I want to do something with my first trad buck. I do not want to do a full euro mount. He is not that big and it is a lot of work. I also don't want to cut the horns off and put them on a board. Is there a way to mount the horns and do a mount where you cut the skull from the back of the head to the nose? I am looking for help and pictures would be great.
I like to eat them. :laughing: Seriously, yes just like this. I used a sawzall. I used a sharpie to write the harvest date on the inside of the skull cap.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/Snapbucket/E851E4E8.jpg)
I do mine the same way and boil them to make a quick finish to the project ( no stink)! Congrats
So are you guys cutting before you boil or after?
I cut mine before I I boil it. Cut it after I skin it. Scoop out the brains and hang it up to dry.
Before, and you can use a hack saw, hand saw or sawzall about all you'll expose after cutting is just the brain just discard set enough of your rack in a pot to submerge the hair and boil for about 30 min. Scrape away any excess and enjoy.
Hang and dry work fine just remember your neighbors dog like deer too! So hang plenty high.
Just like Jerry did......A friend writes the date, the weather and where it was taken on the fore head like a little story.....make a real nice remembrance! Keep it simple.......
This wood plaque/stand is cool. The block of wood between the top and bottom plate turns around and so you can sit it on something or hang it on the wall.
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2wnzivd.jpg)
I dont know if this is what your looking for, but it might give you more ideas. I made the mounting plaque out of ziricote, wrapped the cut skull plate in leather.
(http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab246/yornoc/404.jpg) (http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab246/yornoc/400.jpg)
I've done the same as the guys at the top but I also thought that "iron buck" mounting system might be kind of cool.
After you get the skull clean, i have been told that a 50-50 mix of white elmers glue will help prevent sutures from separating. Have not tried that yet. If you want a really white skullcap, VanDykes sells a good chemical.
David,
When I saw your second pic I thought "that's got to be Ziricote" and when I went back and reread your thread I saw you posted it was...My Hoots has a very pretty piece of Ziricote in it...Nice display and nice rack... :thumbsup:
I've done this a half dozen times and it works well. I just hack saw out the skull cap, clean out the brain matter and cut off all the hair and skin. Let it dry good. Then I fill the brain cavity with wood putty a little at a time until I can form a rounded mold. Then I take some deer skin and fit it over the skull area and glue it down. Find a nice piece of wood and make it any shape you want. Then I take some wood screws and screw the skull to the board through the back. In this case I had a piece of walnut laying around.
This is the poor boy's way of doing it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/6ptrack001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/Hatrick/6ptrack002.jpg)
I like that mossy look myself...
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/kirkll/IMAG0462.jpg)
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/kirkll/IMAG0461.jpg)
The ones on the fence posts look cool at sun set too....
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/kirkll/Hunting%20pics/Hornedsunset007.jpg)
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/kirkll/Hunting%20pics/Hornedsunset005.jpg)
Process the skull as if you were going to do a euro mount and save it until you decide exactly what you want to do. Depending on the size of the rack and the shape of the antlers, they might make a nice bow rack. You could do a skull cap mount and hang the bow and a quiver off each side or get a board with some nice wood grain and mount each antler about 3-4 feet apart to hang your bow horizontal.