Euro Elk mount stink

[IdahoElkMan]

Hey Everyone and thanks for welcoming me. I joined because I have a question/concern

I was lucky enough to harvest a large 6 pt bull during Idaho archery season.

I had it european mounted by a guy that uses beetles. I got to see his process and can say that he has two tubs, one for mascuarde and the other for finishing? He also has a cooler with beetles. My concern is the stench on my mount. It's a little better now, but the first few days stunk up my office.

There is some residual white chalky stuff on the antlers, and every crevice that could hold mud or tree bark is lodges with a stinky mud of sorts.

I took some "anti microbial wipes" and did a once over the antlers and all that seemed to happen was I died said mud and there is now wet looking spots.

Im highly considering taking the mud out. maybe and old tooth brush to the mud and air compressing it out after? I also dont want to make it white, as i love the dark look on a euro mount.

Thanks.

 

[IdahoElkMan]

Here are some images of it

 

[wyosteve]

My guess is that he was raking his antlers in a wallow and got the 'scent' caked in there. My .02 is you probably need to pressure wash the antlers. Hope it works.

 

[180ls1]

Before you put anything else in it set it outside in the sun for a while. Not long enough to damage anything but give it a week or two as long as it's dry out.

 

[Tod osier]

Hey Everyone and thanks for welcoming me. I joined because I have a question/concern

I was lucky enough to harvest a large 6 pt bull during Idaho archery season.

I had it european mounted by a guy that uses beetles. I got to see his process and can say that he has two tubs, one for mascuarde and the other for finishing? He also has a cooler with beetles. My concern is the stench on my mount. It's a little better now, but the first few days stunk up my office.

There is some residual white chalky stuff on the antlers, and every crevice that could hold mud or tree bark is lodges with a stinky mud of sorts.

I took some "anti microbial wipes" and did a once over the antlers and all that seemed to happen was I died said mud and there is now wet looking spots.

Im highly considering taking the mud out. maybe and old tooth brush to the mud and air compressing it out after? I also dont want to make it white, as i love the dark look on a euro mount.

Thanks.

When antlers are black like that is usually pine pitch (or spruce pitch or fir pitch). It usually smells good, but there could be who knows what on top. It will be a sticky mess if you start digging around trying to remove it. Over the years it will harden up.

 

[go4thegusto]

The degreasing chemicals and whitening products will "gas off" for a while. Some are worse than others. I suspect organic matter on antler just picked up the odor from that process. I had an antelope that was especially bad. I soaked in ozone water and set outside for a few weeks in hot sun. Hydrogen Peroxide may work also. Maybe a vinegar bath then sun....

 

[Dos Perros]

Wrap it up in a tarp, like as air tight as you can get, and put a bunch of charcoal briquettes in with it. Leave it in a week or so. Then see how it is.

 

[Meshnasty]

My wife picked up a dead head a few years and she power washed it, then macerated it.

It had a few broken tips/broke off points and I set it upside down to dry water ran out of the antlers. It was like the antlers sucked up the water and the smell that came with it. The smell got better but has never truly gone away.

Is the white chalky stuff grave wax?

 

[butcherboy]

Well, for one, the antlers weren’t cleaned and then recolored where needed. It probably wasn’t degreased either which will pull out the grease and the smell. The skull will still be a “dark” color without whitening. Most don’t realize that beetle cleaned skulls will smell terrible without the degreasing. If the skull was cleaned using maceration then it really needs to be degreased properly. It will smell bad as well and more so than a beetle cleaned skull. If it was degreased then it probably needs to be done longer or use different soaps and chemicals. I used dawn dish soap and industrial strength ammonia for many many years. I also used the maceration method because it does just as good of a job as beetles without the hassle.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I went through this a couple of years ago after receiving my elk euro mount back from a taxidermist in Montana. They never degreased it. I tried all kinds of things but ultimately ended up letting my local taxidermist do it correctly. Stink gone.

 

[doc holiday13]

beetled skulls have a scent to them. The guy that did mine suggested a 24 hour degreasing with dawn and Odoban about 3 or 4x using 140* water . Allow the skull several days to completely dry in between soakings

 

[IdahoElkMan]

When antlers are black like that is usually pine pitch (or spruce pitch or fir pitch). It usually smells good, but there could be who knows what on top. It will be a sticky mess if you start digging around trying to remove it. Over the years it will harden up.

This makes sense, it does smell like the organic matter picked up the nasty chemicals scents

 

[IdahoElkMan]

Thanks folks. It does seem like the organic matter in the crevices has the worst scent and was picked up Somehwere in the process. I think what I’ll do is take an old tooth brush to the white chalk organic matter until I get the look right, and then let dry. Thanks!

 

[7mm-08]

Call me crazy, but this worked on a European mount a taxidermist did for one of my son's archery bulls. Build a "box" with heavy duty Kirkland outdoor trash bags from Costco. Really, all you need to do is build a 2 X 2 OR 2 X 4 frame the antlers and head will fit in and staple the trash bags to seal it. Then put an ozone generator in the chamber and run it for 8 hours. Worked perfectly with the stinky head and antlers we had. I like this approach better than the more aggressive suggestions, such as power washing, because you can always get more aggressive it it doesn't work to your satisfaction.

 

[Braaap]

I had this exact same thing happen with a bull that I took to a local beetle guy. I brought it back to him and he ended up finding something gross still stuck in the nasal cavity or something. He cleaned that out and it’s been fine ever since.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Cover it with borax for a week or two then blow it off with the air compressor. Should neutralize any odor.