i celibrated my 23rd Birthday camping out on monday, deer hunting 25 miles south of Bemidji Mn on some hunting land ( 240 acres ) me and my cousins are leasing. hunted from Saturday until Wednesday morning putting in plenty of hours in the stands, walking, doing "drives" through the thick brush...

NOTHING! i had one doe in my cross hairs but she was too small to take...

so Wednesday november 9th i went to my uncles land in Akeley Mn and i was in my old stand for 20 minutes... 4pm rolls around and a doe comes crashing through the woods...being chased by the 10pointer. the brush was so thick, and they were moving fast... i thought i had him when he was 45 yards away- shot and missed. second shot- dropped him.

well, i was so excited... and had the best rush of my life going through me when i got down to him. ive hunted sooooo many hours and never had a good chance at a buck like this... always button bucks and does. this is my first big buck. he field dressed at about 180 pounds.

now, i have to mount the rack. im going to do a skull+rack combo-

i need your advice- some people boil the skulls in water, to get all the meat off and mount them on a plaque, and some people ive heard of take them to be "beatled" where they put the skull in the box with beatles and they eat all the stuff away.

which would be the better choice???? if i boil it, do i have to wrap the antlers to protect them from the heat ? any advice would be appreciated, and thanks for letting me post about my first big buck. hes not a monster but its the biggest ive ever had!

picture-
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...inter-2005.jpg

 

hen my dad kills an elk or deer, he always boils it in water and bleach, gets it nice and pretty and white. Not sure how they do it, thats just what hes told me.

 

good shot man. the only ten point i have ever gotten was with my truck.lots of 4 and 6 point in the scope hairs though

 

sweet dude, look like a nice deer.

 

One my smaller bucks I do the european mounts also, and is very easy, but you can't rush it. Last years 3 point and I got a 4 pointer this year (8 pointer to you guys back east)...what you do is skin as much as you possibly can from the head, including the eyes, tongue, etc. Then wrap the antlers in aluminum foil and submerse the entire skull in water. I use a 5 gal bucket and fill it till the water just reaches over the top of the skull. (the foil is to keep the antlers from bleaching out in the sun) Place the bucket DOWN wind from your residence and let it set for about 4weeks, check to keep the water level up, and maybe put it out of reach of dogs.

After the first four weeks take it out and rise with a spray nozzle on you hose, be sure to do it where you can find all the teeth, etc. and dont forget the brain cavity...oh and you'll want to have gloves and do it where the water will wash AWAY...it VERY smelly!

Repeat this for another four weeks. You'll know its done when ALL the teeth just fall out or pull losse easily.

After this you need to get hydrgen peroxide from a hair dresser not the stuff from the store- and get enogh to submerse the skull but especailly seal up the antlers and keep them out of the peroxide otherwise they'll bleach out, if you get a little on them you can touch it up with paint. Let soak in the peroxide for 3 to 8 hours then remove the skull and all the teeth, etc. Glue it all back together when dry, and spray with a sealer, I use satin varnish, or it'll turn yellow. And your DONE!

This by the way is how my taxidemist does it and he does museum work too...he learned it from the taxidermist at the Smithsonean...except they do it in a ventalated basement.

Good luck.

 

Congrats on the 10 point. I killed a 8 point Nov 3 in La near Shreveport on my familys farm.

 

BuiltTough:


NICE buck!! Congrats!

As for the rack. . . no matter how long you boil 'em. . .
No matter how long you sautee them. . . .
They won't tenderize enough to eat.


(On a serious note, I'm not sure which method will be better. Maybe a local taxidermist can tell you.)

Keith

 

Very nice buck! You should be very proud! I have boiled the skull after cutting off all the meat/skin ect. then I set it on an anit hill for a couple day and clean as a whistle, no stink.

 

Very VERY nice buck BuiltTough - congrats!! O and be sure to post a pic when you get it mounted!

 

I have had success boiling the skinned skull with some dish soap,won't affect antlers then scrapping away tissue. ( can be slow going) Then get some hydrogen peroxide and use it to bleach white by wipping on the skull and ever little hole and crack. Nice Buck!

 

Congratulations on your fine whitetail harvest!
I cut off as much skin and meat as I can and then just soak in bleach,being careful not to get bleach on the antlers.

 

This is the only thing that fire ants are good for. I doubt if you have them that far north but they work great down here in Texas. Now, if I could just figure out how to kill the fire ants.

 

thanks for the advice and the compliments- its really been a great week for me

Rob

 

Hey I posted some pics for you to look at in my gallery. I just got a 12 on saturday last week opening day here and I just cut and boiled out the head for a eruo mount and I took a pic of some finished ones for you. They will be up in an hour Good luck its pretty easy and cheap to do

 

Congratulations to you guys on your success!

Deer season ended in California September 23rd. We have an early season.