I'm very pleased with the rewarding result of my first European Mount, by way of a $20 crock pot.  I found it to be a rather meditative process; a slow boil culminating in the fitting, honorable outcome of the animal taken.   If you have 48 hours to let the electric kettle do its thing, give it a go.  Feel free to pm a question if you want some advice 

Best regards, Chase
 
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That looks like it came out really well.
I've had a couple done, but never done one myself. May have to give it a go some day.

Yep looks real good! 
Tim B

That looks very nice! I would be interested in hearing your crockpot method.

Damn, that is really clean.

There not that tough to do.  My brother and I have done over 50 with good success.  First get all the skin off the head and as much meat as you can.  Then simmer, not roiling boil, till you can see the meat starting to fall off.  Don't over do it as you don't want the teeth and skull joints to loosen.  Next we clean ours with a high pressure washer to get all tissue out of the small cavities and brain case.  We whiten ours with the peroxide available at beauty supply houses.  Oh, do the boiling outside, the smell can be pretty bad.

I have a slightly different method that's worked well on the few dozen skulls I've done. Most of this info, but not all of this, has come from my taxidermist.
A rolling boil is fine, but make it a LIGHT roll. Just on the line between no roll and a slight roll. It will make the process go faster but you need to pay attention to it and not over cook it or it will fall apart. There's no need to spend many hours simmering it, just pay attention to how done it's getting.
I think I've done 1 or 2 outside but the rest have all been done on the kitchen stove with the range hood fan going, which is used mostly to vent the moisture. I (and more importantly, MY WIFE) have no issue with any "smell". Hey, every Thanksgiving we boil the turkey carcass for soup broth. Why should a fresh deer skull be treated any different?

I skin the head, remove as much meat as possible, take the eyeballs out, remove the jaw, stick the skull in a metal bucket with water, Dawn dish detergent and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (or borax). It boils the skull clean enough to power wash it in a little over an hour.

Put on some rubber rain gear and power wash it (rain gear, rubber apron, rubber boots, etc because power washing is messy). Nothing cleans out the brain cavity and all the tiny little nooks and crannies, ducts and ports like a power washer.

I like it clean but not snow white. I seldom whiten the skull. I like the natural, ivory color. Very rarely, I will give it a quick dip in DILUTED bleach for a few minutes then rinse well. I've not had the bone deterioration that some guys claim bleach causes. Maybe it's because I don't bleach full strength and I rinse it.

I usually write with a pencil, details about the deer on the underside. Where taken, year, antler score, stand name, etc.
Your kids or grandkids will like to see some details about the critter. A bare skull with no info on it is a lot less interesting.

Looks great Chase!

Very nice!

that turned out nice.

 

WOW! that came out really nice, love the contrast between the almost black antlers and white skull.

I've done a few myself and you will definitely want to do them outdoors IF you've allowed them to rot a bit, which actually makes the process go faster. Fresh skulls smell much like simmering beef stew

Looks great!


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Having learned to do my own taxidermy years ago I got tired of them and for years have simply done European mounts myself and love them. Sitting on computer now typing this I can count 12!

With that all said I'm not sure if I'll do anymore. When you consider CWD is found in the brain and spinal column you have to wonder what your exposing yourself and family members to now a days. I don't even cut bones when I butcher now. Haven't for a long time but not because of CWD though. If it's true about CWD and prions  everything from the tools, knives, pots you use even to the table you expose to brain material is basically exposed and almost impossible to eliminate prions from. Makes a guy think about it for sure.  I sure wish they had a quick field test kit for CWD.

Great job by the way! Looks awesome!

Thank you everyone!     Also, thanks to those that shared their experience and techniques.  Sound advice to keep this out of doors.  I'll never forget the look on my wife's face when I asked her to cut up some carrots...

Enjoy the rest your weekend, Chase

Nice work !!!

I definitely prefer to see a euro mount over full mount with hide on. It's a primitive look that is very appealing.

I am not a fan of tacky looking camo, paint, beads, etc on a skull.

Neat. Clean. Simple. I like it. Great job!

Looks great!!! [emoji106]
I also prefer the "natural" look.
Here's the one I did. 


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Exactly! Very nice.

I did a couple bucks a hog and two javelina skulls. Unfortunately, the directions I followed included bleach. They have been flaking since day one.

I found an easy way to bleach skulls . I cover the skull with paper towels double or triple thickness stuff towels in the eye sockets and any other place you can shove them into. Pour regular peroxide like you buy in the drug store in the brown bottle on the towels then cover skull in plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out leave it for a couple of days then rinse with water and it will come out nice and white .