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European Mount

Several ways to take flesh off. I did one first time last yr. Get all off the skull first with a knife,eye balls, tongue. then boil, not rolling boil, though ,,for about 20 minutes in a big pot,keepin antlers out as much as possible. Put some dish soap in the water for some degreasing. Then take out let it dry, and I took knives,wire brush, finally sand paper, to get all the flesh off. Some use power washer. Got to scoop out brains, and all the crud up in the nasal cavity. I read on taxidermy site, then to soak inLaquer thinner for couple days to draw all the oil out of the bone. Not sure if required but I did it. finally got the bleaching kit from Taxidern catalog, like Mckenzie. Basically a peroxide paste. After that, brushed off ,,it's done! A little white paint if not white enough for ya,,but it is done. Down in brain cavity and nasal cavity, you might think still smells a little. I rinsed with more thinner, and some bleach. Finally I stuffed some cedar down in there, and left for a few days. No smells anymore after that.
 
Our euro's we didn't even bleach so they still have a bit of a darker stain to it but IMO it looks better. All we did was boil the flesh off in a old turkey boiler. Every half hour or so take the head out and start cutting away at the flesh. Once you get as much as you can off stick it back in and do it again later. I also found that taking a air hose to it helps clean it off faster once you've had it in for a couple hours. Just make sure you get some kind of mask and keep your mouth shut when your blowing on it and be careful not to blow to hard in the nasal area. It is a really fragile spot.
 
We just boiled the head in water with dawn dishsoap mixed in for about 25 minutes. Then take the head out and scrape and cut away at the meat. Repeat that till its clean. A wire brush really helped us out and also a small screwdriver to dig into the brain. Didnt bleach them and they look great.
 
If you aren't in a hurry and have a place to do it, I have been putting my heads into a large rubbermaid tub filled with water and letting the meat rot off. I put them in now and check in the spring. Normally I replace the water 1-2 times. Like I said, you have to do it someplace where the smell won't bother anyone or where someone won't walk off with it. Normally after 1 water change and a few months, by the following June/July I pull it out, rinse it really well with a hose and let it dry. It will stink for a week, but after sitting out drying it will go away. I then use a peroxide / white powder mix on them ( I order it from Cabelas). For me, it's less work. If you want it done soon, then boil it.
 
i have one of those buck boiler buckets for boiling skulls, it works pretty good. i can cut the head off the deer, put skin and all in the bucket and plug it in for about 10hrs. (about 6 hrs. if you skin it) and pull it out and everything falls off and i wash it off good (a little brushing) and when it dries i use 40 vol peroxide and paste it on the skull for whitening.
 
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