TEXAS Mount

[fly]

Finally finished the Texas mount for my October  2017 Crossbow buck. Boiling is such a time consuming process but it’s always nice having one displayed you did your self.

[wtnhunt]

Turned out nice Frank.  How did you do yours?

Last one I did, I let go just a little too long and some of the bones came loose.  I have several I need to clean up, the galvanized bucket I used started leaking from the side seam so need a new one.

  

[MUDRUNNER]

Turned out nice Frank! I always talk about doing it myself, but don't think I would have the patience to get the job done right.

Out of curiosity what do you do with your euro mounts? I have a pretty decent collection scattered around the house but no real good way of displaying them.

[fly]

Tim, I have 5 and have them hanging on walls throughout the house. One is in hanging in the basement because I cooked it to long as William mentioned. Several of the bones and teeth fell away from the skull and it looks terrible.

I did this one by first cutting off the head of the deer after skinning. I then removed as much meat (and eyeballs) with my knife as I could. I then wrap the base of the antlers in foil (keeps them dark). Then I use my turkey fryer burner (outside) to SLOWLY boil the head in water. I add a few scoops of borax. The top of the skull needs to be submerged to the level of the antler bases where the foil is. After a few hours I remove the skull and scramble the brains with a screwdriver. I then shake it to remove the brain. I then cut away more meat. A few days later I’ll boil again in the same manner. If you boil it on too high of a heat the teeth will fall out. Light boil only and not more than 3 hours at a time. You may need to do it multiple times to ensure all the meat is off. I then place in the sun and brush the 40 volume peroxide on it and let it sit all day. Then hose off and remove the foil.  I've heard taking it to the car wash and pressure washing it works well but I'm afraid it might damage the bones in the nose.

Edited August 29, 2018 by fly

[Ravin R10 man]

got my bow buck form last season to do, looks like you did a super job there Frank.

[Maine Hntr]

I did that the first time myself last year, came out nice, you do have to be careful how long you boil, I didn't really lose anything but did have a couple teeth start to loosen up. I power washed mine with a husky electric power washer , it didn't ruin anything, it really helped get the brain matter out of all the crevices, that was the most time consuming part of anything in my opinion. 

[RangerClay]

Nice work!