Busted skull plate - display options?

[UtahJimmy]

I usually euro my deer but this year my buck fell and broke his antler bad and shattered his skull. I boiled the parts that would make a traditional skull plate but I'm not sure what to do with them. I was thinking epoxy them back together then... ???

Leaning towards making a plaque and do the traditional leather wrap.

Any other ideas or ways that someone has done something similar that turned out nice?

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[Rocky723]

Pictures of the current condition of the skull would be helpful for people wanting to chime in.

 

[UtahJimmy]

Pictures of the current condition of the skull would be helpful for people wanting to chime in.

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[fishslap]

Glue the broken antler back together and put them on a mountain Mike’s reproduction skull.

 

[Rocky723]

To repair the antler you could probably go really cheap and use some sort of glue. If you wanted to do it a “professional” way you could buy one of the taxidermy antler repair kits. Then you could put the antlers on a replica skull or do a plaque like you were talking about. If you really want to make it simple you could repair the antler and then just use them as a desk ornament or decoration somewhere

 

[UtahJimmy]

Glue the broken antler back together and put them on a mountain Mike’s reproduction skull.

Just watched a youtube of a guy using this for a WT buck. Looks pretty slick to just saw off the pedicle, sand it, and screw it together. Have you used this before? Does the plastic make it look fake or cheap?

 

[kodyshriver]

I would personally opt for a reproduction skull, if I were in your shoes. Gus Titus of Great Basin Specialties does quality cast-replicas, His number is 541-589-2708

 

[Rich M]

The fake skulls I've seen in like Bass Pro have been halfway decent looking. Probably something you can choose quality levels of.

Also - hang it high.

 

[fishslap]

Just watched a youtube of a guy using this for a WT buck. Looks pretty slick to just saw off the pedicle, sand it, and screw it together. Have you used this before? Does the plastic make it look fake or cheap?

I bought one for some sheds but never used it. It doesn’t look bad but it doesn’t have the same character as real. You might be able to put hands on one at one of the bigger sporting goods stores.

 

[hh76]

I'm kind of a fan of the stories that each mount tells. I'd be tempted to find a creative way to display somewhat "as is"?

 

[BRTreedogs]

This is a Mt Mike's

 

[Dos Perros]

I'm kind of a fan of the stories that each mount tells. I'd be tempted to find a creative way to display somewhat "as is"?

This is what I was thinking.

Think of it like a fossil display. I would mount together with like a heavy coat hanger wire just as you have them laid out.

 

[TreeWalking]

Mountain Mike's replica skull is a functional answer but will be obvious unless you paint the skull with some Rustoleum paint that is skull color and do an artistic job with the epoxy putty. I found a nice set of whitetail sheds as a kid and recently used a replica skull. A bud of mine found a nice pair of sheds and tied them together with about a foot of rope and hung them up on a hook in his trophy room as his "rattlin' rack" display.

I carelessly snapped the tip off a bull elk tine which became 5 splintered bits laying in the snow so I wanted to make look like had never been broken. I used a drill to set a bendable metal pin in the center running into the tine piece and into a hole in the other piece then that stabilized the alignment where I could use epoxy putty to inset the splinters before got rigid so the tine plus putty had the shape of the original tine. Then, I used small brushes and the brown/tan/white paint colors to blend the color streaks from one piece across the epoxy to the other piece. Looks great.

The break and splinters start about 2/3 up from the bottom of the far sword point in the picture below.



Is the sword point on the left of this picture of the entire rack.

 

[long hunter]

do a search for replacement mule deer skulls, theres a bunch of them at reasonable prices, with the suggestions about the antler repairs I would think it would turn out nice. The other option I would look into is a taxidermist, there may be a possibility they would come up with a skull you horns could be attached to. As suggested let them in pieces and figure out a display plaque to attach the pieces to especially if you took a picture of the deer where he was laying at when you got to him, attach the pic. to the display as there is a story line going on with the kill. Good luck.

 

[Jimss]

I've repaired a lot of broken antlers and tines over the years. It's actually a lot easier than you may think. I use thread-all of different sizes to use as a pin/dowel similar to Treewalking's method above. Make certain to align both sides and drill both broken sides. Once the proper size holes are drilled on each broken side I epoxy the all thread into one side and then the other. I then smooth the broken area using epoxie-skulp and use several different paints/stains to blend in the broken area.

Your buck would look great with a reproduction skull plus fixed antler.

 

[hobbes]

What the heck did he fall from to damage his skull that bad?

For antler; drill, dowel with stiff wire or all thread, and epoxy into place. As mentioned earlier, use Apoxie Sculpt or similar to repair/cover the crack. Use a very thin layer. You just want to blend out crack. Trash the skull and use a replica.

 

[Pro953]

I usually euro my deer but this year my buck fell and broke his antler bad and shattered his skull. I boiled the parts that would make a traditional skull plate but I'm not sure what to do with them. I was thinking epoxy them back together then... ???

Leaning towards making a plaque and do the traditional leather wrap.

Any other ideas or ways that someone has done something similar that turned out nice?

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Damn I just want to hear the story. I say display it busted, seems like a great conversation starter. Unless it just ended up falling out of Your truck or something.


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[BRTreedogs]

Also a Mt mikes

 

[UtahJimmy]

What the heck did he fall from to damage his skull that bad?

For antler; drill, dowel with stiff wire or all thread, and epoxy into place. As mentioned earlier, use Apoxie Sculpt or similar to repair/cover the crack. Use a very thin layer. You just want to blend out crack. Trash the skull and use a replica.

He slid down a super steep snow covered face into the bottom of a rocky chute. I too was shocked that he snapped it off. The broken antler was laying under him. The pedicle split axially (length wise) in a few places and the suture lines separated without shattering.

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[hobbes]

Sounds like a heck of a tumble. I worry about doing something similar to my own bones in that kind of country. Damn I don't want to do that but I suppose big bucks are wherever you find them.

If it's split at the suture lines and not actually busted you should be able to repair it after fixing the antler. Drill some holes in it like you're going to anchor it to a plaque fit them together set it in Bondo. Squish it in so Bondo pushes into drilled holes. Run sheetrock screws into soft Bondo then anchor all of that to your panel after everything is hardened. You can trim the Bondo to suite before it completely hardens.