1.) bluecat - 12/06/2015

Is there any existing thread on how to prepare a European mount or did that get lost in the latest crash? My friend got a nice buck and was asking me how to do it. I know it's been talked about in the past and frankly I would like to keep the information on hand in case I ever get a nice one.

Don't make me go to the dark side...

2.) Ohbuckhunter - 12/06/2015

I'm going to be doing my buck from this year I'm pretty sure. Oky or bullzi prolly could give you a better way to do it than how I've done it.

3.) bluecat - 12/06/2015

I'd appreciate any help. Is there a time crunch when to get started or does he have some time until the information trickles in.


What should he do now? Just get everything off/out he can including brains?

4.) OKY - 12/06/2015

Does he have the ability to freeze the head?

5.) bluecat - 12/06/2015

no, but do explain.

6.) OKY - 12/06/2015

I meant just to allow some time so he wouldn't be in a hurry. The biggest deal to getting them clean is getting as much flesh and brains removed before boiling. If not, the bones will take on a waxy, yellow tint. I use powdered dish washing detergent with an enzymatic cleaner. The box usually says on the label if it contains an enzyme. I use an old turkey fryer to do my boiling. I want to say I used a cup for what water I had in the pot. I didn't measure the water, just put the head in and made sure I had enough water to cover the skull by a few inches. With deer, I'd keep the antlers out of the water so the color doesn't change. Getting the brains out is a challenge. Spend plenty of time on this as it's pretty fatty and will stain the bone. Also remove the eyes before boiling. Boil in steps of maybe 15 minutes each and pick off loose meat as you go. I only use the detergent for the first two times or so. It can soften the collagen and weaken the skull. Be prepared for teeth to fall out too. Just glue them back in later.

7.) Swamp Fox - 12/06/2015

I think I saw something somewhere fairly recently about cleaning the skull/brain matter with either pressurized air or high-pressure water. (I don't remember which.)

I think the idea was boil to loosen, then attack with the high-tech. :-) Probably was a rinse and repeat type thing. If I come across it again, I'll post a link or something.

8.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

Here you go, BC: Two threads that make mention of pressure cleaning, plus other good info you might can use.



[url]http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=430792[/url]



[url]http://www.muleymadness.com/how-to/european-mount-3-steps/[/url]

9.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

Thanks guys! Great info.

10.) luv2bowhunt - 12/07/2015

It costs $65.00 to let the beetles eat it off clean. It comes out perfect, no fuss no muss.

For me that would be better than all the trouble to d.i.y.

11.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=luv2bowhunt;36978]It costs $65.00 to let the beetles eat it off clean. It comes out perfect, not fuss no muss.[/QUOTE]

The beetles are so yesterday...

12.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

So do you put it in an enclosed aquarium/terrarium when they are eating it?

13.) luv2bowhunt - 12/07/2015

I was just trying to 'help'.

No reason to go all 'taxman' on me.

14.) luv2bowhunt - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=bluecat;36980]So do you put it in an enclosed aquarium/terrarium when they are eating it?[/QUOTE]

My son-in-law is a taxidermist, he has a guy with the beetles. Not sure what he puts it in, but once Ringo and the boys are done with it, it's perfectly clean and white.

15.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

Can't you just let it be and answer the damn question?

16.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

What do you do with the beetles when they have had their fill? Do you just let them out into the wild helter skelter?

17.) luv2bowhunt - 12/07/2015

They're so good, you just wanna hold their hand in the strawberry fields.

18.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=luv2bowhunt;36978]It costs $65.00 to let the beetles eat it off clean. It comes out perfect, no fuss no muss.

For me that would be better than all the trouble to d.i.y.[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing you could have just sent it to BULLZ-i and he would have gnawed on it for free.

19.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=luv2bowhunt;36978]It costs $65.00 to let the beetles eat it off clean. It comes out perfect, no fuss no muss.

For me that would be better than all the trouble to d.i.y.[/QUOTE]




My thoughts exactly. :-)


Imagine ...all the time you'd save. :wink

20.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

What's the turnaround time for those beetles? Do they get 'er cleaned up before they reproduce and turn your basement into a scene from silence of the lambs. You'd have insects here, there and everywhere...

21.) Jon - 12/07/2015

BC, I have a local guy who does the beetle thing, it gets back to me in about a month. The skull is beautiful white and the antlers keep their color perfectly. I don't like the looks of a bleached white skull, I'd rather have a natural color.
I've done the boiling thing. It takes allot of work and if you can stand the smell, it comes out very nice once the scooping of brains, peeling of skin and then glueing the skull/teeth parts is completed.

