Skull Caps, What do you guys do with them?

[BizCT]

That's a good thing.  I would not ruin the old mount, but to each his own.

I wanted to keep rack But not Mount so I had to take it apart. I got a rid of doe mount too. Sent it to TreeGuy actually. She’s probaly loving all those WNY bucks


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[dbHunterNY]

I hadn't thought about that...I am sure the three I would like to mount are 2 1/2 year olds…..

Took some pictures just now. Sandable putty, screws, and white enamel paint. It wasnt that bad. Dried out and cracked a bit a decade later. Easy fix though if I was to display it. Wasnt big enough for a shoulder mount in my mind though.



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[ApexerER]

I bought two different kits at Runnings last night. They are both crap, not even real wood. One is plastic and the other is fiber board. I am going to return them and figure something out myself....

[ApexerER]

18 hours ago, Daveboone said:

Fun easy winter project to mount them yourself. 

Find a nice piece of wood/ plaque. trim down the cap to a size to balance the plaque. epoxy/ construction glue a block of wood to the back of it, shaping the wood to roughly conform to the cap, at the angle you want to the antlers to come off the plaque at. For just a couple dollars buy some plaster at a hardware store. Wrap a cutting board/ plank, anything in saran wrap/foil, and position the antlers on the covered board at the angle you want it on the plaque, and form plaster roughly around and under the antlers. (wrap the antler bases first with saran wrap). The plaster sets up rather quickly, but you have about 5-10 minutes, and in this time you are very hands on building an "egg " around the cap. It will be hard enought to work in about 1/2 hr. 

Then you take a coarse file/rasp and sandpaper, shaping the plaster "egg" to the cap size and shape you want. 

For a few dollars you can buy some decent felt at any craft store. this is the trickies.t....roughly cut out the fabric with plenty of excess to wrap the cap, you cut out the antler holes, leaving them small...the fabric stretches. I use contact cement on the plast, pulling it snug around. The loose ends are held in place when you put screws through the plaque to the wood you glued in place.

With a little trial and error , you can easily do a better looking job than what alot of folks pay for. If you dont like it...good news. You take everything down and start again, nothing ruined. Certainly they get better the more you do, but your first job can look great. 

Plaque from Ebay: 5 bucks. Engraved plate for the plaque...about 4 bucks on Ebay....Plaster, 3 bucks for enough for about 8 mounts, felt, 3-4 dollars. I have done my moose and several deer. Total project time is about an hour.

This sounds like the way to go....Thank you! I am not understanding the need for the block of wood in your instructions. Also, when you cut out the antler holes there isn't any way to do it without seams correct? 

Do you have any pictures you can post? Maybe I will play with my smaller racks I just have mounted too a piece of barn board and see what I come up with first....

[Nomad]

Dave gives good advice, but personally I don’t care for felt , buckskin for me . Have your hide tanned ,you’ll have enough for a few ,also ive seen on a taxidermist supply site a pre formed , artificial buckskin  “ cap “ that looked good . They also sell a braided rope to glue around the antler base to neaten it up .

I have most of two tanned hides in the basement , I’ve cut some off for projects ,but should be plenty to send you a square IF you can’t come up with something you want to use .

heres where to cut , and what the seem will look like . Getting it wrinkle free is key .

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Nomad

[ApexerER]

6 minutes ago, Nomad said:

Dave gives good advice, but personally I don’t care for felt , buckskin for me . Have your hide tanned ,you’ll have enough for a few ,also ive seen on a taxidermist supply site a pre formed , artificial buckskin  “ cap “ that looked good . They also sell a braided rope to glue around the antler base to neaten it up .

I have most of two tanned hides in the basement , I’ve cut some off for projects ,but should be plenty to send you a square IF you can’t come up with something you want to use .

heres where to cut , and what the seem will look like . Getting it wrinkle free is key .

 

Thanks Nomad! At this point, I am probably going to wait until after the holidays, look on some taxi sites as you suggested and give it a try. I appreciate it!

