stags head mounting advice

sniperman

hi folks,mate got his first stag a few days ago,has a good set of antlers on him,he wants to keep the skull and antlers to mount,has not got any idea how to go about it,so anyone done one?any advice?thanks

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058224891/stags-head-mounting-advice

I'm a big fan of this guy, and do all my skulls using his methods. They come out great

https://youtu.be/lknMPC0FQ04

keith s

Is he looking to get it done or do it himself?

I am no expert, but I got my first Buck this year and I removed as much skin and meet as I could before boiling in a big pot for a few hours, turned out OK, but I'm not hanging it in the house (not allowed haha).

I was told to stay away from bleach as it could make the skull weak, but I did use it (diluted), and it whitened up a lot.

Another diy option is to wrap it or hang it and let nature take its course, not sure how long it would take this time of the year, and he'd want somewhere to leave it that no one would find it or complain.

There are lads (or at least a lad) on Facebook who makes timber plaques, not sure his name I seen him post on some of the hunting pages.

Not going to post pictures here, but if you pm me your number I'll WhatsApp a few pics I took while doing mine.

tomtucker81

I've done a couple by cutting as much off as possible then boiling for an hour, remove more, boil, remove etc etc. Repeats a few times till I'm down to just the skull, all meaty parts stripped off, inside and out.

Then I leave it in the pot with clean water and a very healthy amount of bleach, it whitens nicely and I'm happy with it.

I'm no expert, this is what I do and it works for me.

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For clarity...the 8 pointer was taken about a week ago, the hide is from a big hind taken on a Sec42 in July , my eldest daughter was out with me for the first time and likes the hide like a thro on the leaba

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118388379#Comment_118388379

Very nice. What method did you use to cure the hide?

tomtucker81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118388549#Comment_118388549

Emmm..... I used the method of buying the required materials and paying a friend that knows how €50.

He fleshed off the hide, stretched it out, salted it. Changing salt frequently as it got damp for a few days. Then there was some solution he made up, this is then part I'm lost at.

Sorry I can't help any further. I will add its worth it, absolutely great hide to have. Certainly worth it if it's a big one.

Eddie B

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118389046#Comment_118389046

€50 is nothing, to get something like that tanned. Nice one

Need a Username

I came to thread accidentally and never there was such a section here.

I had forgot people do this hunting in Ireland. Haven’t heard about it is many many years.

where in Ireland do people hunt stags? Is it on private property that invite clubs or a public culling?

Do you just take the heads as trophies or also the meat for eating?

Hunting wouldn’t be a thing I would like and normally I would have seen the thread and moved on but the above questions just happened to come into my head and I thought I’d not be likely to get the chance to ask again anything soon.

tomtucker81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118389451#Comment_118389451

A buddy I shoot with did it. He knows how, has done loads for himself before so he looked after it. Plus it was a birthday present for the eldest which was also her first time out hunting and we got that hind. In fairness he did a lot of work on it. Time he said was the main thing.

MakersMark

If you're just going for the bare skull mount, then just leave the head out for nature.

I staked out a fallow head near the river that runs at the back of my house.

Within a day the eyes and nose were gone, within a month I had a completely cleaned skull, which I then soaked in boiling soapy water.

No work on my part at all.

tomtucker81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118389464#Comment_118389464

Private land that you have permission on, possibly state forestry where you have the lease for hunting. Deer hunting isn't done by clubs really, more so individuals.

For me it's not about the trophy, more so being out and hopefully get a deer. It's about the meat for me. Friends and family like the steaks, burgers and diced meat I make off the deer.

If it happens to be a stag, that's a bonus really for me and you can get a nice head to keep too.

All within the seasons for the animals.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118390057#Comment_118390057

Would you butcher the deer or stag yourself or bring it to someone else?

EDIT: just to be clear I don’t mean butcher is a provocative way - I just assumed this is the correct term. If it isn’t, I apologise

Need a Username

Would hunters mainly be people from rural areas or who grew up in rural areas?

Or do “city folk” also hunt?

tomtucker81

I can butcher myself at this stage. Started by getting a butcher to do it, having hung the deer in a fridge at home for a week.

I grew up in a countryside area. But plenty of 'city folk ' hunt. A lot of gun club members from where I grew up lived in the town. I shoot with people that have lived in very built up city areas all their lives.

Grizzly 45

You can do multiple things to just go a skull mount.

As said some let nature do its job,but I find in our inclement and damp weather it usually has a green tinge to the bone when it's finished.As we don't have big red ant hills here[The Austrian hunter's way of cleaning trophies, all done by nature within 4 days.Just wash and dry and hang]. Novel one the idea of using a running stream, must try that idea.

Boiling is the best way to do this quickly when you have flensed off as much skin and meat from the skull and separated or not the lower jaw.I'd advise doing the cooking outside as it can be somewhat smelly and time-consuming and "your indoors "mightn't appreciate his/her kitchen being taken over.A large pot or a quarter clean 50 gal drum is ideal for this as you need to immerse the skull to the antler "roses"[where they join the skull] Depending on the animals age you need to check it regularly to see how the meat is coming off.A low and slow boil is better Once you have 3/4 of the meat off,I find you can use a powerwasher on a VERY weak setting to clean out the rest of the skull and brain cavity. Beware of splatter! Hence the very low setting advice..If you have boiled it too much and parts of the skull like the nasal bones fall out. Gorilla glue is your friend when it's all dry. You can glue in the missing bits with glue no problem. If no powerwasher to hand, steep in freshwater for 2 days or longer to remove any more flesh and change the water frequently.

At this stage, I pack the skull with cotton wool and pour a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide to saturate the cotton wool and then leave it for 24 hours. That bleaches it white no problem. Then leave the skull to dry for 48 hours, and then decide what sort of skull mount you want. Full, half or quarter. I usually go a half mount to save on wall space.

Hope that helps.

Eddie B

Here in a fox skull I done in 12% Peroxide. Boil for ten minutes, and job done

sniperman

thanks folks for the help,some really good tips,he will be doing it himself,how, yet remains to be seen

kunekunesika

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118390108#Comment_118390108

A mixture of both. Any one who want s to is welcome.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118396234#Comment_118396234

I don’t doubt alma re welcome but what I meant was would people who didn’t grow up in the countryside be less likely to be involved.

Would hunting in Ireland only be with guns? Does anyone use bow & arrows or crossbows and would such things be allowed?

I said earlier that hunting wouldn’t be a thing I would like but after thinking about it I would have an interest in the experience (doubt I would do any shooting) if the situation ever arose and it was group where I knew some information the people. And only if they were doing it for the meat.

kunekunesika

No bows, spears catapult etc allowed. Firearms for most. Watch Steve rinelli, meat eater on YouTube. You'll have a fair idea after watching a few episodes of that, if meat from the hill, or meat from the meat aisle is for you.

Everything is stacked against your average city dweller, but they're are still loads that hunt for their meat.