From the field to the Trophy Wall.

[Double S]

DO NOT BOIL. Cut and scrape off as much flesh as possible. Place skull in pot with Sal Soda and water. Make sure skull is completely submerged. Bring the solution to a boil and then turn down the heat to a slow SIMMER. After an hour or so check the skull and change the water. Let the skull simmer another 45 minutes to an hour. Then remove skull and rinse thoroughly. Any flesh left on the skull will have turned to jelly. Scrape off remaining flesh and rinse again. I like to cut a rectangle behind the skull large enough to fit a 1x2 piece of wood that will become the anchor to attach to the plaque. It's easier to use Compressed air to blow out the brain and stuff through the 1x2 rectangular hole. I also blow out the gunk down the nostril too with compressed air. make sure you don't cut to deep into the skull while removing the flesh. You could end up with cut marks in the skull.






Degrease the skull by soaking in a good degreaser such as Van Clean, Eliminator, or Super Safety Solvent. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours will usually be long enough on most skulls, although some may take a little longer. At this point wash in Dawn dish soap and rinse.


To me Continued.....

[gravedigger]

very nice.for a second there i thought this was a way to cook it up..lol

[Double S]

Mix together some Basic White and Peroxide to a thick paste. Use this to paint the skull. Let this sit for 12 to 24 hours. Then dust off dried powder.

Set the skull out in the sun for up to three days to achieve bleaching affect from peroxide.

Glue around teeth to keep from coming loose in time.

Spray skull with fungicidal sealer to keep bone from decomposing.

(Optional) If you want a wet skull look, spray with a high gloss lacquer spray.

Have a 1x2 about 3-4 inches long at the ready and drill some holes on one end for the Bondo to attach too. Fill the Skull cavity with bondo and insert the 1x2 block. Turn over and place on a level surface to level the skull and make sure it's even on the block. Let it cure for an hour or two. After it has cured. Clean off any excess bondo if necessary. You can use some flat white spray paint and lightly blend in the bondo to the color of the skull. Don't go too crazy or you'll end up with over spray on the Skull itself. Pre-drill two mounting holes that will attach to your plate or plaque. Spray the wood block if you like to match the white of the skull.

[Double S]

I did wash the Antlers down earlier in the boiling process with Dish soap and water. The Antlers had blood on it from the velvet. It's your choice if you want to keep it that way or clean it and stain it later. I ended up cleaning the antlers and Buying some Antler stain from Van Dykes taxidermy and lightly staining the Antlers to my liking.

Here's the finished product. I made a outline of the Magnus 2 blade BH I used on the deer as the outline for my plaque.






Parts of the Instructions are from the Van Dykes taxidermy website and tid bits from Taxidermy.net
WARNING The Van Dyke taxidermy instructions that I have state that....Do not use this method for cleaning large Skulls that may be record book Pope and Young and Boone and Crocket. The boiling could cause the Zygomatic arch to break invalidating any measurements.

[gravedigger]

that just turned out too cool looking.thanks a bunch for showing how its done

[Double S]

that just turned out too cool looking.thanks a bunch for showing how its done

Thanks Chris.

On another note. When it comes to the plaques, Plates.... go crazy. it's easier to buy a plaque kit at the big box hunting store but then most of your plaques will look the same as you stare at your trophy wall. If that's how people like theirs...go for it. I want to make all my plaques look different from the others. I sometimes like to add pics of the kill onto my plaques. I already know I'm gonna do with my next Euro mount. I'm gonna scrounge up some old fallen wood fence post that 20-30 years old. there's many around that farmers and homesteaders leave lying around and just add new fencing up against it. So I'll pick up some broken ones, wrap some barb wire around it and attach the skull to the old post. I cut the old post in half if it's still round so that I can hang it to the wall.

Here's another Plaque i done. It looks simple in shape but I added a spot for a Picture of the kill with my Son and I. Plus I added a spot for the actual arrow and BH I used in the kill. it had gone through and broke off when the Deer bucked up and took off. So i cleaned up the arrow shaft, cut it shorter and added the actual BH I used...a 100 grain Montec and the Fob.

[Hutch~n~Son Archery]

Nice tutorial of how its done cool! With the photo it will be a great memory.


Hutch

[RLW]

Good job.....good buck......and good instructions

I decided to try that for the first time on an old mulie buck I got a few years ago. Didn't do quite as nice of job (or as a buck) as you show here, but it came out alright. Cleaning out that nose cavity while is was boiling was the nasty part for me.
Went to a local hobby shop found a simple oval plaque, stained it (lighter than pic shows) and glued on picture with date.

[Double S]

Looks good RLW. A sweet buck to boot. I liked using the compressed air...I just made sure to use a trash can and cover it up when blowing the gunk out.

Good job.....good buck......and good instructions

I decided to try that for the first time on an old mulie buck I got a few years ago. Didn't do quite as nice of job (or as a buck) as you show here, but it came out alright. Cleaning out that nose cavity while is was boiling was the nasty part for me.
Went to a local hobby shop found a simple oval plaque, stained it (lighter than pic shows) and glued on picture with date.