[ApexerER]

9 minutes ago, Nomad said:

Dave gives good advice, but personally I don’t care for felt , buckskin for me . Have your hide tanned ,you’ll have enough for a few ,also ive seen on a taxidermist supply site a pre formed , artificial buckskin  “ cap “ that looked good . They also sell a braided rope to glue around the antler base to neaten it up .

I have most of two tanned hides in the basement , I’ve cut some off for projects ,but should be plenty to send you a square IF you can’t come up with something you want to use .

heres where to cut , and what the seem will look like . Getting it wrinkle free is key .

 

I no longer have the hides......

[Nomad]

Glad to help . I just texted my buddy to see if he still does them , although I may give it a try  myself as well .

[dbHunterNY]

i've done the way Nomad suggested with wrap and rope. cut the angle right so the antlers tip forward off the plaque base. i just used bought pre-wrapped foam that goes over it like a cap. less time consuming then making a wood base to go under the skull cap. one was even a textured rubber. hide wrapped wood and skull cap is the way to go though. less delicate and easier to clean.

[Water Rat]

A couple of these I wished that I had mounted. I was looking for the easiest way to mount them instead of having them lying around in the garage.                           

[Swamp_bucks]

These guys break it down step by step also are a good hunting group to watch.

[Daveboone]

6 hours ago, ApexerER said:

This sounds like the way to go....Thank you! I am not understanding the need for the block of wood in your instructions. Also, when you cut out the antler holes there isn't any way to do it without seams correct? 

Do you have any pictures you can post? Maybe I will play with my smaller racks I just have mounted too a piece of barn board and see what I come up with first....

The block of wood is what the screws through the plaque tighten into to hold it in place. The horns I had professionally done were done like I did mine...needing a cut to the antler hole, but you can fold the edge over and glue it/ tack it so it is very minimal and doesn't look out of place. Honestly, my work is better looking than the 1/2 dozen I had done by 3 different taxidermists, and i like the felt cover look much better than the bald skull look.  If I have chance, I will take a couple pics of the ones I did, but of course, too late to show the construction steps. 

[BizCT]

4 hours ago, Water Rat said:

A couple of these I wished that I had mounted. I was looking for the easiest way to mount them instead of having them lying around in the garage.                           

that downward rack is freaky!

[The_Real_TCIII]

Water Rat that buck in the top pic is a beautiful mount, really jumped out at me


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[BizCT]

1 minute ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Water Rat that buck in the top pic is a beautiful mount, really jumped out at me


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Kurt Fox? @Water Rat

[NonTypical]

I plan on making a Xmas tree from the pile that I have one day. 

[ApexerER]

8 hours ago, Swamp_bucks said:

These guys break it down step by step also are a good hunting group to watch.

Just watched the video. I am going to try it for sure. I'll post my results. Thanks for posting!

[Swamp_bucks]

49 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

Just watched the video. I am going to try it for sure. I'll post my results. Thanks for posting!

No problem.  

[518BowSlayer]

10 hours ago, Water Rat said:

A couple of these I wished that I had mounted. I was looking for the easiest way to mount them instead of having them lying around in the garage.                           

id like to see everything in that trophy room!!!

[Moho81]

id like to see everything in that trophy room!!!

Agreed over an Ice cold beer and a few good stories.


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[BizCT]

Agreed over an Ice cold beer and a few good stories.


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In your living room? I’m there!


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[Water Rat]

On 12/17/2019 at 4:06 PM, Biz-R-OWorld said:

Kurt Fox? @Water Rat

No...Bob Seils in Salt Point.

[ApexerER]

Well, I took everyone's suggestions and gave it a try today. Pretty happy..,Thanks everyone!

[Swamp_bucks]

32 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

Well, I took everyone's suggestions and gave it a try today. Pretty happy..,Thanks everyone!

Looks good.  How long did it take?

[ApexerER]

59 minutes ago, Swamp_bucks said:

Looks good.  How long did it take?

I didn't keep track of my time. If I had to guess I would say 3 hours taking out the time for the plaster to dry but it might be less. I am sure it will take less time now that I have some idea what I am doing.