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1st Euro Mount

I

iamcorey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Messages
2,716
So got my first archery and saddle buck this past weekend. Yay me. Looking to do a euro mount, since my last shoulder mount was close to $400. Can someone give me the order of their process?

Watched several videos. Do you remove the brain before or after your initial boil? Once guy said before because oils and fats soaking the skull, but it looks like most are cooking and then removing. Also, at what point do you add oxy clean or dishwashing liquid.

I don't want bright white finish. Thought about burying it, but seems there are mixed results with that method.
 
I boiled then picked at it. Don't boil it too hot or too long. Wrap the base of the antlers with saran wrap. Preserve as much as the nasal cavaity as possible and be gentle. I removed the brain after boiling.

The photos were all in the same day, still picking at it to this date here and there.

I didn't have a single burner or pot so I bought the cheapest one from Walmart along with the 16qt pot for about $25.
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Looks good. It has that natural bone color...or what I associate with natural bone color.

still picking at it? how long has it been?
 
iamcorey said:
Looks good. It has that natural bone color...or what I associate with natural bone color.
Click to expand...

That is correct. I plan on bleaching the skull though but not the teeth though. As you can see the nasal passage was kinda destroyed because I boiled it too long i think.

I got most of the meat off the first day. but small crevices are a pita. Only been 2 days at most on and off(few hours here and there)
 
If you want museum-quality, you'll definitely want to get beetles or maceration. You'll never come close to the same quality with the simmer method, but I think, for me anyway, I can certainly get "good enough". Especially good enough for free (or the cost of the whitener)

I've only done one myself, my buck last year, and this was my process. About to do my second this weekend. I'll do it about the same, but still not sure if I want to add anything to the water.

1) Definitely wrap the bases best you can to preserve color there. You'll probably still loose most of the bark in the burrs, but it's worth a shot.

2) I'm not sure it matters what/if anything you add to the water. Maybe others can chime in. I added soap, it smelled awful and I'm not sure it did anything.

3) I know for a fact, just from my knowledge of cooking, that you definitely want to keep the water at a gentle simmer at most, definitely below 200 degrees. Boiling water is definitely going to break down the fragile bones more easily.

3) I simmered for probably an hour, picked, simmered some more, etc, etc until it was clean. It probably took 2-3 hours total.

4) Have a good pair of long forceps to get as much of the nasal cavity picked out as you can. I did some pressure washing up in there too, and it didn't seem to help real tremendously. I was more successful just picking and scraping with a variety of tools. I did not preserve the spiral looking nasal bones, I just yanked those out. The brain, what worked for me was making a tool out of a wire coat hanger.

5) With the boil method, without whitening it's going to look splotchy, not in my mind very natural. I just used 2-3 painted coats of the peroxide whitener until it got to a shade of white that looked more natural, but not bright white.

s2g9rYN.jpg


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This was picked clean, before whitening

nHySKC5.jpg

Whitened. This isn't very good lighting, it looks more natural in person than it does in this photo. I also left the teeth natural color because I think it makes for a neat looking contrast with the white skull.

It's now a year in and I have some light greasing on the nasal passage, but really not enough to bother me. You definitely need to do a degreasing step (ammonia I think?) if that's something that will.
 
I've done probably 12-15 euros now. In my experience you don't want the water to boil. You want it to simmer. Boiling weakens the bone and can cause smaller bones to come loose.

I have a diy electric buck boiler that I made. Search "diy buck boiler" in here and you can find a thread about it from a few years ago but, a pot and burner also work. I wrap the base of the horns in aluminum foil or Saran wrap and electrical tape. I fill the bucket with water, add a cup or so of borax and a 'slug' of Dawn dish soap and then simmer the head. The more meat you clean off it before you put it in the water the less simmering and picking you have to do. I usually simmer if or an hour or two and pick off any loose meat, pull out loose nasal, brain matter and put it back in for another couple hours. Two or three sessions and it should be good. Some are more stubborn then others. You will know when it's done.

I know some people use a pressure washer to speed it up but I'm my experience that makes a huge mess. I just take my time, drink some beers and watch football while the head is simmering.
 
elk yinzer said:
5) With the boil method, without whitening it's going to look splotchy, not in my mind very natural. I just used 2-3 painted coats of the peroxide whitener until it got to a shade of white that looked more natural, but not bright white.
Click to expand...

What peroxide whitener did you use?
 
elk yinzer said:
4) Have a good pair of long forceps to get as much of the nasal cavity picked out as you can. I did some pressure washing up in there too, and it didn't seem to help real tremendously. I was more successful just picking and scraping with a variety of tools. I did not preserve the spiral looking nasal bones, I just yanked those out. The brain, what worked for me was making a tool out of a wire coat hanger.

