Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

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colebrian69
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Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by colebrian69 » Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:07 pm

Well i got my first buck on wednesday. got it all skinned and off to the butcher.

but im not sure what to do with the head. i would like to keep it as its my first(even though its not real big) i know you can send them off to have people clean them. just wasnt sure if there was someone local or maybe and easy DIY way.

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by hatchdog » Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:08 pm

First of all congratulations on bagging a nice buck! :D

Figuring you're not planning on a shoulder mount from a taxidermist (you would have had to prepare for this when skinning the deer) here are two other options.

First pic is a European Mount. The taxidermist will use beatles or boiling water to remove all the tissue leaving just the skull and antlers. Not as expensive as a shoulder mount but my moose was a couple of hundred bucks as I recall. (Note, I'm getting older and my recallin' is fading)

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Another and much less expensive route is to use a Buckhorn Mounting Kit as seen below. You simply skin the skull plate, make two cuts 90*'s to each other, clean and dry the result and mount it to the wood plaque with the supplied plumbers tape. The second pic shows the antlers and skull plate I prepped yesterday which is what it will look like when it's ready to mount on the plaque.


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Last edited by hatchdog on Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

colebrian69
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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by colebrian69 » Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:16 pm

That's what I was thinking about was the European mount. Have heard people just throw them out in there yards covered and let nature take its course

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by lyons » Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:13 pm

You can do your own European mount in about 4 hours. Skin the head. Bring a large pot to a boil, add dawn dish soap and borax. Boil for 15 to 30 minutes, make sure the antlers are above water. Scrap off the meat and flesh and break up brain, then boil again. Repeat until you are happy. Watch the nose bones, they will come loose and fall out, a little glue puts them back in place.

I recommend doing this on a propane burner outside, it smells.
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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by Mossy » Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:56 pm

I'd never do my own again.....
Take it to Fuson's
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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by colebrian69 » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:11 pm

I kinda like the plaque idea that hatchdog(stupid autocorrect changed to watchdog) mentioned. Where do you recommend to get the actual plaques?

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by Call Turner » Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:23 am

Is Fuson's still doing taxidermy? He just lives down the road but I don't hear much of him any more. Doesn't really advertise.
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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by Mossy » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:49 am

Call Turner wrote:Is Fuson's still doing taxidermy? He just lives down the road but I don't hear much of him any more. Doesn't really advertise.

As of last year he was. I had him send out a skull the season before.

To the OP, you can find some really cool plaques online but you can find the basic ones at local sporting goods stores. Don't know anything about this person but it's an option for something different

https://spokane.craigslist.org/spo/d/cu ... 38473.html
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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by hatchdog » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:47 am

colebrian69 wrote:I kinda like the plaque idea that hatchdog(stupid autocorrect changed to watchdog) mentioned. Where do you recommend to get the actual plaques?
The one shown in the picture was from Sportsman's Warehouse on North Division but most larger stores should have them. Might be low inventories this time of the year because of successful hunts. :D

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by Waterdog » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:52 am

Like hatchdog said, Congrats on your first buck. :D
If you plan on doing your European mount yourself i would do
exactly what Iyons posted. This does take some time but iv'e done several and
with any luck there will be several more in the future. If you don't have or need
a propane burner or other tools required shoot me a PM and i would be more than
willing to help you out.

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by colebrian69 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:36 am

Thanks for all the responses guys. I decided to go with the plaque mount as it would be the easiest route for a rookie like me.

Next year hopefully get my monster and will do a full European mount.

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Re: Got my first deer... advice on what to do with skull

Post by ChaseK » Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:49 pm

Couldn't help but noticed no one mentioned the poor mans beattles! Go find a good sized ant hill nearby and tie the head to a stake or close tree and let them do the work haha

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