how to make a european mount

DIY Deer Skull | How To Make Your Own European Mount

Have you ever wanted to learn how to make your very own European mount of your recent big game harvest But weren’t sure where to start? We’ll show you how easy it is!

6-point buck

The European mount is a great option for a buck you won’t be taking to the taxidermist. And, it can be done very inexpensively.

The European Mount | A Great DIY Opportunity

On a recent bow hunt trip to South Georgia, my partners and I had identified a wide 6-point with spindly antlers and very small brow tines, as a buck that we felt like would be a good one to go ahead and harvest if given the opportunity.

Well, that opportunity presented itself the very next morning, as I was able to able to take this buck with my bow at about 12 yards, which is always fun and always a blessing.

However, this management buck was not one I was going to take to the the taxidermist.

So, we felt like this would be a great opportunity to show those of you at home how to do your very own European mount.

The “euro mount” process is not near as difficult as it might seem. You can do the entire process as home for as little as $10.

How Much Will It Cost To Do A European Mount?

You might be wondering, how much will it cost to do a European mount? Well, if you’re willing to do it yourself, you can use some supplies you already have around that house and most likely do your own for about $10!

So, let’s take a look at what you’ll need…

Supplies You’ll Need To Make A European Deer Mount

We’ve got a few essential materials that you will need to do European mount. I will go through those with you in just a second.

I want you to know that I’m not a taxidermist. I’m not a professional doing this. But, I have done it several times and over the years and through trial and error, have figured out some of the best practices in doing a Euro mount.

items for euro mount

It doesn’t have to be expensive! You can make your own Euro mount for around $10!

I’ve gotten the product where it has turned out almost as good as what you would get from a taxidermist. So, hopefully this video helps you out.

A few supplies that you are going to need to the European mount are obviously, a knife to skin the head from the skull, a good set of forceps, a screw driver.

You will also need two quarts of hydrogen peroxide and some liquid dish soap. You’ll also need some dark wood stain, masking tape, clear shrink wrap, and a pitcher or a big cup to add water to the pot as it’s boiling.

  • Knife for skinning
  • Forceps
  • Screwdriver
  • 2 Quarts Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Liquid Dish Soap
  • Dark Wood Stain
  • Masking Tape
  • Clear Shrink Wrap
  • Water Pitcher

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How To Make A Euro Mount Step-By-Step

boiling deer skull

In just 5 hours, you can have a European mount for your deer skull that you can be proud of.

Time needed: 5 hours

How to do your own European mount…

  1. Remove the skin of the deer head

    Using your knife, remove the skin from the deer head and remove the lower jaw.

  2. Boil the skull

    Add 1/4 cup (for other measurements, you can convert ml to mg also) of liquid dish soap to the water in the pot you will boil the skull in. On a very slow boil, simmer the skull for 4 hours.

  3. Remove tissue

    After you remove the skull from the water, use your knife and forceps to remove eyes, tissue and tendons from the skull. Use the screwdriver to remove the ear buds so you can access the brain cavity. Remove the sinus tissue with the forceps. Use a water hose to spray in the brain cavity to remove the brain tissue.

  4. Add Peroxide

    Add 2 quarts of hydrogen peroxide to your boiling water.

  5. Wrap antlers

    Use shrink wrap to wrap around the bases of the antlers to protect them from being bleached. Secure the plastic wrap with masking tape.

  6. Boil skull again for 30 minutes

    Put the skull back in the water containing the peroxide for another 30 minutes.

  7. Remove shrink wrap and touch up as needed

    Remove the deer skull from the boiling water and touch up the bases of the antlers with the dark wood stain if there has been any bleaching.

Read a more detailed set of instructions on making the Euro mount in the sections below:

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Time Requirements

This whole process will take about 5 hours. You will boil the skull on a very low boil for 4 hours. Then, you’ll need to budget about 30 minutes or an hour for cleanup and for bleaching the skull (bleaching will take about 30 minutes.)

The key to the process is the 4 hour boiling time. If you do it for 3 hours, it’s not going to come off as good. Slow simmer for 4 hours works best. If you boil it too hard, it’s going to weaken the bone and you’re going to break some bones. So, be sure it’s a slow simmer. Don’ try to do it too fast.

Learn how to identify other animal skulls HERE!

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Remove Meat and Tendons

removing tissue from deer skull

After boiling, remove the eyes and the tissue from the skull.

After 4 hours of boiling the skull in the liquid dish soap, the meat around the skull will be very tender. You just work your knife in and remove the meat and the tendons as best as you can. Much of the meat will just fall away during this process.

You don’t want to get too aggressive with it because you can pop a bone loose.

The most aggravating part is around the eye sockets because all the eye sockets connect to the inside of the skull in the brain (we’ll cover how we are going to get the brains out shortly) and it makes them a little bit harder to get to.

Remove The Ear Buds

All After you’ve gotten all the meat scraped off, it’s now time to pop the ear buds out. This is how we get the brains out.

Take your screwdriver and work it around in the ear buds and pop them out.

Freak accident while shooting bow!

Remove Sinus Tissue

removing sinus tissue from deer skull

Remove the sinus tissue from the from the skull with forceps.

Now use the forceps to remove all the sinus tissue.

You need to get everything out of the sinus cavity because anything that you leave, will cause the bone to turn yellow. It may take two or three years for it to happen, but I’ve had it happen.

Be gentle while the skull is hot, because if you are too rough while removing the tissue, you could break the bone.

And, if you do break the bone, don’t worry. Sometimes the bones at the bottom of the nose will come loose if these tendons get cooked too long. If they do, you can put them back with super glue. So, don’t worry if they come off. You can super glue them back.

Get as much of the sinus tissue as you can from the front side and then you can get the rest under the brain cavity.

Remove The Brain

rinsing out deer skull brain

Use a water hose to rinse out the brain cavity.

Once you get the ear buds popped out and you get the sinus cleaned out, you’re going to need a water hose to rinse out the brain tissue.

Some people will use a pressure washer for this step. I don’t like using a pressure washer because if you’re not careful, you can damage the bone.

Put the water hose into the hole where the brain is located and flush out the brain matter. Anything left over will break loose once we boil the skull for the second time in the peroxide.

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Prep Antlers And Boil Skull In Peroxide

antlers in pot with peroxide

Wrap antlers in shrink wrap and masking tape and boil a second time for 30 minutes.

Once you are finished rinsing the brain matter out of the brain cavity, it’s time to boil the skull for a second time in order to bleach the bone white.

Add two quarts of hydrogen peroxide to the existing pot of water.

NOTE: Some people will ask, “can I use bleach on the euro mount instead of peroxide?” You should never use bleach on your Euro mount, as it will erode the bone. So, stick with the peroxide!

Wrap the base of each antler tightly with shrink wrap and secure it with masking tape. There’s not really any particular way that you need to do this other than to just get them wrapped from the base up to the bottom of the brow tine.

Once the skull is placed into the boiling water, the plastic wrap will shrink tightly to the antlers and keep out the majority of the water. Some water may find its way through and that’s why we have the dark stain.

We can come back and if some of these darker parts around the base get bleached a little bit, we just use a q-tip to re-color it and you’ll never know the difference.

Once the antlers have been adequately wrapped, place the skull back into the boiling water and peroxide for 30 minutes.

The Finishing Touches

After the 30-minute boil in the peroxide and water, remove the skull and take the plastic wrap off.

touching up bleached antlersq

Touch up any bleached areas of the antler base with wood stain and Q-Tip.

The plastic wrap will seem sticky and gummy, sticking tightly to the antlers. And, that’s what you wanted to do because that keeps the peroxide off of the antlers and prevents it from bleaching.

If there has been any unwanted bleaching on the base of the antlers, use a very small amount of the dark wood stain and apply to those areas with a q-tip. You can repeat as many times as you like to get the desired darkness.

But, how do you get the skin off the skull initially?

I wanted to go back and cover the preparation process of the skull before you even start to boil it.

Obviously, you have to cut the deer’s head off. And preferably, you would want to cut it at the last vertebra that connects to the back of the skull. (Normally what happens because the deer’s neck and ears compressed on the spine, is that most people naturally cut about one vertebra back, so you have to two things to cut off before you can start boiling the skull.)

brain lobe of deer skull

To remove the last vertebra, cut just behind the brain lobe as pictured here.

The place you want to be careful about is this lobe on the back of the skull where the brains are. Be careful not to cut into that lobe. Just use it as a guiding point as you cut. Once you cut around it, you will be able to remove the last vertebra.

But while the deer head is lying on the ground, get your knife between the teeth and just cut back toward the back of the head. There’s going to be meat back there, so you want to cut that on both sides, so that you can open the deer’s mouth.

Once you’ve cut, pull the jaw all the way back until the bones that joined up under the brain cavity are loosened. Then then you can remove the meat from around those bones and pop that bottom jaw off.

Now, you are ready to start boiling!

Conclusion

We hope you’ve enjoyed this instructional article and video on how to do your very own European mount. We hope you have a great deer hunting season, and remember… where moments happen, we’ll meet you there!

Euro Mount Instructional Video

BONUS: Watch N1 Outdoors® co-founder, Josh Wells, teach you the Euro mount process, step-by-step! Be sure you watch to the end of the video where Josh teaches you how to prep the head and the skull for this process that he shows you. We hope you learn something. Link below… enjoy!

Check out this euro mount instructional video!

view from underneath lock on deer stand

Wearing Out Your Welcome | Ruining Good Deer Stand Locations

By: Jerald Kopp

Whitetail hotspots… everybody seems to have them, yet many have a hard time understanding them. I know I’ve made my share of mistakes hunting the coveted areas of different properties over my many seasons of chasing deer.

On small and large properties alike, there have always been those special locations where the most deer were seen and the best bucks taken.

For years, my dad, brother and I hunted a 30-acre property with three stands; and one “hot spot.” Most hunting weekends meant stiff competition for that magical stand – and if you happened to have the place to yourself, there was nothing to keep you out of it.

muddy box stand in woods

Everyone has their “favorite” stand, but are you wearing out your welcome “using it up” by hunting it during less than optimal conditions?

Years of seeing the best bucks from this stand ruled our brains. However, after a few seasons, the cold realization set in that our encounters with the best bucks occurred almost exclusively during the peak rut. Nothing real profound there.

The fact was, we hadn’t really taken many big mature bucks from the stand since the first three or four years. Only after the biggest buck ever taken from the place was shot from the other stand did the wheels start to turn.

The hunting gusto of my younger years represented a time when, less educated, I thought I was bullet-proof in the woods. I thought I had it all figured out.  This was an era when I wanted to shoot the biggest buck without really having to work at it.

Sure, it took getting up early in the morning and braving the cold weather, but that was about it. I quickly learned that much of my whitetail hunting ways needed rethinking – or thinking at all. Further, I started to realize that whitetail hunting is much more of a chess match than a free-for-all.

No more scrambling for the “good stand,” regardless of hunting conditions. A hunt-smarter mantra overtook my hunt-often mindset.

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Are You Getting A Deer Education or Just Educating Deer?

Perhaps the most essential shift in thinking was realizing that I was habitually educating way too many deer to my presence.

My aha moments finding rubs and trails were really nothing more than sloppy field trips. What was worse was my half hazard route selection when traversing to and from this honey-hole stand. The same could be said about the other properties we hunted.

aerial map of hunting area

It’s critical to consider wind direction and how it pertains to your planned entry and exit routes to your stand or hunting location.

Stand locations were based on the best buck sign and past experiences with little regard for prevailing winds and entry and exit routes. If I was sitting over a rub line – or for that matter a urine-soaked cotton ball, I was golden.

When the buck sightings didn’t materialize (or came to a halt), I assumed the deer had simply changed their patterns. And I continued to taint the woods like an open tank of gasoline.

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Coming to My Senses

Like the deer I hunted, I started to exercise more caution and logic. The fact is that, though all deer have great senses, they continually get better with age – especially bucks.

I had heard these things from other hunters and read about them in magazines. In fact, my father had often preached these basic facts. However, with a few bucks under my belt, I had just chosen to ignore them.

After this reckoning, I finally made the decision to maximize my time in the woods.

learn DIY euro mounts!

Applying the Basics

First, I started to employ simple tactics in response to deer and their innate abilities.

So, how do you keep from compromising your best hunting setups during the season?

First, regardless of property size, prepare multiple setups for different wind directions. This will usually provide a good hunting alternative for a given day’s conditions. If possible, vow to never hunt a stand during marginal wind situations.

hand holding antlers

As bucks get older, it gets tougher to fool them. Be sure not to over hunt your best stand locations, or to hunt them in less than optimal conditions.

Next, consider ahead of time how you will enter and exit the stand. Hopefully, some stands are set up within a heavy travel corridor between food sources and/or bedding areas. However, with this positive placement comes a higher chance of disturbing the peace.

If your entry or exit will likely upset the area, be resolute about finding an alternative spot nearby. If not, hunt another area or make the dreaded, yet sometimes necessary decision to stay in.

Maximizing Your Sits

Longer sessions in your blind or treestand can pay real dividends. It’s common knowledge that it’s a great strategy during the rut, as it increases your chances of catching a buck that is either cruising or on the heals of a hot doe.

The fact is, if you have the time, it’s a great practice from a pressure standpoint as well.

The best scent management doesn’t come from a bottle. If you have an all-day sit, you eliminate additional entry and exits to and from your stand. So, consider exercising addition by subtraction by settling in for longer hunts, hence applying less pressure to the areas around your most precious setups.

