I just finished the whitetail European mounts from this past fall today. Over the past several years I’ve done them a few different ways.
First, you need to clean the deer. Cut the head off and cape it out. For whitetails you need to get rid of the lower jaw, tongue and throat area tissue. Also remove the eyes and any extra muscle tissue you can find. All of this needs to be done around the time you kill the deer unless you want to deal with a disgusting mess at some later date. Once the hide and large chunks of meat are gone you can decide what you want to do next.
Boiling:
Boiling is a stinky mess. I’m not sure if I’ll do it again. Basically you need some type of big metal pot and a way to boil water in it. We use a stainless steel pot like the ones you fry turkeys in and a propane burner. Then you boil the head for quite a while until the remaining tissue is soft. Then we blast it with a power sprayer. Then you need to blast yourself with a power sprayer. HINT: Wear a full set of raingear when you start spraying.
Advantages: The mount can be displayed within days of being killed.
Disadvantages: It’s a god awful mess. It also damages the softer bones around the nose and makes the teeth fall out. You can glue the teeth back in.
Beatles:
I’ve never done my own beetles, but I’ve sent trophies out. It doesn’t really count as DIY but I included it here so you know what your options are.
Advantages: Someone else deals with the mess. The bugs are allegedly the least damaging to soft bones around the nose.
Disadvantages: It costs more than any other option. It will take a while.
Fire ants and Other Natural Bugs:
I have only one experience with this as well. The Old Man brought back a hog skull that a friend from Texas had done this way. As I understand it, you simply bury the skull in a fire ant hill and they eat the flesh off. Be careful to bury it so that critters won’t dig it up and carry it off.
Advantages: It seems pretty easy, and cheap.
Disadvantages: The skull I dealt with had a reddish stain to it. Obviously not everyone has fire ants to use. It’s also very slow.
Cold Water Maceration:
This is my favorite, and the way I did the skulls picture above. It’s a simple matter of putting the heads into water and waiting for the process of decay to take its course. In Kansas it is too cold for anything good to happen until mid-April so I wait until then to put them in water. When I first started I would put them in water right away and then worry about what damage freezing would do. Now I just store them until it warms up. I use a 35 gallon Rubbermaid trashcan and just add enough water to cover the bone. Early in the process I will change the water every two weeks or so to keep the smell down. I also think the slight agitation from adding new water helps. Sunday I checked on our bear skulls that had been in water longer than the deer above. They had not had the water changed in two months and were noticeably behind schedule. The warmer the weather, the faster it works. After maybe 6-8 weeks the majority of the tissue will be gone and you can speed up the process by periodically using a toothbrush on the remaining areas of concern. When the skulls can sit in the bucket for a week and the water is still clear, they are done. Take them out and give them a couple of days in the sun. They should turn out very white:
Advantages: Besides the cost of a trashcan, it’s free. It is gentle on the soft bones. It is also very easy. That’s why I do it.
Disadvantages: It takes a couple of months at least. It also can smell moderately bad in the early stages. If you live in a small neighborhood you would need to pour the water off regularly. A friend recently had his dog get into the putrid water… bad news.
I’ve done the cold water method on small game and hogs as well. The teeth will fall out on a hog, so keep it in a separate smaller bucket so you can be sure not to lose them when you change the water. They are easy to glue back in when you are done, just don’t lose them. A good hog skull will not fit in a 5 gallon bucket so you’ll need something slightly larger.
When I first looked into doing this I heard that if the water stayed on the horns they would change color. That has not been my experience, so you don’t need to worry about an exact water level.
Now all you need is a plaque or a nail and you’re good to go. It’s an easy way to save your skulls without taking up too much wall space. Let me know how it works for you…
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