure boke down the bone.  There are permanently flakes of bone still coming off the skull.  I have to keep vaccuming up underneath where it is hanging.
Don't use bleach...