Thread: Euro mount... Wet or Dry?

@RUMPY First off congrats on getting your trophy .So l am taking it you are a newbie to doing Euro skulls ,l quickly fell out of spending the price of another hunting trip on mounts a couple of decades ago so have done my own & clients for over 25yrs .

Short answer wet is OK .But...............

So first off these are the important steps to make sure the mount turns out OK & lasts -

First Boil steps -

Are you sure you have boiled all the grease & oil out by adding 300ml of dish washing detergent to the pot and half a cup of clothes washing powder . Do this each time you change the water in the boiling pot, this is a very important step for the final look of your euro mount.

A slow boil/simmer will draw more oil & grease out. With the first boil I try and remove as much oil & grease as possible. I usually leave the skull to simmer for 4-6 hours, first off emptying & refreshing the water if a lot of gunk & grease is coming out ,then just topping the water up as needed . The more attention to this step will make for a much better & whiter mount that does not discolor from leaching grease later & causing oil spots on the mount.


Once you are sure you have this done -

First blast with the pressure washer - Do not use to much pressure it will flake the bone .I normally do this after 2 hrs of the first boil ,get rid of as much meat as you can & take out all loose teeth (glue these back when finished).

Make sure you remove the ear bone as their is a lot of "stored" greasy shit in behind it ,that will discolor the mount later ,this will also allow you to get in & dig out all brain material properly .If you have boiled on the long slow simmer the brain will come out easy ,use a bit of bent up wire if you have trouble.



Second/Third Boil-


Skull should be a lot cleaner , make sure to change water & add another 300ml of dish washing detergent. Put the skull back in to simmer to cook off the remaining meat and drag out more grease from the skull. This Simmer/ Boil is best done for a good couple of hours ,you will see the grease scum on top of the water even after a good hour .Refresh water detergent & simmer again until grease stops .


Second pressure wash: Skull will now be pretty clean ,make sure you have cleaned out the brain cavity & pay attention to the 2 small pockets at the bottom of the eye sockets as they hold oily shit as well ,again not full blast just a gentle blow out.

Skull should be looking pretty good now ,place it in a bucket of water in a sunny warm spot with 300 ml of detergent & let it soak for a couple of weeks ,a lot of time the water will start smelling rank a sign the final oils & grease are leaching out ,change water & let it soak more .

Once you are happy water has stop stinking /no grease leaching do the final pressure wash ,making sure to do around teeth/nasal passage /eye sockets /brain cavity etc


Whitening - I have found best results when the Skull is warm ,so place it in a simmering pot of water for a couple of minutes & take out when hot to touch & apply peroxide & it will start working straight away & get deep into the bone from the heat opening it up .

I like to let the peroxide react for about a hour or so, then heat the skull again, put another layer on the skull leave a hour &repeat this process until you are happy with the white achieved


Hope the Info helps, like l say l have done it for decades now & had Taxidermists ask who did them