22.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

I couldn't do this without a little help from my friends...

Thank you!

23.) Bob Peck - 12/07/2015

When I did the beetle thing I dropped the skull in a burlap sack, dumped in the beetles and open 'er up in about 3-4 weeks. I chose to take off ears, eyeballs and skin but wasn't particularly surgical about any of it. I didn't bother trying to remove the meat. I was just trying to cut down on the time it would take for the dermestid beetles to do their thing.

Most beetles gorged and died in the burlap sack. The rest scattered when I cut open the sack outside.

24.) Jon - 12/07/2015

Bob, the neighbor's dog isn't running around without skin? Those beetles get into the area and eat anything that has skin, it's going to look like return of the living dead in Va real soon!

25.) Bob Peck - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=Jon;37005]Bob, the neighbor's dog isn't running around without skin? Those beetles get into the area and eat anything that has skin, it's going to look like return of the living dead in Va real soon![/QUOTE] LOL! :laugh: I kept the burlap bag in a rusting 50-gallon drum where I hunt and then burned the bag in the fire pit after I extracted the cleaned skull and. That was 2 years ago.

Today because I'm old and can't be bothered, unless it's something that I intend to mount, I take my chances wedging the skull into a broken off stump with a 5-pound rock on top. Sometimes it's picked clean a year later, sometimes it's gone completely to parts unknown and sometimes the mice and squirrels get to gnawing on it. I have a hunting acquaintance that buys those plastic European skulls and just cuts the antlers off. Not sure how I feel about that.

26.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

Those are an abomination! LOL

Worse than the shiny metal skulls, even.

Though I'd use one of those before I'd stick a decent rack on a shelf in the garage, LOL.

27.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=Bob Peck;37011] I kept the burlap bag in a rusting 50-gallon drum where I hunt and then burned the bag in the fire pit after I extracted the cleaned skull and. That was 2 years ago.

[/QUOTE]

You don't perchance own a wood chipper do you? Just checking.

28.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

"Gimme a chahklet glaaazed..."

29.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

bingo

30.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

I'll have to work on my Dakota accent. I don't have much call to use it...:wink


But I thought that was a decent stab at it....LOL

31.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

I see what you did there.

32.) DParker - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;37018]"Gimme a chahklet glaaazed..."[/QUOTE]

Not to hijack...but that really is an outstanding show.

33.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

You could watch that show eight days a week...

34.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

I debated whether to start recording it this year when I first noticed it. But I thought it might be too creepy. I have enough trouble sleeping at night, LOL


So all I've seen is the S2 trailer. :re:


I missed Season 1. Just wasn't on my radar. I'm not very good at finding stuff that's playing without a lot of luck and/or scrolling through all the channels and time slots, LOL

(Though in my defense, I'm not sure my Genie works the way it should.)

35.) bluecat - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;37037] (I'm not sure my Genie works the way it should.)[/QUOTE]

tmi :-)

36.) Swamp Fox - 12/07/2015

LOL...


I have 90% of my comeback for that, but I'm gonna hold off until I reach comedy banter perfection.


What's that commercial with Terry Bradshaw and somebody trading insults and Terry says something like "I'd have a good comeback for that if I could think of something."


Almost like that. :wink


Cracks me up every time, but obviously I only have it on in the background.

37.) Bob Peck - 12/07/2015

[QUOTE=bluecat;37017]You don't perchance own a wood chipper do you? Just checking.[/QUOTE]

Why yes. Yes I do. :-)

38.) OKY - 12/08/2015

I almost invested in a dermestid colony a while back but the upkeep isn't worth it for just a few cleanings.

39.) bluecat - 12/28/2015

Here it is after cleaning. He later stained up the area around the peduncle where the detergent had whitened. Came out pretty well. I know he used gas burner and kept it simmering for a few days. He stained it with minwax stain and then covered the skull with mop and glo. Sound crazy but it sealed up the pores in the bone. I'll post up a final pick next time I see him.

40.) DParker - 12/28/2015

I had no idea that Europeans had antlers. Nice mount.

41.) bluecat - 12/28/2015

[QUOTE=DParker;37628]I had no idea that Europeans had antlers. Nice mount.[/QUOTE]


He also had to shave the hair under the armpit.