# European Mount



## joespiek (Nov 25, 2003)

Does anyone know what solution you should boil the skull in and for how long to remove the meat/gristle tissue that is left after trimming the skull?

I've asked a few people and no one seems to remember either, I've heard salt water, bleach, and some other "recipes".

Any tips from people who have done this?

I remember reading how to do this in Outdoor Life or Field and Stream but can't find the issue.

Thanks for the help


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## curty (Sep 18, 2003)

There are a lot of methods,some use chemicals that not everyone can get. Here is one way thats cheap to do at home. Do it outside cause it will stink. Use a propane burner if possible like one for cooking turkeys and a large pot that you never want to make beef stew in again! :lol: 
Use water with a good grease cutting soap like dawn or whatever. Boil the skull only "not the antlers", removing every hour to clean and scrape off the remaining meat. If possible use a pressure washer to pressure wash the skull inside and out Dont forget the brains are in there also. When the skull is completely clean you can bleach it in peroxide or hair bleach.
Good luck and wear old clothes! your wife may not ever wash them again let alone let you in the house.

Curt


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## joespiek (Nov 25, 2003)

Thanks for the tips, but it brought up another question that came up.

How do you get the brains out, I suggested using a big straw but the guy who shot the deer didn't seem to thrilled about that. Do they cook away when you boil the skull? Or do you have to have some kind of pick to dig them out?


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

The brains don't cook away, but the boiling will loosen them. Use just about anything you can find; old spoons, whatever. Also, to get the little tiny parts I bend a small hook at the end of a stiff peice of wire to fish the smaller parts out of the brain cavity. If the hole in the back of the head is too small for good access to the brain cavity, use a dremel to make it larger, this part is not seen when it is hung up for display, so the larger hole should not be seen. When you are all done, fill the hole with an appropriate sized wodden dowel to assist with hanging the mount.


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## Springer (Dec 21, 2004)

A few years ago we took a head and put it in a small river for about a week or week and a half and it came out clean as a whistle. Looked like it was bleached and washed, turned out very nice.


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

Springer
I did the same with a buffalo head, I didn't have a large enough pot to boil it in !!! Had great results in 3 weeks of letting it sit.


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

I have done several of them and they look fantastic...

Here is how you do it. Remove the bottom jaw.

Skin the head and start boiling it outside in a LITTLE dawn detergent and water... just enough to cover the skull. Wrap the horns in alum foil so that they do not change color. Every 40 minutes, I pull mine out and wash/scrape off all the meat/eyes/brains. A garden hose will get the brains out after a couple of hours - you may have to "scramble" them with a coathanger first. Please do not use a pressure washer as suggested above - you will break or destroy the delicate structure of the skull and knock the teeth out.

Keep doing this and adding water to cover the skull untill it is clean - 3 to 6 hours. When you have all the stuff off the skull, put it back in and add a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to the boiling water. DO NOT USE BLEACH as it will destroy all the small bones in the nose and ruin your work. Continue boiling it for another hour. Remove and let dry in shade - not direct sunlight... for a few days and you can then bring it inside. :beer:


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## MOB (Mar 10, 2005)

I have a good buddy who teaches at a unnamed school, who borrows one of the schools kitchen kettles to boil his deer heads. If this isn't gross abuse of the taxpayers property I don't know what is. I'm sure the next stew made in that pot has a rather "heady" flavor!
MOB


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## headhunter (Oct 10, 2002)

I actually just did one yesterday, 1/4 or more cup of Dawn, boiled for 3.5 hours, only scraped meat off once . When I was done boiling I used the pressure washer, it works great. It blows the brains to nothing, blows off all the extra meat etc that you cant get at. Its the only way to go. Just BE CAREFUL....use a little common sense and run the pressure washer with surgical precision...But I love the pressure washer trick. Then wet down some paper towels with hydrogen peroxide and drape over skull in sink, keep them drenched and leave over night. All done.


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## headhunter (Oct 10, 2002)

Go to TSC or H of economy and get a large galvanized pail, that works good to boil it in.


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

If you want it bleached white don't boil it. It will cook the fat into the bone. You can just simmer it though.

The easiest way is to macerate (sp) it. You put it in a bucket of water just up to the antlers and let it sit. Every 5-6 days or so change out half of the water. It may take several weeks to do it, but the bacteria will take away all of the crud.

Good stuff can be found here:

http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/Beginne ... 790A8.html

http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/BeginnersMenu.html


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

Robert A. Langager said:


> If you want it bleached white don't boil it. It will cook the fat into the bone. You can just simmer it though.
> l


That is why you add the hydrogenn peroxide... Mine are all museum quality. Have you ever actually done one?


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Sasha and Abby said:


> That is why you add the hydrogenn peroxide... Mine are all museum quality. Have you ever actually done one?


Actually I just did my first one 2 weeks ago. It came out somewhat yellow as I was not patient enough. I am not too worried about that though. I will just have to soak it in white gas or laquer thinner for a week or so to get the fat out or just live with it as it is.

I have not heard of adding hydrogen peroxide to the water itself. It does sound like a good idea though. I have heard of wrapping the skull in a wicking type cloth and then soaking the whole works in strong hydrogen peroxide until it is good and white.

Just trying to help a guy out so he doesn't make the same mistakes that I did. To be honest, I didn't even read your post. Now that I have I will try your method on the next one.

The maceration method sounds pretty good as well if one isn't in a hurry and doesn't want to put in all the work that comes with boiling.

Another method is to use dermestid beetles, which will eat it all up. They can be found and ordered online.

Thanks for setting me straight.

Robert


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Joespiek,

Here is another write-up I stumbled across while doing my skull.

http://www.hidetanning.net/SkullCleaning.html


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## Draker16 (Nov 23, 2004)

thanks for the links guys


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## joespiek (Nov 25, 2003)

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll pass all of the information on to a friend who got a nice mule deer and wanted to do a European mount.

I just had a couple of doe tags, but I'll be ready for next year, after 3 yrs of I think its my turn for a buck tag again.


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