- Joined
- Jun 5, 2020
- Messages
- 1,791
I’m no professional, but the past few years I started doing euro mounts and I have a pile of them, it’s cheap, easy, they don’t take up a ton of room, and if done right.. impressive, as I sit here today watching my pot boil I thought I would share my method, I’m sure there’s many methods, but this is what works for me.
I wrap the lower section with tin foil, and cover all of that with cheap black electrical tape from Harbor Freight, that’s the first thing I do.
Next up, I get all the brains out, a total pain in the ass but it must be done, I use a piece of wire with a small bend at the end, a coat hanger works too, just keep at it, there’s more than you think up in there, holding the rack upside down and letting gravity help as you twist and pull is the best, it sucks but it makes the rest of my process much easier. Pull all the eyes and junk behind them out, the more material you remove before the boiling process starts makes life easier, I get rid of the lower jaw as well, I’m sure it can be saved, I just prefer it off, and on this deer all this work is redundant because it’s getting mounted eventually, my taxidermist has a long wait so I’m boiling it for the time being while I wait for him, as per his advice.
I use the burner off a turkey deep fryer and a cheap dedicated pot just for this, bring the water to a boil, not crazy just enough… add some Dawn dish soap, a generous amount of those Oxi Clean crystals, lower the rack into the water, I also use some scrap lumber to help prop the rack up off the pot, probably unnecessary but I do it, sometimes.
I never get the water screaming hot, just let it simmer and be patient, I keep checking it until the cartilage and meat seems to be starting to fall off, I would guess it takes a couple hours. Once it looks ready I begin the my least favorite part, pressure washing, I hate it, your absolutely covered with **** once done, but I get excellent results, so I do it, I go to a friends garage with a real pressure washer, but any will work, my little pressure washer is put away for the winter. After pressure washing it should look about like this.
Next it’s time to get back at it with some pliers, a knife, anything you think would work to get the more stubborn pieces of stuff off.
After that it’s ready for cream. I use a cheap plastic dish pan from Walmart, I carefully pour that stuff all over the skull.. making sure to avoid the horns obviously, in the brain cavity, up the nose, you should have a nice puddle of cream in the pan once done, set the rack right in it. After the rack is wedged in there good and stable, I use a cheap paint brush from Harbor Freight and spread the puddle of drippings in the pan back over the skull, making sure not to miss any less obvious spots.
I usually let it sit like this for a couple of days, every so often I take the brush and drip some more cream all over the skull, making sure everything has a nice thick layer of that stuff. Once it’s ready I just rinse it all off with a garden hose and that’s it, finished. I would guess I spent 5 hours on this project today, I’m don’t love doing it, but the results are usually very good and to me it’s worth it!
I wrap the lower section with tin foil, and cover all of that with cheap black electrical tape from Harbor Freight, that’s the first thing I do.
Next up, I get all the brains out, a total pain in the ass but it must be done, I use a piece of wire with a small bend at the end, a coat hanger works too, just keep at it, there’s more than you think up in there, holding the rack upside down and letting gravity help as you twist and pull is the best, it sucks but it makes the rest of my process much easier. Pull all the eyes and junk behind them out, the more material you remove before the boiling process starts makes life easier, I get rid of the lower jaw as well, I’m sure it can be saved, I just prefer it off, and on this deer all this work is redundant because it’s getting mounted eventually, my taxidermist has a long wait so I’m boiling it for the time being while I wait for him, as per his advice.
I use the burner off a turkey deep fryer and a cheap dedicated pot just for this, bring the water to a boil, not crazy just enough… add some Dawn dish soap, a generous amount of those Oxi Clean crystals, lower the rack into the water, I also use some scrap lumber to help prop the rack up off the pot, probably unnecessary but I do it, sometimes.
I never get the water screaming hot, just let it simmer and be patient, I keep checking it until the cartilage and meat seems to be starting to fall off, I would guess it takes a couple hours. Once it looks ready I begin the my least favorite part, pressure washing, I hate it, your absolutely covered with **** once done, but I get excellent results, so I do it, I go to a friends garage with a real pressure washer, but any will work, my little pressure washer is put away for the winter. After pressure washing it should look about like this.
Next it’s time to get back at it with some pliers, a knife, anything you think would work to get the more stubborn pieces of stuff off.
After that it’s ready for cream. I use a cheap plastic dish pan from Walmart, I carefully pour that stuff all over the skull.. making sure to avoid the horns obviously, in the brain cavity, up the nose, you should have a nice puddle of cream in the pan once done, set the rack right in it. After the rack is wedged in there good and stable, I use a cheap paint brush from Harbor Freight and spread the puddle of drippings in the pan back over the skull, making sure not to miss any less obvious spots.
I usually let it sit like this for a couple of days, every so often I take the brush and drip some more cream all over the skull, making sure everything has a nice thick layer of that stuff. Once it’s ready I just rinse it all off with a garden hose and that’s it, finished. I would guess I spent 5 hours on this project today, I’m don’t love doing it, but the results are usually very good and to me it’s worth it!
Last edited:
