Skull mounts, also known as a European mount or Euro mount, have long been a great way to preserve and display a memorable deer harvest. Back in a time when it was difficult to preserve animals and taxidermy practices weren’t as good as they are now, skull mounts became a popular option in Europe – hence the reason they are now called “European” mounts.
Taxidermy today is an art. There are many skilled taxidermists who have an uncanny ability to make “stuffed” animals look like they are about to move or blink. Skull mounts are a completely different way to display the animal you proudly harvested than the traditional taxidermy. There are a few different techniques used by taxidermists to clean a deer skull to make a European mount into those awesome displays. Here’s how to do it yourself with a few tips from the professionals.
European Mount Tools
There are several items needed to clean a deer skull that should be rounded up before you begin the process. Here are the required items:
- Knife or scalpel
- Large stock pot
- Propane or electric burner
- Dish soap or laundry detergent
- Tie wire
- Electrical tape, cling wrap, or painter’s tape
- Hammer and flat screwdriver
- Needle-nose pliers
- 2 X 4 – short enough to fit down in stock pot
Optional Needs
Here are some optional items you may need, depending on which final preparation you choose:
- Pressure Washer
- Oscillating tip for Power Washer Wand
- Baking Soda
- 20 Volume Creme Developer
- Mod Podge matte & brush
- Clear spray paint
- White spray paint
- Super glue
- Wood stain – dark leather color
The Boiling Method
For the traditional boiling method of cleaning a deer skull, I asked the good folks at Ozark Mountain Outdoors Taxidermy and Archery their process and a few tips and tricks of the trade.
First, skin out deer head and face. *Pro Tip – Skin the deer head as quickly as possible from the time of harvest. Do not leave the head out in the elements for days. Also, make sure you abide by state and local laws in regard to carcass transport when moving deer parts. To avoid transporting chronic wasting disease (CWD), you should not transport deer or elk brain matter, eyes and other organs across state lines, regardless of the state, or out of CWD management zones. Therefore, a deer head will have to be cleaned completely for a European mount before it leaves the state where it was harvested, or before it leaves the county where it was harvested if taken in a CWD management zone.
If you can’t skin and clean the skull right away, put it in a freezer or a bucket of water to keep it from drying out. Once you are ready to skin out the deer head, thaw it out if it was in the freezer, or remove it from the bucket of water and begin skinning. This will keep the blood from soaking into the bone or dehydrating the skull which can cause discoloration.
Separate the skull from the atlas bone (the last vertebrae in the neck that connects to the skull). You can use a flat blade screwdriver and hammer to pop these bones apart. Remove as much of the flesh as possible from the skull by hand. Also, remove the brain through the foramen magnum (Latin for “big hole”) in the back of the skull by using long needle-nose pliers. The eyes, lower jawbone and tongue should be removed during this step as well. The more flesh removed during this step, the easier the remaining steps will be.
Use wire to tie the antlers in place above the pot so they don’t fall too far into the pot. As a precautionary option, a piece of 2×4 can be placed in the bottom of the pot so the nose of the deer skull does not come in direct contact with the bottom of the pot, which can lead to burning or discoloration.
Prepare water in the stock pot so the water level doesn’t quite touch the bottom burrs of the antlers. Add 1 cup of laundry detergent or a couple tablespoons of liquid dish soap to the water. This will act as a degreaser. One pound of baking soda could also be added to the water to help with any odors and to help soften the tissue.
Bring water temperature up to just under a boil (water boiling point is 212°F). You do not want the water to be a rolling boil, but rather a hot and steamy bath for the skull. *Pro Tip – some taxidermists prefer a lower temperature, 80° to 90°, for a slower “cook” on the skull, which could help protect some of the fragile nasal cavity bones better, but it takes longer.
Continue to monitor for 4-6 hours and keep the water level just shy of the bottom of the antler burrs, adding water as needed.
Immediately after the 4-6 hour hot water bath, try to remove the remaining meat from the skull. If you have a pressure washer, this is the time to use it! Use electrical or painter’s tape and cling wrap to “tape off” the bottom part of the antlers so you don’t discolor them. Remember to only spray from the back of the skull forward with the pressure washer or you could risk damaging the fragile nasal cavity bones of the deer. If you don’t have a pressure washer, use needle nose pliers to remove any remaining meat on the skull. You might have to put the skull back into the hot water bath to help loosen it up. This method can be repeated until all of the remaining meat is off of the skull.
Whitening a European Mount
Some folks like the basic yellowed natural bone look and others like a whiter skull to look like it has been bleached in the sun. To each their own. Here is a good way to whiten or brighten the skull if you’d like after removing all of the meat from the skull:
Brush on a 20 Volume Crème Developer onto the skull and let sit for 6-8 hours. Rinse skull thoroughly with hot water after waiting the 6-8 hours after whitening treatment. Let the skull “sun dry” for a couple of days in a secure location so rodents or other animals won’t damage the skull or antlers.
Other Treatment Options
Another way to preserve the skull or add a little more decorative option to your European mount: Brush on Mod Podge matte to everything but the antlers to provide an overall seal on the skull. This will also help keep the teeth “glued” in place a little better. Super glue can also be applied to the teeth to keep them from falling out if you wish.
After the Mod Podge has dried, you could add a spray paint clear coat on everything (even the antlers) for a finishing touch. *Pro Tip – If you accidentally bleach out the bases of your antlers, you can lightly brush on some Dark Leather colored wood stain to try and match the normal antler color that was lost.
Beetle Method
Dermestid beetles are another option. This is a very smelly option, but the beetles do an amazing job of cleaning a skull of all the meat. Beetling takes longer than the traditional boiling method, but the beetles are much more delicate in their process and the fragile bones in the nasal cavity are well preserved. The boiling method with hand cleaning or power washing rarely completely protects those delicate bones.
These beetles are generally not kept by the average person wanting to do a European mount, but rather by taxidermists who do multiple skull mounts per year. The amount of effort, time, space, and smell usually isn’t worth keeping beetles to the average hunter. There is a reason why taxidermists can charge higher prices for their art as well as for a beetled skull mount!
DIY European Mount
European skull mounts are a very popular and nice decorative way to display the animal you’ve harvested. It is a “trophy” to display that can lead to the more coveted story behind the hunt and harvest. There are a couple of different ways to clean a skull for a European mount along with other “artistic” things, like whitening, that can be done to enhance the mount to your liking. You can have a taxidermist create a European mount for you or it can be a DIY project if you have the time, tools, and patience to try it yourself.