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The process for making a European mount is really not complicated and it can be done in as little as a day. It's more tedious and time-consuming than it is difficult. For tools, here's what I use:
- Propane Boiler and 20-quart pot
- Dish Soap (some opt for clear dish soap)
- Flathead Screwdriver
- Needle-Nosed Pliers
- Caping Knife
- Pressure Washer
- Latex Gloves
- Peroxide Cream (40-volume)
Cleaning
Once the deer head is removed and caped, the process is pretty straightforward, starting with letting it soak submerged in water with a little dish soap overnight to saturate the meat so it's easier to scrape off. The soap also helps degrease the skull.
After caping and soaking, the next big step is to cut as much flesh, tissue, tendon, and brain matter as you can from off the skull. You'll also remove the jaw. This process usually takes me between 20 and 30 minutes, with a large part of that time spent trying to get all the brain matter out.
While I'm cutting the bulk of organic material off of the skull, I have the propane heater warming the water to just below boiling point in the 20-quart pot. Once I've scraped off as much meat as I can for this first round, I wrap the base of the antlers to just past the brow tines with plastic wrap and tape to help protect the antlers from discoloration or other visual alteration from prolonged direct exposure to the hot water.
After letting it simmer, take it out and hit it with the pressure washer to try and knock more of the meat and tissue from out of the trickier places, like the nasal cavity, and other cracks and crevices that are hard to get into with a knife or screwdriver.
After the pressure washer, you might need to scrape away more stubborn tissue from the skull surface, cracks, crevices, and cavities. A long, thin flathead screwdriver is my tool of choice for this, along with needle nose pliers to pull at the toughest pieces, though you can use a piece of wire, coat hanger, or whatever else works best for you.
When you've gotten as far as you can, resubmerge the skull for 30 more minutes and try again. You may not need to, but this process of soak, pressure wash and scrape can be repeated as many times as necessary to completely remove all tissue and meat from the skull.
Finally, after two or three cycles of this, I will soak it again overnight in a solution of water and dish soap.
Whitening
Whitening is the final stage. At this point, the skull should be clean and now you're basically just going to make it shine. This is done simply by applying a peroxide solution. I use a 40-volume peroxide cream that you can find pretty much anywhere that sells hair products. I ordered my bottle off of Amazon for a relatively cheap price.
You should wear gloves for this step, as you don't want to get this cream on your skin or clothes. A paintbrush makes a nice tool for applying the cream over the surface of the skull and into the cracks and crevices. I use a two-inch brush, since that's what I happen to have, though ideally you might use one smaller, such as a one-inch brush, in order to access those smaller cavities.
I also like to use a container to place the skull in, such as a plastic tub with plastic bag over it, to contain the peroxide cream and prevent spills or dripping - especially since you want to be pretty generous with how you apply the cream. I'll usually dump a healthy amount of cream right onto the top of the skull, then spread it around with the paintbrush. You want to be as thorough as possible and apply a copious amount of peroxide to the entire surface of the skull, including the underside. Sometimes I'll apply a second coat of peroxide cream after the first coat dries to get the skull even whiter. You do, however, want to be careful not to get peroxide on the antlers. Just be sure to stay underneath the antler bases.
A good tip is to do this on a warm, sunny day if possible. As soon as the skull is all painted up, if you can let it sit outside in that warm sun for the entire day, it dries faster, and the sun assists the bleaching process.
--Jared Mills
