I finally got something that has enough sentimental value that I'd like to mount it.  I want to do a European Mount, but don't know how to get started.  Right now, I have the head and about 9 inches of neck with the cape cut clean at that point.  How do I start?  What is the best way to remove flesh and cape?  How do I whiten it?  How do I avoid whitening the antlers?  How do I seal it?  And finally, how do I mount it to a plaque?

Well, you skin it and cut off all the flesh you can get,
Then take a 2x2 or somehting like that and c clamp it across the antlers.
Then boil it in water up to the antlers to remove the rest of the flesh etc.
then set it in the sun and paint the skull with proxide for a few days to whiten it up.

I normaly cut the back of the head off down thru the mouth so the top of the mouth is still there to start with.

Then I drill holes and mount it with screws to a plaque when all done.
I guess you could seal it with non gloss clear poly if you wanted to.

I've done a few skull mounts and I begin with severing the skull from the neck , skin it and remove the lower jaw , just be careful not to cut too aggressively at the nose . Then remove all the flesh inside and out that you can along with eyes , and I use a hooked wire to pull as much brain out from the spinal hole . Then I place it in a big pot of water and angle the skull so the base of the antlers are just above the water line . Then I heat it for a couple hours keeping it just below boiling . Pull it out and with a fillet knife trim off all remaining flesh and gristle , also work on cleaning out the rest of the brain . Change water and add some dish det. to rid it of the fat residue and simmer it another hour . Pull it out and do any additional cleaning and let dry . I like to let mine dry good and then add peroxide ; the sun helps the whitening process . If the water gets too hot you might have the nose or a few teeth come off . Super glue fixes that .

Thanks guys.  I found a good description on another forum, and it really sounds like a lot of work. A friend of mine did a bear last year and he said that it was a royal pain in the butt.  I found a guy who does really nice work in New Stanton, PA for $80, $90 if you make him skin it.  My buddy said he'd spend $90 in a second, before he tried to do that again.  Do you all think its worth $90?

For the mans time involved yea . I've been butchering my deer for many years , so it's not a pain for me at all . Longest part is boning it out to start .

First things first you should cut all the skin and hide off. If you have a lake or pond that will stay at the same water level for about 3 weeks tie the antlers to a dock or the like. Let it sit how just the skull is in the water. You wouldn’t believe how fast minnows can tear it down to the bone. They won’t eat the bone but they will take the brain and dismember the spine so you will only have the skull and antlers. When it has been stripped you will want to get most of the water out of the skull. Fill a 5 gallon bucket up with water and put a gallon of outdoor bleach in with it. Soak it for about an hour or till it turns a deep white. If you don't have a pond use an ant pile and watch out for squirrels because they'll eat the antletrs and the skull.
I have 3 like this so good luck!

You can buy one of those Mountain Mike kits and have the job done in 5 minutes for about $39. A CD comes with excellant instructions

Cabelas sell's a skull bleaching kit.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Skul...+mount+kit

mine costs as little as a bottle of bleach.

I just did my first one its not all that bad . I thought it was going to be a pain in the neck but all in all not to bad ill have to say DIY. Save the money if you can for new hunting equipment for next year.

I Have done a plaque mount, but not the whole European mount. I'm considering buying one of the reproduction skulls that you just mount the antlers to, provided I get another buck.

The antler mount I used I got from WalMart about an hour after the hunt. It took about three hours, and that's only because when I started, I was planning on doing a full European mount. Otherwise, it should've taken an hour or less. The kit was about $15.

Send it here, you won't be disappointed.

I have quite a few skulls done by them and they came out great.

http://www.beetlecleaned.com/pricelist.html

how i did mine is that i have a place in my yard i let it decay so i can get the skull then paint it with proxcide set in the sun for a day or to

I use the same method as described above with boiling,remove more meat,boil some more.But for the brains I modified a wet vac attachment to a 7/16 o.d.flexible fuel line hose,insert in the back of the skull and suck all the brains out,sometimes you have to use a wire coat hanger to loosen the membrane.If it's cooling off too soon dip it back in the hot water,repeat.For the rest I've used an air compressor with blower attachment to remove the nasal cavity lining,clear the eye sockets etc...I dip once in bleach solution to disinfect then peroxide,then sit in the sun.Good luck.

Nope I don't think it's worth $90.00 when I can do it myself for the cost of a bottle of Peroxide. I've made Euro mounts from bear, deer and even a turkey skull.

It's fun and easy!

I'm hoping the picture of my turkey skull comes up.  Tried it a couple times but no luck we'll see if this works.

I found the easiest and cheapest method of all, I let my GF do it...she's working on two now and I hope to have another for her by the end of the month...

Getting in here way late but here is a couple I did with the boil and scrape mthod. Was it a lot of work, time consuming, worth $90 for somebodies time,a pain, yes. But I have a small budget and lots of time.

Here's one I did for my hubby.

I hung my skulls up in the rafters of an old shed (way away from the house), for a couple months, and let the bugs do their work on the brains and flesh. Then soaked the skull in hot water and laundry detergent over night. The skin, etc. pulled right off without any scraping. Used a 2 part 17% Peroxide (beauty supply store) to bleach the skulls out. Worked pretty dang good.......

Trip, Dark Angel...Fine work!!!