antler preparation

adog

adog

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I was wondering what was the easiest way to clean the skull plate attached to my deer antlers without leaving them outside .
 
I just boil the meat off, you have to get all the non bone off, the only problem with this is it may fade to yellow in time. I have only mounted antlers where I covered the skull cap, this method works very well for that, I have done deer and moose. When you boil you may lose a little of the colour of the base of the antlers I think it depends on the chemicals in the water. You can wrap the base of the antlers in aluminum foil and this will protect them, If you are doing a European mount, meaning the entire skull, then Google it. Keep in mind peroxide and bleach will weaken the skull, I have a friend who attemped the European mount on hios 2 bucks last year, both came out white but the bigger of the two broke up when he removed it from the pot. Good luck, doing it yourself is very rewarding.
 
I start at the antler bases and clean off every scrap off the skull plate. Then I put them in a shallow plastic pan and bury the skull plate right to the antler bases with plain coarse salt. Leave it in the salt for a couple weeks and then remove them. Shake off the excess salt and hang the rack in the garage to air dry for a few months. Afterwards you can just paint the skull plate white and attach to a plaque or cover the plate with foam and cloth...whatever you like. I have done antler mounts this way for years and never had a problem...KF
 
I scrape as much off as I can with a utility knife and then boil it.

Immediately after I boil it I hit it with the pressure washer. Gets in every hole and cleans it up really well.
 
What are you trying to do exactly adog? I think some of these guys are talking about a European mount wich is essentially the whole skull. The other way is to just cut with a saw behind the antlers down into the skull untill you get past the front part of the antlers, then cut from the front of the skull inwards at 90 degrees to your first cut. When the two cuts intersect just pull the peice of skull joining the two antlers off. Use a knife to scrape away the skin from the top, the bit of brain just falls away. Let that dry for a couple of months then you can screw it onto a plaque and cover the bit of skull with some felt. There's even kits for about $ 19 to do this. Not as impressive as a full European style mount but I think they look good and the cost is very low!
 
I tend to cut the antlers out leaving as much of the base skull as I can then I shape the skull with a Dremel moto-tool at home. The taxidermists appreciate it.
 
I cut enough hide off below the antlers so they can be sawed off, than I cut all meat off and free hide from skull. Do not take the hide off. Put lots of fine water softener salt on the wet side of hide and wrap exssive hide around bone. When it dries it is rock hard with hair on and mount to board. The hide should cover all bone.
 
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