# European Mount



## sickle (Apr 15, 2004)

I've pretty much made up my mind that I want to do a European Mount with a camo dip for my buck that I shot last weekend. I have watched numerous videos on Youtube about how to do it yourself (with boiling the skull, etc.), and I have the equipment to do it, but I'm curious what a professional would charge. Has anyone had one done, what did they charge, and were you happy with it? I guess I'm afraid if I do it myself its gonna look crappy or I might damage the skull?? I live in Toledo, so something within a couple hours away would be preferred. Thanks in advance!!


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## Toad13 (Aug 8, 2014)

Sickle,

I live in NW PA. The going rate around here seems to be about $50 for the mount. No idea on the camo dip.


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## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

Lots of burnt antler bases from boiling. I’d also look at beetles as another option. I’ve had several done with the beetles and the price is reasonable.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I did these myself, it's pretty easy.
I just buried the head in the ground and dig them up a year later. I scrub then rinse them off.
There's always some white stuff left in them so I scrape it out too and then let them air dry and bleach out a little in the sun.
A friend of mine will paint the skulls on his with white spray paint. I like mine they way they are.
I just dug up my skull from last year. It's sitting on the deck right now.
Be sure to cover the rack with an upside down garbage can or something to keep the critters from gnawing on it while it's in the ground.
Doesn't get any cheaper than free.
FWIW I left one out there for 2 years once and it pretty much looked the same. So no way you'll screw it up.


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## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

I actually just did mine this past weekend.....along with my nephews that he shot a couple years ago and had been in a deep freeze. We boiled for a couple hours and then used a pressure washer to blast out all the nooks and crannies. This was the first time i had ever used the PW and man, it was nice. It still needed some fine tuning and scraping here and there but the PW took the brunt of the work. Will definitely be using this method again in the future. I wrapped aluminum foil around the bases to not get discoloring that can happen with boiling. 

Have it soaking in peroxide now and will post up a pic when I pull it out.


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## threeten (Feb 5, 2014)

I had a guy here south of Cleveland do one for me last year. Hundred bucks but he epoxied the jaw and teeth back in it. Looks awesome. Lost my pics when I upgraded my phone. See if I can get one and post it


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## ErieIslander (Jul 12, 2012)

crappiedude said:


> View attachment 281487
> 
> 
> I did these myself, it's pretty easy.
> ...


Those are nice! I do the same thing and it works great every time. It costs nothing and they look great.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

I have done a few by boiling on my turkey fryer . Put baking soda on the water to cut the grease . Simmer for about a HR to 90 minutes and then power wash . Works well .


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## threeten (Feb 5, 2014)

Here’s the one I had done. (No camo though) but I will admit that some of the nicest heads like this that I have are pick ups that I found. I do like this one because of the jaw and teeth are there which makes it different than the rest


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## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

Here is mine from this year. Was happy with the results. Cost me $10 for the peroxide.
















Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk


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## threeten (Feb 5, 2014)

Went to this place and in their office they had 5 mounts with the skulls in camo. 
They looked very well done. Not sure if it was by a kit but looked like they weren’t painted. If they were it was meticulous. 
Didn’t get to ask about them as they were slammed with business. Give a week or two after season and call to inquire about them. If there’s time I’ll ask when I pick up my smokies


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## jl106112 (Mar 3, 2015)

I did this one myself and it wasnt too bad and was very rewarding. Le me know if you want direction. I have never seen the antler bases burn but you can discolor them when you soak the skull in the peroxide. To fix this you just take a bit of wood stain that most closely matches the color of your deer antlers and carefully "stain" the antlers until it blends in with the natural color. I did not do that with this one. It is easy to hot glue or wire the jaw back on once everything is said and done but, I found it easier to mount to the plaque (bought off amazon) without the jaw. Also tanned my first deer hide this fall and that was not too hard either.


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## Fishstix (Aug 16, 2005)

My hunting buddy does mine for me. Boils them, then I hang them in the garage. Never tried the camo dip.


