DIY Euro Mount

[phylodog]

Not doing a whitetail (yet) but I shot a coyote back in October and let it lay for mother nature to take its course. Picked the skull up two weeks ago and it had a lot of fur left on it but I was able to get the vast majority of the skin pulled off pretty easily. At this point 99% of the skin and soft tissues are gone, there's just a little left hanging around the inside of the mouth and around the teeth. I soaked it for a few days in dish washing liquid and water to degrease and pulled it out this morning. I got almost everything cleaned off now but there's just a little bit left on the roof of the mouth and around the teeth. It's not even skin but maybe the connective tissue between the skin and bones. I went ahead and made a fresh batch of the dish soap and water and have it soaking a second time.

Does anyone know what will work for getting that last little bit off? I couldn't get a grip on it with needle nosed pliers. The teeth are pretty loose so I've got to be careful working around them and I don't want to use anything that'll discolor or scrape up the bone. Any ideas?

Hoping to get it cleaned up in the next day or two and start the peroxide soak. Hoping I can get it nice and white. Once that's done I'll glue the teeth in place and try to figure out how to wire the lower jaw on so it can articulate. I've read using white velcro isn't a terrible way to go and pretty easy to do.

 

[Tryin']

Is your solution heated?

 

[bwframe]

FYI - I've let nature take it's course a couple times with deer skulls. That last time I tried, ended up terribly disappointed that a squirrel chewed almost completely through one antler.

 

[phylodog]

Yeah, I wouldn't do it with a whitetail. We have a hard enough time finding sheds that haven't been chewed up, wouldn't take the chance on a deer I killed.

I heated the solution the first time I soaked it, I didn't heat it today.

 

[Tryin']

Well, that was my only suggestion. . . The peroxide will remove a little bit more as well. Good luck!

 

[HuntMeister]

IMO you need to put some heat to it. I did my entire clean up process in about 2-3 hours on my last euro.
I prefer to start as soon as possible after kill, remove the lower jaw and as much tissue as you can with a knife. Cut an opening into the brain cavity just in front of the opening where the spine connects to the skull and pick out the goods there as well. Get you some Arm & Hammer super washing soda, it contains sodium carbonate which is what all the taxis use. Don't do a hard boil just a simmer for 45 minutes or so. Take it out and do some more cleaning, remove the ear bases now and back in for a few more minutes. After you get through that process, bring another pot full of water to simmer with dish soap in it. Let the skull soak in it for 15 minutes or so. This part really helps, use a air compressor with a blow gun attached, immerse in the water and "boil" the skull everywhere that you can get the nozzle into. I will poke holes in the roof of the mouth into the nasal cavity to get all of the stuff out of there as well. This will help remove all the last bits of tissue but more importantly it will de-grease the entire skull. If any teeth fall out you can glue them back in.
Hope this help.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

All the deer that I have mounted in the Euro style have simply been skinned, had the lower jaw removed, and then boiled in a pot with a few drops of dish soap. I pull them out every 15 minutes are so, to pull of what I can. Once they are completely cleaned off I will soak the skull in hydrogen peroxide to whiten it. Some use bleach, but it does make the skull weaker.

 

[mike trible]

I have had skulls cleaned for Euro Mounts by a guy up in Mich. who soaks them then cleans them with a Power Washer.

 

[1988-4551]

Heating it to a max of 115 will help it. Non sudsy ammonia will help loosen tissue. Colder water works but takes longer too.

 

[Leadeye]

I'm surprised you had anything left, carrion around here is gone quickly.

 

[bobjones223]

Just my two cents but I have done deer by digging a nice hole about 2' deep and burring it for 8 months...6 months is not enough time and 12 is way to many...seems like 8 is perfect... Dig it up...wash it off...clean it up and let it dry....if you want it whiter just let it sit in the sun for a month.

 

[tyrajam]

If the teeth haven't fallen out, there is still connective tissue holding them in. Trust me, you want to get every last bit of that out or it will stink. I've done tons of deer, coyotes, raccoon, even a badger skull. Best thing is drop it in a bucket of water and forget about it until the end of summer. If you can't wait heat the water, don't boil or you'll weaken the bone. The key is keep going until every bit of soft tissue is out of the nasal cavity and sinuses and the teeth fall out-you got to get every speck of soft tissue. After you rinse and clean it glue the teeth back in. Shortcuts will lead to bugs and bad smells.

 

[d80hunter]

I used to have several doe skulls I hung on the side of my shed and let mother nature do its thing. Too bad I got rid of them due to a freaked out toddler. My oldest daughter tried a DIY euro mount on an 8 pointer last fall with a turkey frier filled with water. Darn coyotes snatched it up out of the frier. My last buck was done at the deer processor. All I had to do was mount it to a plaque.

 

[mkgr22]

You could always do what museums do, and buy carrion beetles...

Kodiak Bones & Bugs Taxidermy

 

[phylodog]

It's just about done. Several of the teeth fell out and lot of the other were loose. I soaked it for a day in 2 parts peroxide to 1 part water then dumped it and soaked for another day in a second batch. It appears all of the soft tissues are good & gone and the peroxide did a nice job of whitening the skull. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow when I have better lighting.

I need to track down some white velcro to attach the jaw to the skull. Should keep it from falling off if someone picks it up and still allow some articulation.

 

[phylodog]

I'm pleased with the way it came out. Not stark white but it isn't dingy either, just enough color so it looks real. My idea about the velcro to hold the jaw in place didn't work, it's too thick and pushes the jaw out of alignment too far for the jaw to fully close. I'll have to come up with something else.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

That's really cool. I think the color is good, not too white, but clean.