Conclusion

Few stands offer even near perfect advantage for the hunter. The save-a-stand-for-best-conditions approach works. Particularly if you are hunting an exceptionally old and impressive buck, use this philosophy and completely ignore your best setups until favorable dates.

There is only one first time to hunt a stand during the season. Saving it for a time when bucks are seeking does is great, but there are more things to mull over. When you do, you greatly improve your chances at even seeing your hit-list buck.

And, you just might get that coveted shot at him. 

jerald kopp of first light hunting journal
Jerald Kopp, of 1st Light Hunting Journal and Empowerment Outfitter Network.
taxidermy shop with antlers on ceiling

Choosing The Right Taxidermist | There’s More To It Than You Think

– By D. Price

Okay, I know many of you ask yourself, “how do I go about choosing the right taxidermist,” am I correct?

Of course, you could just speak into your phone an say, “taxidermist near me.”

But, that’s not going to tell you what you really need to know.

In this article, I’m going to explain what you should be looking for in a taxidermist that you will be contracting to mount your trophy of a lifetime.

Just like anything else, first impressions are everything. If something doesn’t sound, look or even feel right, always trust your gut.

pronghorn mount

Your trophy is worth you putting in the time to find out some specifics about the taxidermist you are planning to use.

Questions That Need Answers When Choosing a Taxidermist

The answers to the following questions do not necessarily determine whether a taxidermist is competent or incompetent. However, you might learn enough to know whether or not you feel comfortable enough to risk putting your trophy in that person’s hands.

Is The Taxidermist “Online?”

In this technology-dominated era, one question worth finding out is, does the taxidermist you are considering for your trophy have an internet presence?

These days, almost all legit companies have some sort of online footprint, whether it be a fancy website, or a social media business account. So, do your homework!

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What Is Their Contact Information?

Does the taxidermist you are considering have a dedicated business landline? If the answer is no, this is not necessarily a deal breaker, but it could be a sign of cutting corners if it is their home phone or a mobile phone only.

Do they have a local area code for their business phone number?  If not, it could mean that this person moves a lot, bouncing around and taking deposits and trophies with them and just never changing their contact information.

There are a lot of “here today, gone tomorrow” taxidermists out there. So, be careful!

Would catfish caught like THIS deserve a special mount?

What Type Of Payments Are Accepted?

A very important question to find out the answer to is, does this taxidermist accept only cash and/or ask for full payment upfront?

Now, you can always expect to pay a deposit before the work is started, but usually 50% is sufficient.

Demanding full payment up front and/or only accepting cash is a big red flag!

antlers and cape of deer

Paying a taxidermist in full before doing the work could lead to your work going unfinished for long periods of time.

Being paid in full could give a taxidermist little incentive to complete your project in a timely manner, or in extreme cases, complete it at all!

Cash only transactions could mean they are hiding, or trying to hide, something from the IRS or the bank. There is no reason to not at least accept a personal check or even credit/debit cards.

If they are running from the IRS, they could easily disappear on you.

Also, make sure you sign a work order or contract with them on the work to be done. This agreement should explain in detail what is expected in the end-product, as well as the deposit paid and balance due. This will help to keep both you and the taxidermist on the same page regarding your requests and desires for your trophy mount.

What To Look For In Quality Taxidermy

Now that we have the business end of the matter out of the way, let’s discuss quality.

There are many levels of quality in taxidermy, just as there are in any other service industry such as home repairs, mechanics, restaurants, lawn care, etc.

Are you looking at getting your buddy that practices taxidermy on the side or as a hobby to mount your trophy whitetail? Or, are you looking a high-end professional job when it is all said and done?

taxidermist working on deer mount

In taxidermy, the old adage is typically true… You get what you pay for.

Remember, this is something that you are going to display in your home or office that reminds you of a memory of a special moment in your past. You will be looking at this “piece of art” for the rest of your life. So, think it through.

There are taxidermists out there for everyone’s expectations as well as budgets. But, don’t have high expectations on a low-budget and do not settle for shoddy work when paying premium prices. It’s up to you to determine what you want, and what you are willing to pay for, in your taxidermy work.

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Taxidermy Details (There’s More To It Than You Think!)

On to the work itself! Are you looking for standard, what we call “straight out of the box” taxidermy?

Or, are you wanting custom, all the bells and whistles taxidermy, that gives you and your guests the “WOW” factor when walking into the room to see it? Again, this is your decision to make, and it’s your money you are spending.

Some of you may be thinking, “what are the ‘bells and whistles’ in taxidermy? After all, a deer head is a deer head. A life-size bear is a life-size bear, right?”