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## Farmhand (Jul 11, 2011)

My girlfriend decided to do this one , I was gonna have someone do it. I think she has all the meat off it. It needs cleaned up some and bleached I guess.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

jl106112 said:


> I did this one myself and it wasnt too bad and was very rewarding. Le me know if you want direction. I have never seen the antler bases burn but you can discolor them when you soak the skull in the peroxide. To fix this you just take a bit of wood stain that most closely matches the color of your deer antlers and carefully "stain" the antlers until it blends in with the natural color. I did not do that with this one. It is easy to hot glue or wire the jaw back on once everything is said and done but, I found it easier to mount to the plaque (bought off amazon) without the jaw. Also tanned my first deer hide this fall and that was not too hard either.
> View attachment 284649
> View attachment 284651
> View attachment 284653


Bet the wife loves that deer hide on the floor...looks like the cat does too!


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## jl106112 (Mar 3, 2015)

Shad Rap said:


> Bet the wife loves that deer hide on the floor...looks like the cat does too!


LOL no wife but I just had it laying there for the picture. I plan to build a wood case out of ceder with a few shelves similar to the pic below. It would obviously be a lot bigger and I am going to use the hide as the back piece to give it a little depth. I will then put all my hunting relics in it. Old knives, arrows and shells from successful hunts, etc.

The cat does love it! She is an outside cat getting into her later years and I think she wonders how those big a$$ horses that chase her around the woods are now laying on the floor in her home lol.


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## halfrack (Oct 13, 2004)

I done this one 2 yrs ago after being in the freezer for 2 yrs. I boiled it outside on the grill then powered wash it. Was pretty easy.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

jl106112 said:


> LOL no wife but I just had it laying there for the picture. I plan to build a wood case out of ceder with a few shelves similar to the pic below. It would obviously be a lot bigger and I am going to use the hide as the back piece to give it a little depth. I will then put all my hunting relics in it. Old knives, arrows and shells from successful hunts, etc.
> 
> The cat does love it! She is an outside cat getting into her later years and I think she wonders how those big a$$ horses that chase her around the woods are now laying on the floor in her home lol.
> 
> View attachment 284681


My buddy has a barn cat that is best friends with his horse! And his horse has a whole lot of deer buddies! And he has seen feral cats running with deer in his neighborhood! His now dead Malamute Husky was best friends with several deer! He witnessed them rubbing muzzles. 

The animal world has more surprises than we might imagine.


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## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

A friend down the road just completed this mount for his son. Really like the old barn siding he used to make the board out of. He boiled and power washed the rack.


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## sickle (Apr 15, 2004)

Well, I ended up getting my mount done by Beatles and Bones in North Canton. I just didn't want to take a chance of screwing up the skull, because quite frankly, I may never shoot another deer this big again. Didn't get the camo dip - I might try that with another mount in the future. I think it turned out great! Thanks for everyone's help.


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## threeten (Feb 5, 2014)

Looks good!!


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## ya13ya03 (Sep 21, 2010)

Nice looking mount.


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## buckbob (Jun 14, 2017)

i bought a buck boiler from cabelas its plastic bucket with heating element and pulses a current in the boiling water to knock meat loose then pressure washer to finish it off it says to put automatic dishwasher powder in water imagine its to cut grease and helps with whitening scull takes bout an hour in bucket it works really well


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Looks excellent sizzle.


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## Burkcarp1 (Dec 24, 2016)

View attachment 293621
Here is my sons from this year. My son in law did the work.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

Here's the last one I did .


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

All great looking!
You guys are just gonna 'make' me mount another head aren't you.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

Yep , were twisting your arm bad . 

Honestly , I am growing to prefer the skull mounts . They are simple , show the rack off well . Don't take up much room either . I got my deer from the 2018 season mounted but I'm gonna be hard pressed to mount another . 
My wife doesn't like them all looking at her when she goes in the basement . . 
I just tell her not to make eye contact with them and it'll be ok .


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## Burkcarp1 (Dec 24, 2016)

fastwater said:


> All great looking!
> You guys are just gonna 'make' me mount another head aren't you.


The only problem with that is you have to shoot one first....


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Burkcarp1 said:


> The only problem with that is you have to shoot one first....


You mean Kroger does not sell them???


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