European mount prep cheats?

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Anybody got any lazy man tricks for getting a european mount done by yourself. Have a deer head in a frozen bucket of water still. Might be warm enough to play around with it outside this weekend.

Done maybe 20 over the years, every year seems like more n more work. Got a big gas powered and small 120v powerwasher.

 

[Bill]

use the small pressure washer. the big one will blow it apart. Here is good video.

 

[PatinPA]

I just bury mine in the fall and pull it out in the spring. Hose it off and soak it in peroxide. The bugs do all the work.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Multiple methods. In the Summer if I am not in a hurry I submerge the skull in a container full of water and let it rot for a couple of weeks. Then gently power wash off the gunk. In the Winter if it is above freezing I "gently" boil in water and Sal Soda and then power wash. After you are done with power washing the key to whitening is "Basic White" and 40 volume peroxide both of which can be purchased at a beauty supply place. Mix it into a paste and paint it on and let it dry over night, you can brush off the dried residue or rinse in clean water.

 

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Never did peroxide. Kinda like the natural tan tint to it. I normally boil in borax soap. Maybe I do that because in my early career I rebuilt transmissions and used borax in hot parts washer.

Its in a bucket frozen, just leave it there awhile longer and wait for warmer weather?

I do hydrated lime I bought to do deer hides about 6 years ago. Really not sure what to do with it, so it sits in the shed.

sal soda, soda ash?

 

[Hoytvectrix]

If it is still frozen it will probably be fine. I have found that if I soak them with the hide off and it is thawed, you tend to get more oils to stain seems in the skull.

I'm probably much more particular than most are for their deer skulls, so I spend quite a bit of time on mine or those for friends and family. I try to get the hide off and as much flesh as possible taken off the skull as quickly as possible. I macerate the skull in a big turkey pot on low heat for a couple of hours. If you have a pressure washer and especially a heated pressure washer, that typically works best. Like Bill had mentioned, be really careful with the pressure washer if you cannot control the pressure. Most of the time I just clean it manually with some picking tools and a garden hose. I like to change out the water several times when it is macerating, adding dawn dish soap each time. I do not add borax or anything else to the pot when it is cooking.

I use Salon Care Volume 40 Creme instead of mixing a paste. It is about the same cost and a little goes a long way. I've done about 15 skulls and still have half a bottle. One trick I've used is to use a full-spectrum grow light for the bleaching. You can use the sun, but when I'm doing the skulls in the fall/winter, there often isn't any and I like to bleach the skull as quickly as possible.

I have buried a few skulls and that is by far the easiest. I'm typically too impatient to wait for the spring to have the skull back, though. Also, I have had a few not bleach as well so I stopped doing that.

 

[Electrodigical]

I've boiled boar skulls, stunk up the house.
Put a doe skull in an eel pot and put it in the harbor for a few weeks. Effective, but stunk like rotten harbor bottom muck for a long long time. lol

 

[Telemark]

Use steam instead of water. You can use a turkey fryer or clam boiler with a hose to pipe steam into a trash bag with the skull in it. Tape the bag around the antler bases and set it on the teeth.

If you don't have that equipment, you can soak it in a bucket, just don't submerge the antlers. Buy a small cheap submersible aquarium heater to keep the temperature around 60 or 70. The flesh will all rot away in a few weeks.

Always dry your skull before bleaching. I let mine dry in a garage for about 4 weeks, then take it in the house for 2 weeks, before bleaching. Use only peroxide for bleaching the skull. The concentrated salon grade stuff is much better than the 3% liquid from the supermarket.

 

[buckdeer1]

I have done quite a few but a couple years ago a guy started doing them for 75.00 and you could pick up in a day or two. I was talking to him asking how many other skinned them before bringing to him and he said he likes it when they aren't skinned.The hot water creates steam under the hide and more meat comes off when he pressure washes them.I order a whitening powder from van dykes that is 100% better than just regular hydrogen peroxide

 

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I think my deer head pot is about 3 gallons. How much dish dawn is good to use? I find I get get a better simmer on with some tin foil covering the top. Might just cut antler holes in the lid this time If I can find the lid. MY burner has trouble getting a heavy flame, which is probably not a bad thing anyways.