The work begins

[twilliams]

2 heads I’ve had in the freezer, the one on the left is the one that I harvested during bow season. I’m kicking myself for laying him to rest but nonetheless I will do a European mount in his honor. The one on the right is my brothers car kill. Just doing him as a bit of a gag gift. I got the meat out of it and sharing with him so it’s all good. Thankfully my brother was ok with no injuries, car was replaced. First time trying euros on my own, we shall see how this goes.

[gus4416]

Can’t wait to see the finished product and the one on the left I would take in gun season

[calldoctoday]

twilliams Very nice. I thought I was the only one around that would do that 30 years ago plus. Folks would even bring me the fresh accidents & I would take care of them. Nothing laid to waste. Don’t get caught even thinking about doing that around here these days though or you will be in the hoose gow for certain, sadly to say. Very nice.

[Deepwoodsbutcher]

Would love to see pictures of your process for euro mounts. Cool project

[twilliams]

gus4416 they always say don’t let em pass the first day that you would shoot on the last. May never get the opportunity again. I had this one on camera and looked bigger, even when I shot him looked bigger. I would have let him go for another 2 years had I known what he truly was. But again, maybe he would have left my area so yes I am blessed to have this opportunity and get meat for the table.

[twilliams]

calldoctoday legal here, just gotta call it in to the DNR and get the authorization number to keep in possession until meat is consumed. I think maybe an issue would be if it’s not a fresh hit and animal was euthanized due to still being alive but suffering. Here they spray paint on them if they do that. I won’t take anything that is not a fresh car kill. It’s a shame for them to go to waste for sure.

[twilliams]

Deepwoodsbutcher will try to remember to take progress photos and post them. Thanks

[sjhuntingfool]

Euro mounts are a great. I only have so much wall space for full shoulder mounts.

[bocephus]

twilliams I will be interested in seeing the process, I have done a lot of skull plate mounts. In the last couple of years I did my nephews first deer and his dad’s first deer.

[cdavis]

twilliams you’ve got this. Those bucks will make beautiful European mounts. Congrats and good luck .

[processhead]

twilliams Your thread title is appropriate.

The one time I did a European mount, I skinned the skull and then boiled the head for several hours to soften up the meaty parts.
Even after that, it took a lot of picking and scraping to get the skull clean. I think the final step was soaking the skull in bleach solutions to get the right color.
It is a fair amount of work and I decided I won’t do another one any time soon.

[twilliams]

processhead I’m even going beyond just doing the skull, I’m gonna be making a background to put the skull on

[twilliams]

Boiling day, for the water I am looking at 185*-190* constant temp. If you get into the boiling range of 213* and above the skull will start to split and separate. I will check water temp and water level every half hour. This could take upwards of 6 hours to do.

[Jonathon]

twilliams Awesome, thanks for recording this progress. Looks like it is going well and I am shocked we don’t have a comment from Austin on this thread talking about how “Rams are the best trucks” or jut complimenting yours, he must not have seen this yet?

[twilliams]

Jonathon well I surely wouldn’t disagree with Austin but I’m sure any brand new shiny truck would be great compared to my 2002 GMC Sierra with 300,000 miles on it. We will see in time how it goes. I have done everything possible to preserve the frame and body from rust. And getting a delivery of AMSOIL for the motor vs the Pennzoil that the factory uses. This needs to last me 20 years before I buy the next one right before I retire, (if there is even such a thing by that time). I will say I am absolutely in love with this truck, a few things I would have done differently now compared to when I ordered not knowing what I was doing or needed…lol. I just got the PPF, 2 layer ceramic coating, windshield and windows tinted, and interior protection done. I undercoated every nook, crack, crevice, channel and blind spot possible that I could think of with the new Blaster Surface Shield lanolin undercoating. Next is getting another set of factory rims black chromed and bedliner sprayed as well as tonneau cover then I will be done making it my own.

[Dave in AZ]

twilliams wow! I was gonna post that the skull mount was a lot of work, then I read your truck post and decided it was waaay more work

[Spidey]

twilliams You are spot on for the temperature, to keep the cartilage in place. A pressure washer a time saver for cleaning them up. I use 36% hydrogen peroxide for the whitening at a 50/50 mix with water, for about 5 days. There are other products available to whiten them, although I get out dated peroxide from my brother and the free price is right.

[Jonathon]

twilliams Keeping a vehicle for that long is actually one of the best things you can do for the environment and your wallet! Good job planning that far ahead! I told my wife what I said on the livestream about my truck keeping me “grounded” she called me “stupid”

PS my source for that is Top Gear so dont take me too seriously!

[twilliams]

Jonathon well the payment of this truck is definitely keeping me “grounded” since I can not afford anything else or go anywhere fun….lol. Then on top of todays living costs, well let’s not even start on that subject.

[twilliams]

Going slower than anticipated, 6 hours in and first power wash. Gonna do another 2 hours and hopefully all meat will be loose. Only about 5% meat left.