Antler mountig ideas

[bowser]

All,

My nephew shot his first ever buck this season. Not a giant 8, but respectable. I was wondering if any of you have ever seen a set of antlers mounted on cookie of wood( bark still intact) with a picture of the person and deer embedded into it. I have never seen it, but am wondering if anyone has. Just a hair brained idea. If anybody has other suggestions, please feel free to chime in and add pictues. Looking for ideas for a Christmas present.

Thanks and happy hunting!

[vister]

i have seen antlers mounted on slices of birch with the bark intact. birch bark is somewhat fragile, so give it a bath with hairspray. helps hold it together. as far as adding a pic into it, if able, route out an area a bit bigger than the pic. take a torch to kinda burn the edges of your routed out section. clear coat the wood and glue the pic in. then get a clear epoxy and fill in the pic cavity. looks great this way, maybe more than you want to do though.

also, a diagonal slice in a chunk of wood gives you more room to work with, then the mount would be oval instead of circular. a cheap way for your nephew to proudly display that buck for a long time!

are the antlers still attatched to the skull? if the skull is still there, then do a european mount. they look great too. and i know some guys here will tell ya where they would take it.

[DonBo]

I've mounted many sets of antlers and most any piece of slabwood works well. I have cut some bases in the shape of broadheads for my bowkills and I have one group of antlers on an old barnboard up at the cabin that looks really nice.

Here is a sample of some of the ones I've done.

Just use your imagination a bit and keep your eyes open. You can find all kinds of cool things to use.

[Jim Uran]

Those are nice, you got a talent there.

[harvey lee]

I have numerous heads, racks on panels and a European mount. I love the european mounts.

If you are somewhat handy, you can but skull plate kits to mount the antlers yourself.

[paul pachowicz]

nice work there with the mounts. Another little touch a guy can do is glue an empty shell of the caliber he shot it with and a little engraved plate with the year and county. I wish I had done that with some of the horns I have. All those years seem to run together anymore. This would be an excellent time for the lad to start a log of his hunting years to come.

[blue_healer_guy]

I would definately do a european mount with it but might be to late for this. They are a little messy but well worth it in the end.

[Code-Man]

I bought a cheap Turkey Frier and I do my own European Mounts. Takes a little bit of work but better then cutting them off and not using them. Cabela's has a kit with the wood, chemical, and some tools to get it done. Costs about 50-60 bucks. Takes a good day but you can get it done and catch a buzz at the same time.

[BeerHunter]

I do european mounts with beetles. If you need it done i can clean it and whiten it for you.

Here are pics of what the finished product looks like.

[slick814]

I'd agree with the European mount being one good way to get it done. My brother does them and uses the beetle method. I don't have one yet, kind of waiting for the "Not quite head mount, but still really nice" rack to come along.

If your nephew grew up admiring some of the old racks that might be around your family, I'd say go traditional antler only mount, but instead of the shield or round piece behind it, see if you can find a nice cutout of the state of MN (assuming it was a MN deer) or whatever state he shot it in, put a small engraved plate with the year and area he shot it in under the rack, and glue an empty shell (maybe he has his brass?) above it. Kind of a traditional look with a way to always remember the details.

I know that I had dreamed of having one mounted like my dad, uncles, etc. when I was a kid, and was actually more thrilled to get the old fashioned plaque mounted antlers than I would've been with anything else...

[Dag_1979]

Here are a couple very basic antler mounts with saddle tan leather stretched over the mache/foam. If you can make precise cuts to manipulate the leather around the antler burrs it gives the mount a very sharp/clean look, and ultimately alleviates the need for braid to cover up any mis-cuts around the burr.

[huntmup]

Here is a plaque of the state of MN.

You can have either end up or down on this piaque.

[Code-Man]

How much does it cost to get into the beetles? Have two to four deer heads I have to do but looking for beetles instead of the boil method. Any help would be great.

[BeerHunter]

The thing with beetles is you dont just buy some and put them on the skull, You need to build a colony, they need to be in atleast 85 degrees. with a air exchange, they smell, so the wife wont let them be at home unless your wife is much more understanding then mine. You then need to have the equipment to degrease and whiten. This also includes the chemicals needed.

I have atleast $400 into my set up. not including all the little bins needed to soak the skull.

If you want me to answer any other questions just email me

[email protected]

[bowser]

All,

Thanks for all the great ideas. Please keep them coming! I think I have decided on what I am going to do. I will try to explain it the best I can, and I will share pics when I get it completed.

I will use a diagonal cut piece of ash or basswood with the bark still attached. mount the antlers with black felt and gold rope trim. I will burn an area slightly bigger than the picture I am going to use. Use a piece plexi-glass the size of the picture and hold it down with cut off .270 cartridges ( that is what he shoots) in the corners. The cartridges will have to be machined a bit to capture the plexi-glass. I will drill holes to recess the cartridges into and hot glue them in place. Finish it with a light stain and a couple coats of poly. I am not sure how this will all look, but this is my vision. It amy end up in the wood stove if it bombs!! I wish I was artistic so I could draw it out before I go through all the work. Oh well, that is part of the fun of trying something new!

[harvey lee]

Great idea man

Sounds like it could look very nice an unique.

[DonBo]

Go for it! It's not you're going to ruin the antlers or anything serious like that. I didn't know what I was doing till I did a few myself. Enjoy the ride.

[Tyler Voss]

Here is a regular mount my dad had done a couple years ago, with a little painting of the deer in the middle.

[Tippman]

Hey Dag where do you purchase that kind of leather?

[Dag_1979]

Tippman,

You can purchase the leather shown in the pics at Van Dykes Taxidermy Supply On-line. Saddle-tan is the color of that particular leather.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

For those of you that do your own European mounts, how do you dispose of all the Hydrogen Peroxide? Dump it down the drain?

I'm currently in the process of boiling a skull ( Dad got a "keeper" this year!) and am about to begin whitening it.

Just wondering how to dispose of the Peroxide safely! Thanks!

[Tippman]

I don't see anything wrong with using the drain.

[DonBo]

I strained mine and dumped it back in the bottle for use on the next one.

[bowser]

For Hydrogen Peroxide--dilution is the solution!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

That's what I figured!