What to do with antlers?

[wisconsinteacher]

I want to do something with my first trad buck.  I do not want to do a full euro mount.  He is not that big and it is a lot of work.  I also don't want to cut the horns off and put them on a board.  Is there a way to mount the horns and do a mount where you cut the skull from the back of the head to the nose?  I am looking for help and pictures would be great.

[Jerry Jeffer]

I like to eat them.        Seriously, yes just like this. I used a sawzall.  I used a sharpie to write the harvest date on the inside of the skull cap.

 

[Possum Head]

I do mine the same way and boil them to make a quick finish to the project ( no stink)! Congrats

[wisconsinteacher]

So are you guys cutting before you boil or after?

[D]

I cut mine before I I boil it.  Cut it after I skin it.  Scoop out the brains and hang it up to dry.

[Possum Head]

Before, and you can use a hack saw, hand saw or sawzall about all you'll expose after cutting is just the brain just discard set enough of your rack in a pot to submerge the hair and boil for about 30 min. Scrape away any excess and enjoy.

[Possum Head]

Hang and dry work fine just remember your neighbors dog like deer too! So hang plenty high.

[ron w]

Just like Jerry did......A friend writes the date, the weather and where it was taken on the fore head like a little story.....make a real nice remembrance! Keep it simple.......

[KentuckyTJ]

This wood plaque/stand is cool. The block of wood between the top and bottom plate turns around and so you can sit it on  something or hang it on the wall.

 

[YORNOC]

I dont know if this is what your looking for, but it might give you more ideas. I made the mounting plaque out of ziricote, wrapped the cut skull plate in leather.

 

[wapitirod]

I've done the same as the guys at the top but I also thought that "iron buck" mounting system might be kind of cool.

[Roadkill]

After you get the skull clean, i have been told that a 50-50 mix of white elmers glue will help prevent sutures from separating.  Have not tried that yet.  If you want a really white skullcap, VanDykes sells a good chemical.

[Keefer]

David,
 When I saw your second pic I thought "that's got to be Ziricote" and when I went back and reread your thread I saw you posted it was...My Hoots has a very pretty piece of Ziricote in it...Nice display and nice rack...  

[Hatrick]

I've done this a half dozen times and it works well. I just hack saw out the skull cap, clean out the brain matter and cut off all the hair and skin. Let it dry good. Then I fill the brain cavity with wood putty a little at a time until I can form a rounded mold. Then I take some deer skin and fit it over the skull area and glue it down. Find a nice piece of wood and make it any shape you want. Then I take some wood screws and screw the skull to the board through the back. In this case I had a piece of walnut laying around.

This is the poor boy's way of doing it.

 

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I like that mossy look myself...

 

 

The ones on the fence posts look cool at sun set too....


 

 

[Gdpolk]

Process the skull as if you were going to do a euro mount and save it until you decide exactly what you want to do.  Depending on the size of the rack and the shape of the antlers, they might make a nice bow rack.  You could do a skull cap mount and hang the bow and a quiver off each side or get a board with some nice wood grain and mount each antler about 3-4 feet apart to hang your bow horizontal.