I have decided to standardize on a long nose cut for my Roe heads and I therefore need to use a different type of shield to mount it on....

I am looking for pictures of their finished, mounted skulls which are cut this way so I can get some ideas of shields as I recall seeing some really nice ones on here in the past.

Also, what is the secret of getting the skulls "porcelain" white??? I use washing soda as a degreaser in the water when I boil, and then cover the cleaned skull in cooton wool soaked in 40% Peroxide for for 24 hours, but they still tend to come out slightly yellowy- white. They are not bad, but not up to the standards produced by some folk. I have asked one or two people who seem to be able to turn out particularly good trophy's and they seem to be doing the same basic thing's. Any ideas?

I have tried using a powerwasher once the head is boiled, and did not really notice any difference in the results and to be honest found it more hassle than it was worth&. Does it work better if the skull is bleached straight after boiling? That's the only difference I can think of, as it usually takes me a few weeks to get around to bleaching the cleaned skulls.

Regards,

Pete

Hey Pete,
the method you are speaking of is exactly the way i do it too , instead that i use only Peroxid with 30%.
Cooking:
First i put away the skin , take a saw and put away the lower part of th eskull and then put it in the water.
When i cook the trophy i put some Pril or a detergent into the water, so the grease out of the bone will be removed. When i finished the boiling i put away the meat and the rest of the things that still be found on the skull. Than i let the preparted skull cook for further 5 minutes with Pril and then take the hot! skull directly from the pot and put it in cold! water. That procedure will bond the grease that is left on the skull and will remove it from the pores of the skull. Then let it dry.

I soak it in cotton too.
To avoid that the peroxid affect that the peroxid will whiten the antlers i take aluminiumpaper and wrap the lower parts (till the skullbone)of the antlers into it. with a pen or a knife you can push the aluminium paper in nearly every little cavity. Only have to be carefull, that the paper doesn�t "brake".

Although a friend told me that he only take a brush and put the peroxid this way on the skull. Than he let is dry on the air and that�s all.The result is exactly the same, just u need less peroxid. If u like to, you could repeat the treadment 2 or 3 more times.
The result of the bleeching gets better when u put the skull in the sun, after you have put away the soaked cotton, if u do it the old way.
But be carefull, i once forgot a skull and as i put the cotton away(3month later ), the surface of the skull was affected by the peroxid.
Another friend told me that he covers his skulls after the bleeching with a liquid of -i think- one part water and two parts Ponal ( Wood glue, that�s white).
As he told me the skull won�t get that dirty after hanging on the wall for some years.

Sorry, that i can�t attache any of my skull mounts, i still have them in a cartonn in the cellar after i mooved to another place. But u can take the normal trophy mounts, even with a long nose.
By the way, here are some classic trophy mounts to find:

http://www.jagd-schnitzerei.de/
Have too look for Troph�enbretter...

cheers
Konstantin

konst#1,

Thanks for the tips, particularly about the foil; that should make things a little easier.

After looking at that site, I certainly wish I could speak German! That guy is turning out some beautifully carved shields but I could not see the prices...probably just as well!

Regards,

Pete

DJM,

I am trying to get away from those shields that Jaegger Sport and others sell and do something "different". I quite fancy something that holds the skull at an angle from the wall, if you know what I mean.

I am thinking a simple oval with a routered edge with another piece acting like a "bracket" to hold it from the wall at the correct angle. A friend has a wood work shop and if I can show him what I mean, he will make be some in oak...

Regards,

Pete

Do u mean something like:
Mount 1 and like this

The originaly use is for Moufflon Trophies because you need some space behind the horns, otherwise you can�t put them on the wall.

Another fine thing (especialy for fallow or reds...or nearly this sized game) to preparate the whole skull (I have done it with one roe buck because i recognized that he had "Grandeln" the small teeth in the upper jaw that normaly only reds and fallows have).
There where normaly the spine goes into the head ( " Atlasdreher") there is a hole where you could put a thin iron cable or other string through and after you have hammered a nail in the wall you easliy can hang it on the wall.
Looks fine also.
Concerning your thought with the "bracket" ...if u take plexiglas ...it may look as the skull is levitating in the room

Pete,

I find the trick is to boil and strip within 24hours of shooting and to bleach immediately after that. That does give complete whiteness.

Re long cut. I find it too hard and have standardised on full skull. Full skull has a more generous allowance for weight which can make a (completely legal) difference on a borderline trophy - this as related to me by Richard Prior.

The other benefit is that you can hang the trophy from the cervical hole and dispense with a shield alltogether.

What i forgot to say is, that i put the trophy (the whole head)in a bucket with cold water and change the water frequently till no more blood comes out of the head. Think it takes 2 days....and after this i start with the preparation..

cheers
Konstantin

Konst,
With regards the cold water soak, it is something I had read about, but I confess, until recently, I did not realise the role it played in removing the blood from the skull. It�s a step I used to skip for various reasons, but I have started doing it now, and I do think it makes a difference....

Regards,

Pete

1894,



I think you and DJM are probably correct about getting the skull done asap...it is something I have to get on to but its difficult when you have a 450 mile drive from your stalking ground..



With regards not cutting the skull, that is something I found out the hard way. BTW never leave any potential trophy skulls alone and with in reach of your Border terrier while you deal with the carcass….especially if said Border terrier was trained in blood trailing using deer heads .. Please don’t ask me how I know this Suffice to say the salvaged skull, with a very short cut, missed silver by 2 points!



As I am somebody who can’t knock a nail in straight, I bought my self one of those trophy cutting jigs. I really wished I had bought it years ago as it makes things so much easier. I have come to realise I prefer a very long cut after seeing some of the Roe trophy’s here; basically all I remove is the palate and the teeth leaving a “flat” to the bottom of the skull.



Another harded learned lesson was making sure your fix the skull to the shield properly! On my short cut heads I used to epoxy a block of wood into the brain cavity and then screw into that the usual way. One day I came home to find one of these glue fixing had failed after a couple of years on the wall. Not only did it smashed that particular head as it hit the floor, but it knocked off and smashed a further two from underneath it as well. I suspect it was the heat from the woodburner which made it dry out/shrink.



What I have started doing is to brush PVA adhesive inside the cavity first and then let it dry. Next, I fill the cavity with polyfiller and then push the "female" part of the fixing below into it while its still wet.







Before the "female" part goes into the polyfiller,I put a soap covered screw into the fixing all the way home first (to set the threads) and then remove it…the soap stops any polyfiller sticking internally to the threads should it seep in…I have only tried this on a couple of heads so far, but it really seems to work well.



Regards,



Pete