Euro mount advice

[xOttox]

The short of the story is, we've experienced some rough weather that resulted in our power taking a hit regularly. I didn't realize the freezer was not running for a few days. Hard lesson to learn, lost a lot, also learned a lot about electrical and rewiring. I now have pronghorn skull that is covered in rotten flesh that I'm going to have to move into a euro mount, the hide was in the gelatinous substance at the bottom of the freezer.

Has anyone ever tried burying one and letting the bugs do the work? How did you handle the horn sheath? This thing is pretty rancid and I want to save it if possible, my first one with a bow.

 

[JeffP_Or]

As bad as it sounds, I would actually expect the sheaths to be ready to pop right off; have you tried giving them a slight whack with a rubber mallet or similar? If they don't come off yet - they should be really close. Solid twist and pull should do it - measure their location and angle before you remove them so you can get them back really close to the original location.

I don't think I would bury it - i would continue to let it macerate in a bucket of water; or better yet go ahead and finish it out in some NEAR boiling [not actually boiling] water over an outdoor cooker. Burying it often leads to staining.

Hit up the internet for the whitening process after you have cleaned/degreased; there are also some threads on here that have the info. Hint: Don't use bleach.

Sorry for the loss of your cape. if you were set on a shoulder mount, talk to your taxidermist - capes are not all that hard to come by for pronghorn.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

No reason you can’t salvage it and make a nice euro! Don’t bury it. Aside from the risk of some critter messing with or taking it, it doesn’t work well at all and takes a very long time. I would wrap the horns and pressure wash it. Simmer in pot (never boil) for a few hours then pressure was it again. Add in some dawn soap and borax, also.

After that get a wifi freezer thermostat alarm set to your phone.

 

[Mojave]

Horn sheaths should come off with a tug if it is rancid. Do not use the following method with the horn sheeths on the skull.

Your best bet on the skull depends on your desired outcome.

Indoor presentation I would use masceration or boiling.

Masceration is kind of what you have already started.

Go get a 5 gallon bucket from Lowes or Home Depot with a lid and fill it full of water, and submerge the skull in it.

Every week dump out the skull wash everything off with a hose and refill the water.

Eventually you will get to the point of having a slime and meat free skull. Most of your teeth will fall out, just collect them so you can glue them in later.

At the 1-2 months mark once the skull is clean I start the degrease process. Wash the skull and retain the teeth, and fill the bucket back up again this time adding a half of a cup of dishwashing soap. Repeat the process until all the grease is out of the skull (grey spots). This generally takes 2-3 applications for deer and antelope and 5-6 applications for bear skulls.

Then comes the deoderizing part. I clean out my same bucket and pour in a box of baking soda. Then I put the skull down and poor in another box. The skull should be completely covered and not visable. Leave your skull in the box for a few months. Once cleaned off use mop and glow on the horns and skull, glue in your teeth and hang it on the wall.

There are some little skull processes in the ear butts I usually break off and clean out. Before I start this process. For antelope once I remove the horn sheath I cut the horns off low so I can get into the horn corns with a drill. A lot of gross stuff is in there.

Boiling is not really a boil it is a simmer. If you already have a rotten skull you can still clean it, I suggest you not do it in the house.

 

[idelkslayer]

I have experimented with the bury method in my compost/manure pile. It works if you have the patience and you can ensure that no animals will run off with it. A pronghorn is easy because you don't have to cover any antlers, same with bear skulls. For deer and elk you have to have a way to cover the antlers so they don't get bleached by sun. Another consideration with the bury method is that you might lose some teeth if you are not careful when extracting the skull. It would be wise to place a screen beneath the skull just in case some teeth do fall out. It at least narrows down the search radius to locate them. Time will vary depending on your bury conditions. In actively composting manure pile it takes 6-8 weeks minimum.

After extracting the skull you will still need to clean it out, degrease, deodorize, and whiten the skull. A buried skull with be a shade of brown when you dig it up. Peroxide will bring it back to an ivory color which I prefer or you can use a whitening product if you want it to be really bright.

You can still do the boil method (simmer as previously mentioned), it will just smell extra awful.

 

[bigeyedfish]

I've had a whitetail skull buried since November. It's almost clean. I'm not patient enough to do it this way again.

I did one a few years ago by tying it to the dock and throwing it in the pond. I won't do another one that way either. It took forever, the teeth got loose, and I swear the bones got thinner.

I'm going back to simmering from here on. We have a black soldier fly bin for supplementary chicken feed. The bin is too small to fit a big deer skull, but I may throw a doe skull in there to see what happens.

 

[Mojave]

Age plays into the actual outcome for both methods. Dermisted beetles is another method. You can buy a dermested collony from a taxidermist and run them yourself. They will also stink like death. You also have to keep them warm.

Boiling works great for adult animals and young animals if you are watching it. You can over boil.

Beetles work very well for adult animals. They can destroy the suture bones in a younger animal. But normally do not.

Masceration works very well adult animals, and not for young animals. The sutures will rot out.

Maseration will give you the cleanest skull, it is the stinkiest and takes the most time.

If you have a pressure washer it will greatly decrease your work load.

 

[xOttox]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

As of right now it's sitting under a bucket with a fairly large rock on the bucket, covered in magnets. I'm thinking of letting it set there like that for q bit to see how clean it gets then finishing up with boiling.

I figure I'll set up shop a ways back on the property to try avoid the smell driving the family insane

 

[Glendine]

The short of the story is, we've experienced some rough weather that resulted in our power taking a hit regularly. I didn't realize the freezer was not running for a few days. Hard lesson to learn, lost a lot, also learned a lot about electrical and rewiring. I now have pronghorn skull that is covered in rotten flesh that I'm going to have to move into a euro mount, the hide was in the gelatinous substance at the bottom of the freezer.

Has anyone ever tried burying one and letting the bugs do the work? How did you handle the horn sheath? This thing is pretty rancid and I want to save it if possible, my first one with a bow.

Please see attached link. http://bestpracticeguides.org.uk/carcass-preparation/trophy-preparation/

Regards,
Glendine.

 

[Smtn10pt]

I simmer and use a low psi electric pressure washer to clean my skulls. Once clean i soak in peroxide to whiten them up.