Wrong!

deer hunting tips buck header

When you harvest the “one” you’ve been hunting for so long, don’t let just anyone do your mount.

All taxidermy work is not created equal! For instance, do you want your finished whitetail mount to have a solid jet black nose? Or, do you want to have the nose look realistic and show all the depth and colors that are really in a deer nose (believe it or not a whitetails nose is not solid black)?

Do you want the high-end glass eyes that look alive with white banding and veining detailed into them? Or, do you want generic, solid brown or black plastic eyes, just to fill the void in the mount?

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What about your mountain lion or grizzly bear, even something smaller like a fox, bobcat or coyote? Do you want them to look realistic and alive, or look like a cartoon character having a bad day? Because, you can get either one.

These are all things you NEED to discuss beforehand with the taxidermist to make sure he/she can meet your expectations.

Don’t go by the ad they have in a magazine, on a billboard sign with trophies and ribbons in the back ground, or their website covered with competition pieces they have put hundreds of hours into to get those plaques and awards.

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Be A Detective

Go into the taxidermist’s showroom and view other clientele’s work that is waiting to be picked up. Go view someone else’s mount in their home that has been completed by the taxidermist in question.

You want to see what goes out of the shop on a day-to-day basis and make your decision based on those pieces, as opposed to the ones that were meticulously done with the intent of pleasing a judge at a convention and had professional photographers doing photo shoots for the website or ads.

I’m not saying that the competition pieces are a fluke, but it’s worth questioning whether a taxidermist produces, within reason, the same high quality, eye-pleasing work for everyday customers.

More To Consider When Choosing a Taxidermist

man working on taxidermy mount

Not all mounts are created equal. Be sure you have asked your taxidermy candidates the detailed questions for deciding who to go with.

There are some more things to consider when choosing the taxidermist you would like to handle your work.

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What Is Their Niche?

All taxidermist have their niche. They may not admit it, but they do.

So, just because taxidermist (A) does an awesome job on your trophy mule deer from your Wyoming hunt last fall, do not automatically assume he/she will do a high-quality job on that largemouth bass or giant catfish you just caught out of your private farm pond, or that beautiful pintail drake you harvested back in the winter on that frigid coastal morning you’ll never forget. You very well may need to get taxidermist (B) and maybe even taxidermist (C) involved to take care of these projects for you.

Also, you do not have to settle for the local guy if his work is not up to your standards. Trophies are shipped all around the world daily, so don’t think you are limited to a certain area.

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When Your Trophy Is Not In Your Town

If you are planning an out of state or even out of the country hunt, and you are using a taxidermist in your hometown, check with them to see about expediting your skins, trophy antlers and/or horns back to you, or to the taxidermy shop, BEFORE you leave for the hunt. They should know all the ins and outs of taking care of these sort of things.

Likewise, if you are using a taxidermist local to where you will be hunting, inquire about the cost and process of getting your trophies back home before you leave them. Failing to find out the answer to this question could cost you big money, or even worse, the loss of your mounts.

squirrel mount

Be sure that you take the time to choose the right taxidermist, so that your unforgettable memory can be viewed by all for years to come.

Turnaround Time

Turnaround time to get your work back is another big issue for most hunters and taxidermists alike.

Always ask when you can expect to get your trophies back. Keep in mind it is an estimated time frame.

So many things can happen between drop-off and pick-up that are out of the control of both parties. For example, work load, illness, weather, family issues, can all affect turnaround time.

No one wants to hear excuses for why something doesn’t go as planned, but if your taxidermist gives you a completion time of six months, don’t call them at the four month mark asking, “Hey, just checking on the progress…” Give them the six months you agreed upon.

Likewise, if he/she gives you a one-year turnaround time frame (and you don’t have a problem with it), and a year goes by without an update, by all means give them a follow up call and they should be able to give you a much more accurate completion time at that point.

If the turnaround time is an issue for you and you would like to get it back sooner, most taxidermists offer a rush service, and for an extra fee will jump your project in front of others and give you a certain pick-up date for the extra charge.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to choose the right person for your taxidermy job. Just like the time and money you put into your hunting food plots, equipment, traveling, scouting and guide services, you should also expect to put that same effort into your search for the right taxidermist for the trophies you harvest and would like to mount. The animal deserves that from you.

Just as you put in the legwork for that once in a lifetime buck, put that same effort into preserving that memory for a lifetime.

Happy and safe hunting and fishing to everyone!

D. Price, Outback Taxidermy

www.outbacktaxidermy.net

919-562-4280

D. Price of Outback Taxidermy. Follow on Instagram