Preparing a deers head advice?

[wannabe_keeper]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me. Last year i shot a nice fallow and kept the head with the intentions of mounting the antlers to a trophy board.

 

The head sat in the woods for 5/6 months and the fly's soon cleared away all the flesh and now i have a nice clean skull and antlers.

 

However...

 

I would like to know firstly how to make the skull nice and crisp white as at the moment it is quite dirty and not as white as the ones i saw at the CLA!

 

Also is there a guide as to where to make the cut to mount the skull on a board, I've seen good ones just below or halfway through the eye socket? What is best to cut it with?

 

And finally does anyone know where to get good but also cheap trophy boards as i looked on eBay but nothing seemed big enough for a fallow?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice,

 

H

[al4x]

Look on eBay for peroxide cream, I think the stuff I have is about 9% just brush it on the skull and leave for 12 hours and see what it's like. It might not come as clean as had you boiled it but it will be better. As for cutting I use a diamond blade on a grinder but its not exactly professional

[Scully]

Let us know how you get on. I have had a beautiful head of a roe buck wedged in a tree in our pen for almost two years now and it still looks as if a quick bit of mouth to mouth would get it back on its feet!

Was reluctant to bury it as the antlers are superb.

[al4x]

that will be a pain in the backside to get clean scully if its just dried on, I'd cut off what you can then cut the scull and soak and scrape the rest off probably with a knife then go down the peroxide route. But it won't ever come up brilliant white

[Scully]

Thanks for the advice;I should maybe give that a go,I think its gone as far as it will without work on my part.

[activeviii]

go to sally hairdressing supplies or somewhere similar. get the peroxide gel from there. its stronger and easier to use. dont over do the time as the bone will soften. if its not long enough you can always do again.

[pboro shot]

dont get it on antlers as they will bleach aswell go gentle around nose area bone here is very delicate

[Scully]

Many thanks all.

[malkiserow]

PM CamoKid on here ..... he is very good at this kind of stuff

[adam f]

I've always done mine fresh. Loads on info on the web about this.

 

Boil the head for 30 min or so, then scrape off as much as the flesh as you can. A selection of picks, knives, screwdrivers etc are all helpful. Then I got a 1l bottle of peroxide from eBay. A 1l ice cream tub is good for most roe heads, you'll need to improvise for a Sika or fallow etc. the bits of the head you can't cover with the peroxide, use tissue soaked in peroxide. This will bleach the skull white, the longer the whiter but don't go too long... Trial and error.

 

Wear gloves for the above bit. Peroxide is nasty stuff. Wash the skull well.

 

For cutting you can buy fancy jigs, but unless your submitting for CIC scoring, have a good look on the web and decide the line you want to cut it on. I use a hacksaw and just work carefully, ensuring a true, straight and level cut. Don't use a wood saw, you'll splinter the skull. A hacksaw is better.

 

Plenty of trophy mounts online for all species.

 

Personally, if you can work with wood.... What I did was source some wide (300mm ish) oak floorboards... Proper oak not laminate. Use the snowflake trick frm school where you fold a piece of a4 lengthways and design half a shield, open it out and bingo, you've got a perfectly symmetrical template. Trace it onto your timber, cut it out with a bandsaw or jigsaw, then run a router with with an ovilo or cornice cutter round the outside. Smooth it with glass paper and then give it a few coats of oil, linseed etc.

 

Use no nails to bind a piece of timber flush into the brain socket of the skull. Drill a hole and screw the head to it.

 

All done! A bit if a fuss, but I enjoy doing it and the end result looks fantastic!

[vampire]

Had a muntjac skull buried for a few months,put it in a bucket and poured boiling water over it and then scrubbed off all remaining flesh,stinky job but its clean,then i marked it up and cut it with a diamond blade,stinky job,had a nice bit of cherry wood but it didnt season well and splintered.

Still got to do the roe,cut it,then i will whiten and mount.

If anyone local wants a mounting board i could make one any shape.