Help i got my first buck but need help with euromount

[TrapperJ]

Hello folks with this being my first year of hunting I am excited to say I got my first ever buck. It wasn't much but it's a decent 8 point and I wanna do a euro mount but I don't quite have the stuff so I was wondering how quick could I get it done?. If I cut all the hide and meat off the head and get it down to just the skull how quick could I get it ready to hang on the wall and how?. I would perfer to have it done by Thanksgiving so I can display it. Also I should mention I don't have the stuff for the boiling method so any help or advice would be thankful

 

[rjthehunter]

Boiling or beetles. I'd suggest boiling. If you have a kitchen, you have the stuff to do it.

It only takes 4 or 5 hours or so if you have a pressure washer. If not it'll probably take a day.

 

[TrapperJ]

Boiling or beetles. I'd suggest boiling. If you have a kitchen, you have the stuff to do it.

It only takes 4 or 5 hours or so if you have a pressure washer. If not it'll probably take a day.

I'll try does it matter how hot the water is? I can get some hot but maybe not hot enough

 

[TrapperJ]

Boiling or beetles. I'd suggest boiling. If you have a kitchen, you have the stuff to do it.

It only takes 4 or 5 hours or so if you have a pressure washer. If not it'll probably take a day.

Also I don't have a pressure washer any recommendations on that?

 

[TOGIE]

you may wanna just drop it off with someone. display it at christmas instead.

 

[BuzzH]

I'll try does it matter how hot the water is? I can get some hot but maybe not hot enough

Yes, don't boil the water.

Also, remove as much of the tissue as you can off the skull. If you can, put the head in a plastic bag and let it start to rot a bit, makes a huge difference and cuts the time it takes for the tissue to simmer off.

I use some washing soda in the water during the simmering process as well. I also simmer a second time with good amount of dawn dish soap to degrease.

 

[MThuntr]

You're going to need to get the water hot enough to basically cook it. You need to add some dawn and oxyclean to get the fat out. Some guys use a sous video and others boil. Boiling requires some attention so you don't over cook it. A pressure washer will help get the chunks off and spray out the brains. You will get messy

To bleach get some salon strength peroxide gel and paint it on everything but the antlers and wrap the skull (not the antlers) in a trash bag for a couple days.

You could be ready before Thanksgiving but really probably not

You could pay someone to do it and hope for Christmas

 

[BuzzH]

Also I don't have a pressure washer any recommendations on that?

Pressure washing is a fuggin' mess...don't do it.

 

[rmyoung1]

Do you have a turkey fryer or a 30-quart pot and a propane camp stove? Assuming you can get access to such a set up, here’s what I recommend:

Fill the pot with water and add a bunch of dawn dish soap and heat the thing to a boil. Reduce the temp to a slow simmer and suspend the skull in the water with some wire. (The pot handles make great anchor points for securing your wire.)
Let the pot simmer for the life of a 20-lb propane tank. It’ll take 12 hours or so. Feed the pot water to keep the level up above the skull.
Once completed, hose down the skull, and brush off the skull until free of any stubborn pieces. (Hose down the brain cavity thoroughly).
Let dry and then apply a bleaching agent. (I like the bleaching kits from Bridger Boiler.) leave your bleaching agent on the skull for 24 hours then hose off and let dry. You’ll then have a nice clean skull ready to hang.

 

[Wild Bill]

Get as much meat and gristle off of the skull as possible. Get the eyes out.
Get a good sized pot at walmart and a singel coil hot plate.
Fill the pot with water and add a bunch of degreaser. You can use dawn dish soap and some laundry detergent. Basically any soap to cut/breakdown all the fats and grease.
DON'T boil the water. Keep it right under a boil for as long as it takes for all the flesh and everything to fall off. Boiling the skull will break down the bone and it will weaken and break and crumble. Might need to scrape it with a utensil of some sort to get some of it off. Change the water if you need to.
To get the brain matter out, you can take a long drill bit or something and put a couple zip ties onto the bit leaving the tag ends long, and stick it in the opening on the back and let it rip, while taking cover. Flush it with the hose.
Rinse it a couple more times.
After you've got it all cleaned and dried off you can use a whitening agent as some others have mentioned.
It's a couple day process, so Thanksgiving might be out of the question, but you can have it done in a week.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Congratulations on your first buck. I read some of your early posts and you’ve been working hard. I would go with TOGIE’s recommendation were I you. It’s your first deer. Boiling water is boiling water, if you don’t have the situation to keep a large pot, big enough to hold the cleaned head, boiling for half a day, you’ll screw it up.
Good luck!

 

[shb]

Also I don't have a pressure washer any recommendations on that?

Local car wash

 

[mtmuley]

After I put the peroxide whitener on the skull, I wrap it in a clear plastic bag. Then put it on a white sheet in direct sunlight. mtmuley

 

[Mallardsx2]

This buck was killed yesterday.



-Today it slow cooks in water and a 1/2 cup of 20 mule team borax. Then into clean water with a couple tablespoons of dawn dish soap to de-grease. I will have it 100% clean by this evening.

-Tomorrow, it dries.
-Wednesday I'll paint it.
-Thursday it will be on our table..next to his friends.

 

[Bonasababy]

I plan to drop mine off with someone who has beetles. Best way to get it done, but 150 to 200 around here just to have them clean the skull, not mount it. A lot cheaper than a head mount though and the buck I have isn't worth that.

The teeth and inside nose bone are the most likely to give you problems with boiling, so mind that temp and keep it just below boiling.

Beetles leave them squeaky clean but you can touch up or paint any spots if you boil them or just leave them as they are. Watch the depth of the head in the water--you want the antlers kept out of the water otherwise they might get stained at the water level when boiling.

 

[duckhunt]

Congrats on your first buck.

 

[rjthehunter]

I'll try does it matter how hot the water is? I can get some hot but maybe not hot enough

Simmer, not a rolling boil. Pressure washing makes a mess, but is the fastest I've found.

 

[TrapperJ]

you may wanna just drop it off with someone. display it at christmas instead.

I might be able to do that but I don't know of anyone that does it around me

 

[TrapperJ]

Simmer, not a rolling boil. Pressure washing makes a mess, but is the fastest I've found.

Could I boil it then spray it down with a hose ?

 

[TrapperJ]

I plan to drop mine off with someone who has beetles. Best way to get it done, but 150 to 200 around here just to have them clean the skull, not mount it. A lot cheaper than a head mount though and the buck I have isn't worth that.

The teeth and inside nose bone are the most likely to give you problems with boiling, so mind that temp and keep it just below boiling.

Beetles leave them squeaky clean but you can touch up or paint any spots if you boil them or just leave them as they are. Watch the depth of the head in the water--you want the antlers kept out of the water otherwise they might get stained at the water level when boiling.

Alright well the pot I have ain't nearly big enough for the antlers it'll just be the head and I did read how the nose could break easy and so I got some super glue for the teeth or anything that breaks. Also 200 seems a bit steep