Deer euro mounts

R

RielM

Member
Rating - 100%
41   0   0
Location
Interior BC
I have done 4 deer euro mounts now, I boil and use a pressure washer. I was wondering what the professional taxidermy standard is with protecting the thin layers of brittle bone inside the nasal passage? The sections inside the nose, not the exterior pockets in front of the eye sockets (I always take good care of these). I have done one where I protected it near the front. It took a lot more boiling and tedious poking around. The others, I just scraped it all out because you don't really see into there if the skull is mounted vertical on a wall.
I saw one video by Whitebone creations, a guy on youtube that cleans a lot of skulls, it looked like he just tore it all out. I would imagine beetles etc might clean around these delicate bones but more wondering about what guys do who use the boiling method?
 
I have done up a couple for myself and family. I try pretty hard to keep the nasal spirals as nice as possible.

I cannot see anyone doing that commercially, taking that much extra time, to be honest. It's a lot of dicking about for not really much other than personal satisfaction. I suppose if you were to specifically ask, the quote that you got back would likely make you do it yourself anyway.

Can't speak to the Dermestid Beetles. No experience there.
 
The local taxidermist does the most beautiful job saving everything in the nose everytime. He just boils everything and takes his time then uses strong peroxide to bleach the bone. I have a eal pressure washer with steam capabilities and I dont wreck the bones in the nose either. I just skin the head and crank ot up and start washing. A deer is usually ready for the wall in about twenty minutes and my elk from september took about 45 minutes.
 
A good taxidermist considers it practically a badge of honour to be able to produce a Euro-mount with all those delicate nasal structures intact.

If you have plenty of time...and a strong stomach...and plenty of real estate (i.e. enough space to get far away from your house!) you can use the maceration technique. It basically involves submerging the skull in warm water (use an aquarium heater in cold weather) and letting the soft matter rot off the bone. Yes, it is every bit as disgusting as it sounds, but it works beautifully. :)
 
I've done lots of Euro's but all were whitetails. Never worried too much about the thin area below and in front of the eye sockets. IMO skinning out the head and fleshing it takes more time than the boiling and peroxide step. I boil the skull in water and a healthy dose of Oxyclean liquid detergent. About 1/2 hour and all the remaining muscle and connective stuff turns to jelly. power washing is messy and usually involves getting coated in cooked brain matter. Boil again in water and peroxide mix for 10-20 mins until snow white. Let the skull dry for a couple days and apply floor wax to the whole thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom