Antler mount blitz

ninepointer

ninepointer

CGN frequent flyer
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Location
Central Ontario
Although the bucks eluded me in 2014, I used some of these long winter evenings to take care of some antlers that had piled up from seasons past.


Here the plaques have been cut, drilled, and test-assembled, before taking everything apart for finishing:



The final product; sanded, glued, screwed, stained and varathaned. This big 12-point and his smaller cousin belong to a friend...



...and these 2 "monsters" are mine! ;)


I've been doing them this way for years, with the antlers resting on a small shelf to achieve a more natural upright position. The longest part is the antler prep and whitening. I used to get fancy and router the edges of the wood, but my router bit the dust. Someone with more skills than me and with a real workshop with table equipment could crank out the plaques in no time.
 
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I am a big fan of European mounts with the full skull (including nasal bones) but I have to say that your method looks really good.
 
Mattones said:
I might have to remove mine including one from this season and do the same set up!

Did you cut the skull past the eye sockets?
Click to expand...

Realistically, I cut twice. First time is a rough cut through the eye sockets and where the skull/spine intersect, just to separate the antlers from the head and leave me more than enough bone to work with later. Once I've cleaned off much of the tissue, I then do the final cuts. The exact locations of the cuts will vary depending on how large the rack is and how far the antlers sweep backwards. The idea is to achieve a 90 degree angle between the bottom & the back of the skull, while still allowing the antlers to clear the wall behind them.

 
Nice mounts.
My old man did his like that but he glued sand to the skull cap and it turned out awesome looking. The sand blended in with the stained wood and gave nice texture
 
Thanks bud!


ninepointer said:
Realistically, I cut twice. First time is a rough cut through the eye sockets and where the skull/spine intersect, just to separate the antlers from the head and leave me more than enough bone to work with later. Once I've cleaned off much of the tissue, I then do the final cuts. The exact locations of the cuts will vary depending on how large the rack is and how far the antlers sweep backwards. The idea is to achieve a 90 degree angle between the bottom & the back of the skull, while still allowing the antlers to clear the wall behind them.

Click to expand...
 
I kinda like the whole 90 degree shelf and white bone you've got going on there. Little different take on the traditional plaque and red velvet type stuff, nice work!
 
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