European Style Mount

[Seascritch]

Ok, I can't remember if I posted on this last fall but I think I did. Anyway, I killed a couple nice bucks last year, but just not quite impressive enough for me to shell out 4 or 5 hundred for to have a traditional mount. Besides, the missus aint big on dead things on the wall, though she did let me mount a pheasant and it is on the mantle as we speak.

Anyway, I thought about boiling method, to damn messy and I live in suburbia. Didn't want to spend money and em away for somebody to have bugs eat em. So I just buried em on a friends farm, flipped a galvanized tub over top the exposed rack with a big rock on top to keep out, varmints and such, and let the worms and whatnot do their thing. Dug em up this week and it worked pretty darned well. Virtually all meat, hair, and other matter seem to be gone. I just need to spray off some mold, dirt, etc, that had accumulated. Then I'm thinking I'm gonna try and boil the skull portions in some type of either peroxide or bleach solution being careful not to get the antlers in the mix. Any suggestions?

Then once I'm done, I need to decide how or if, I want to seal the skull. I've read it should last longer sealed, but heck if its inside, can't imagine bone deteriorating in my lifetime. Am I wrong?

And then, I'm trying to decide what would be the coolest way to actually mount the entire thing. I've read a couple things where people say to superglue a piece of wood to the skull so that whatever you use to mount it on, you will have something to screw into. Thought about drift wood, fence post, nothing just skull directly on wall. But none of that seems right. And... like I said, I have two nice ones from last year but I also have about 10 others which I also buried. I know, I know, I shoot too many undersized bucks, but I'm working on that. But besides making a chandelier with antlers, does anyone have any creative ideas on how to display them in a tasteful fashion that my wife just might dig? ANY input would be very appreciated!!

Thanks Everyone!!

Rich

[KJR]

Try this link. Taxidermy.Net Forum - Skulls and Skeletons there are some great people who do this stuff for a living. I mounted my skull by drilling through the wood counter sinking the screw head and then drilling a hole in the skull. I used a 1/4 X 20 screw washer and nut, to get the nut started I used a telescopic magnetic recovery tool to hold the nut in place through the brain hole. I want 175” inches before I put one inside on the wall, this one is 150“.