5) With the boil method, without whitening it's going to look splotchy, not in my mind very natural. I just used 2-3 painted coats of the peroxide whitener until it got to a shade of white that looked more natural, but not bright white
Click to expand...

To add to my post above both of these steps are spot on with my experience also
 
celestialproduct said:
What peroxide whitener did you use?
Click to expand...

So this thread just reminded me I needed more.

You mix this "40 volume creme" with a powdered peroxide until you get a toothpaste sort of consistency that paints on nicely

Note from last year: don't try to save the mix in a Mason jar. It's apparently volatile once mixed, and it made a freaking mess on my shelf.

Salon Care 40 Volume Creme Developer 4.0 oz | Color Developers

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BW2 Powder Lightener Packette by Clairol Professional | Lightener | Sally Beauty

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GCTerpfan said:
I've done probably 12-15 euros now. In my experience you don't want the water to boil. You want it to simmer. Boiling weakens the bone and can cause smaller bones to come loose.

I have a diy electric buck boiler that I made. Search "diy buck boiler" in here and you can find a thread about it from a few years ago but, a pot and burner also work. I wrap the base of the horns in aluminum foil or Saran wrap and electrical tape. I fill the bucket with water, add a cup or so of borax and a 'slug' of Dawn dish soap and then simmer the head. The more meat you clean off it before you put it in the water the less simmering and picking you have to do. I usually simmer if or an hour or two and pick off any loose meat, pull out loose nasal, brain matter and put it back in for another couple hours. Two or three sessions and it should be good. Some are more stubborn then others. You will know when it's done.

I know some people use a pressure washer to speed it up but I'm my experience that makes a huge mess. I just take my time, drink some beers and watch football while the head is simmering.
Click to expand...

Do you feel like the borax helps the process?
 
I use something similar to this. 50v is better if you can find it. I paint it on pretty heavy, don't get it on the antlers. Then I kind of wrap the skull in paper towels and dump a little liquid peroxide onto the paper towels so they are wet. Put it in front of a little space heater if you can as heat cusses the peroxide to do its job. Leave it overnight and it should be good. I occasionally do a second coat of the skull was yellowed from letting it sit around with meat on it.

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Salon Care 40 Volume Creme Developer 4 Oz Saloncare for sale online | eBay

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I paid some guy in Idaho a sum of money I don't care to admit to do my elk, and that turned out significantly worse than my first deer attempt. Dude boiled it until the freaking teeth came out. And even that, isn't too terrible if you don't inspect it real close-like. Moral of the story is don't be afraid, you really can't mess up too badly.
 
elk yinzer said:
Do you feel like the borax helps the process?
Click to expand...

I don't know if the borax helps. In theory it would help bug proof it later on. I haven't had any issues with bugs and some of my head's are several years old now, so Maybe? It's cheap insurance.

I do feel the dawn dish soap helps with the grease. I have almost no grease spotting on any of my head's but the one head I had 'professionaly" done is turning yellow.
 
I agree with @elk yinzer you can't really mess it up. If any teeth do fall out or the nasal bones come off you can glue them back on when your done.

Just don't leave them laying in your garage. I had a rat one year and didn't realize it, apparently they like to drag off deer bones. I got the rat the next day but one of my mounts is missing the bones on the end of it's nose.
 
Oxiclean I've also seen used in the initial simmer.

I do think it's important to get as much of those brains as you can out early. That is where all that fat is going to be, and you don't want to be rendering that into the skull right off that bat, only to have to find a way to get rid of it later.

Another thing, is just to make sure you store it in a cold place before, and if you've skinned it, wrap it up with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. If you let that stuff dry out before you simmer, then you're just adding time to rehyrdate it, and you may never get some of the more difficult fascia up.
 
I have done 4 this year and 3 last year...they turned out pretty good....i did 3 in under 6hrs this year.....i would definitely blow the brains out before boiling. So much easier. I used the pressure washer in the last 3 this year....much faster but way messier.
 
eddiegomes83 said:
I have done 4 this year and 3 last year...they turned out pretty good....i did 3 in under 6hrs this year.....i would definitely blow the brains out before boiling. So much easier. I used the pressure washer in the last 3 this year....much faster but way messier.
Click to expand...
I also pressure wash. The prep is the most important part. If you take a little time you can get most of the meat off before starting. Remove the lower jaw, eyes, etc and then pressure wash. A water hose, or compressed air works pretty well to remove the brains.
 
I use a low power electric pressure washer after the simmer. I use the peroxide and basic white from salon for whitening. I simmer once in plain water and do a second simmer with borax after the pressure washing to help pull fat from bone which is what causes it to yellow later. I've also paid to have to have 2 different ones done and I am happier with my own results.
 
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