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Michigan Out of Doors How-to: Mount Your Own Buck
Supplies
- 1 large buck skull (hard to find). Preferably from a deceased animal (much easier that way)
- 1 large pot
- 1 turkey fryer
- 1 med. size, sharp knife
- 1 med. size, semi-sharp knife
- Sal Soda or Dawn dish soap (Sal Soda can be purchased thru supply catalogs. Check out www.vandykestaxidermy.com).
- 40 Volume Peroxide (Don’t mistake this for the 3% peroxide purchased over the counter. Purchase this through a taxidermy supply company. This is very corrosive! Do not get this on your skin).
- Cotton Balls
- Tweezers or needle nose pliers
- 1 bone saw or reciprocating saw (if applicable)
- 1 divorce lawyer (should you choose to do this inside, and/or with one of your wife’s cooking pots)
Preperation
The first step in making your skull mount is to figure out what you’d like it to look like once it’s done. If you like the whole skull, top teeth and eye sockets, skip down to the first step. Boiling and scraping the full skull is the most difficult of euro mounts and recquires much more time.
On some bucks, I prefer to use a bone saw or reciprocating saw to cut the skull just under the eye sockets and remove just the top of the mouth. I also cut about half way through the brain cavity during this cut. This allows easy scraping of the nasal passages and brain cavity during the boiling and scraping part of the procedure. This will cut your time invested almost in half.
At this time, add enough water to your large pot to completely submerge the skull. Add about a cup of Sal Soda or some dish soap to help remove the oils in the head. Start the burner and get the water warming while you go on to the next step.
Procedure
Once you’ve decided what your mount should look like when it’s done and made your cuts (if necessary), it’s time to start skinning the head out with the sharp knife. Take off all the skin and don’t worry too much about getting all the meat. It comes off much easier once it’s cooked. Remove the eyes and any part of the neck that may be attached. I like to cut the bottom jaw off at this point. This may be a little difficult unless you know where to cut. It’s not a big deal to leave it on and remove it later.
Once the skin is removed, place the skull into the water. Be sure the burner isn’t flaming up near the antlers. Keep the water boiling and leave the head in for about 30 minutes. The meat, brain and other tissue will be cooking and the Sal Soda will help break it down. Once the head starts heating up, it will recquire less heat to keep the water boiling so keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over and put out your burner.
Take the head out carefully. There will be very hot water inside the skull and you don’t want to take a trip to the emergency room, it will slow down the process. Use a dull or semi-sharp knife to scrape and cut away as much meat as possible. Check up in the nasal passages to get all the meat out. I like to use my knife to remove everything in the nasal passages and then use a garden hose to remove any excess tissue. Sometimes an old arrow can be used to poke out excess meat in the nasal passages. Also be sure to remove the brain. Take a coat hanger or stiff piece of wire and scramble the brains. Then use it to pull pieces out of the cavity. It sometimes helps to drill or cut another hole to aid in removing the brain. Repeat the boiling and scraping process every 15 minutes or so until all meat is removed. You’ll probably have to add water every once in awhile to keep the skull submerged.
Once all the meat is removed, place the skull off to the side to dry. Drain the pan carefully and look for any teeth that might’ve fallen out during the process. Once the skull is dry glue teeth back in and if any of the bones are loose, you can sure them up with super glue.
At this point you’ll notice that there is some natural staining to the bone. If you want to whiten it up, use some 40 volume peroxide to accomplish that. This is not the over the counter stuff which is 3% peroxide. 40 volume peroxide is actually 8% peroxide and you should use rubber or latex gloves when using this product. Pour some peroxide into a small dish and dip the cotton balls into the chemical. Use tweezers because the peroxide is very corrosive and will kill your skin. Rub the soaked cotton balls on the skull in the areas that need whitening.
If there is significant staining in one area, press the cotton into that spot and leave it for awhile. Typically, there will be areas between the antlers, behind the antlers and on the bridge of the nose that need attention. Once whitened, set it aside to dry
Another method to whiten skulls is to use Magnesium Carbonate and Peroxide to produce a paste that is brushed onto the skull and left to dry. After drying, brush the flakes off and use an air compressor to remove the rest of the dust. Magnesium Carbonate can be bought as a Clairol product called Basic White. Check with taxidermy supply companies to purchase this product.
Now it’s time to mount the skull. I typically drill two holes at the base of the skull and use a zip tie or piece of wire to hang it on the wall. To mount it on a board, drill a pilot hole through the area between the eye sockets (on the underside of the skull). Use a drywall screw to secure the skull to your plaque. Another option is to fill the brain cavity with epoxy filler and sink two drywall screws into the bone and epoxy.
Unlike a shoulder mount, there is no upkeep on a skull mount. A little dusting here and there and it’ll look the same in 30 years as it did the day you finished it. Also, you’ve just saved yourself a lot of money in taxidermy fees verses a shoulder mount.
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