Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I posted previously a wide 8 point I found. It was a 4 year old that I had been watching for several years and have passed on several times. I decided to do a DIY European mount.
First was to skin the skull and remove the jaw. I started skinning below the upper jaw and continued skinning and peeling up to the eyes. To skin a bought an exacto knife and scalpel. In some situations the straight blade was better and sometimes the curved blade worked better. Removing the eye balls was a challenge. They are tougher than you thing and I used a pliers to pull flesh while cutting. Important to cut around outer eye near the skull and work your way around so you can remove entire eye. Then continue to skin and remove all the way around the antler base.
You can remove the jaw pulling down and pushing up cutting the ligaments that holds it in place.
Next step is to remove any loose flesh around the skull.
Then came the first phase of boiling. My propane burner was not working so I used the kitchen. Made sure windows were open and vented well so the wife wound not freak. Filled the pot with water and added about a cup of borax which is supposed to help break down the proteins in the flesh. You do not boil but rather bring the water to a low simmer so the water is moving in the pot. They said to boil for 6-8 hours. I had to boil twice for 7 hours each to get the flesh loosen so I could remove.
After boiling is was tedious catting, scraping, and pulling flesh of the skull with forceps. Pulling the tissue from the nasal cavity & the brain cavity was a real pain. Lots of attempting to grab tissue with the forceps & then cut with the scalpel. Important to get all so bugs & smell don't appear after you are done. Probably had 2-3 hours just cleaning out these cavities. I did not have a power washer but did have a high water jet attachment for the hose. This helped after multiple try's to remove or loosen flesh, brain, etc.
First was to skin the skull and remove the jaw. I started skinning below the upper jaw and continued skinning and peeling up to the eyes. To skin a bought an exacto knife and scalpel. In some situations the straight blade was better and sometimes the curved blade worked better. Removing the eye balls was a challenge. They are tougher than you thing and I used a pliers to pull flesh while cutting. Important to cut around outer eye near the skull and work your way around so you can remove entire eye. Then continue to skin and remove all the way around the antler base.
You can remove the jaw pulling down and pushing up cutting the ligaments that holds it in place.
Next step is to remove any loose flesh around the skull.
Then came the first phase of boiling. My propane burner was not working so I used the kitchen. Made sure windows were open and vented well so the wife wound not freak. Filled the pot with water and added about a cup of borax which is supposed to help break down the proteins in the flesh. You do not boil but rather bring the water to a low simmer so the water is moving in the pot. They said to boil for 6-8 hours. I had to boil twice for 7 hours each to get the flesh loosen so I could remove.
After boiling is was tedious catting, scraping, and pulling flesh of the skull with forceps. Pulling the tissue from the nasal cavity & the brain cavity was a real pain. Lots of attempting to grab tissue with the forceps & then cut with the scalpel. Important to get all so bugs & smell don't appear after you are done. Probably had 2-3 hours just cleaning out these cavities. I did not have a power washer but did have a high water jet attachment for the hose. This helped after multiple try's to remove or loosen flesh, brain, etc.
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