European mount taxidermy questions

[WyoBull]

Very happy with my European mounts that were done in Africa.

 

[fourfive8]

Very happy with my European mounts that were done in Africa.

View attachment 523051
View attachment 523052

Very classy. Well done.

 

[RichD]

As usual, I'm putting the "plaque before the first Botswana trip". But, I have come into a quantity of blue pine lumber of various sizes and want to make a plaque in the shape of Africa to mount skulls from kudu and gemsbok. I have seen a few on the internet which look pretty nice, but no dimensions were given. Given average animal skulls, does anyone have some good ideas as to dimensions for the plaques? Thanks in advance for the help -

 

[Hunt anything]

As usual, I'm putting the "plaque before the first Botswana trip". But, I have come into a quantity of blue pine lumber of various sizes and want to make a plaque in the shape of Africa to mount skulls from kudu and gemsbok. I have seen a few on the internet which look pretty nice, but no dimensions were given. Given average animal skulls, does anyone have some good ideas as to dimensions for the plaques? Thanks in advance for the help -

As usual, I'm putting the "plaque before the first Botswana trip". But, I have come into a quantity of blue pine lumber of various sizes and want to make a plaque in the shape of Africa to mount skulls from kudu and gemsbok. I have seen a few on the internet which look pretty nice, but no dimensions were given. Given average animal skulls, does anyone have some good ideas as to dimensions for the plaques? Thanks in advance for the help -

I’m sure members on here can give you dimensions on skulls, just tell us what animals are on your list and someone here will get you the dimensions.

 

[RichD]

Kudu and Gemsbok

 

[Nyati]

Kudu 43x18 cm

Gemsbok 40x15 cm

 

[RichD]

Kudu 43x18 cm

Gemsbok 40x15 cm

Thank you - Those measurements are much smaller than I would have expected. Probably will wait until I (hopefully) have animals on the ground before starting the woodwork.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

A flat sawsall cut makes it much easier and quicker to mount securely to the plaque. Leaving the complete upper skull intact with teeth requires custom fitting and time with each mounting being unique.

I can make one of these mounts in a little more than an hour, complete with stain and finish. No material needs to be cut from the skull.

I have never seen a North American euro mount with lower jaw except critters with canine teeth.

 

[RichD]

A flat sawsall cut makes it much easier and quicker to mount securely to the plaque. Leaving the complete upper skull intact with teeth requires custom fitting and time with each mounting being unique.

I can make one of these mounts in a little more than an hour, complete with stain and finish. No material needs to be cut from the skull.
View attachment 530400
I have never seen a North American euro mount with lower jaw except critters with canine teeth.

Here is a pic of a little "last day/last afternoon pronghorn I took many years ago. This "Euro" mount was done by a friend who was a hobby taxidermist. He does his mounts with the intact skull unless the customer wants something different.

 

[Smo1127]

Great thread, never even gave it a second thought about the differences in a “Euro Mount”. Never really focused on the difference between the standard dip and bleach we do here, and the standards in Africa and Europe.

Notes added to my trip file!

 

[Bhfs300]

I have done two safaris and just had dip and ship done of most of the skulls.
I only had to bleach one skull.
I used the wall mounts that you can get at your sporting goods store.
One I made my own plaque so I could include the arrows used with one of the skulls.

As long as you don’t have any hides it should be a faster turnaround.
Tom

 

[Smo1127]

Appreciate feedback, thats exactly what I am going to do

Steve

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I had skulls and four hides done from eleven animals shot in South Africa last August. Still sitting in a crate at taxidermist in Port Elizabeth. They were finished in the spring and I was sent photos of excellent work. The holdup seems to be govt paperwork delayed. According to taxidermist email today, that govt dept has undergone "drastic changes" recently. Not surprised. Seems anything associated with govt there is always in flux. Exchange rate has been improving so the delay has had some benefit.

Make sure you tell taxidermist to not paint the skulls. I had that happen with first batch. Cleaned them up but it was a messy job. They paint them to cover up sloppy work, particularly grease stains. A taxidermist on this side can clean up grease stains easier than stripping off paint. I have sixteen skulls on the wall now. Only one, the above hartbeest, was ready to hang out of the crate.

 

[Phil Giordano]

This is the way I do, very simple and solid - but I admit it's not a true and traditional
European style. The threaded rods are epoxy glued into the skull, on the back of the shield there is a washer and a nut, both cashed to make it flat on the wall.

 

[Smo1127]

I had skulls and four hides done from eleven animals shot in South Africa last August. Still sitting in a crate at taxidermist in Port Elizabeth. They were finished in the spring and I was sent photos of excellent work. The holdup seems to be govt paperwork delayed. According to taxidermist email today, that govt dept has undergone "drastic changes" recently. Not surprised. Seems anything associated with govt there is always in flux. Exchange rate has been improving so the delay has had some benefit.

Make sure you tell taxidermist to not paint the skulls. I had that happen with first batch. Cleaned them up but it was a messy job. They paint them to cover up sloppy work, particularly grease stains. A taxidermist on this side can clean up grease stains easier than stripping off paint. I have sixteen skulls on the wall now. Only one, the above hartbeest, was ready to hang out of the crate.

Excellent info, would never have thought about “painting” to cover mistakes!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Excellent info, would never have thought about “painting” to cover mistakes!

Oh yes. I have seen several skull mounts in Africa that are painted. My buddy's first two shipments were all painted white. Looking closely at some of the pics posted here and elsewhere in other threads, I see it is apparently not uncommon.

Over here the common treatment is to bleach cleaned skulls with peroxide. However, it is becoming difficult to obtain large quantities as the stuff apparently can be used to make bombs. That would obviously be of some concern in unstable third world countries.

Also, be sure to specify you want all teeth intact. If you don't, the taxidermist may assume you don't care (i.e. you plan to saw off that part of the skull anyway to do a traditional European style mount). And good luck getting them to follow instructions. Almost all skulls sent to me last time looked like this with teeth from gawd knows what species of animal glued on haphazardly after sawing off the roots. The original teeth were no doubt boiled to dust ... along with portions of the animals' horns.

 

[Troubleshooter]

... and want to make a plaque in the shape of Africa to mount skulls from kudu and gemsbok. I have seen a few on the internet which look pretty nice, but no dimensions were given. Given average animal skulls, does anyone have some good ideas as to dimensions for the plaques?

We had a similar requirement recently. In my case, it was determined that three plaques were needed in 2', 3', and 4' heights (and corresponding widths) respectively. I then went online and located an outline of the African continent and provided the file to a nearby print shop. The resulting prints were then used to trace the outlines onto the wood that was used to make the plaques. You'll want to use a print shop with a sufficiently large printer to handle the paper. If they can copy blueprints, it will be big enough to print the outlines for a project such as this.

Examples:

Hope that helps!

 

[RichD]

Your Africa plaque is EXACTLY what I want to do to mount my Gemsbok and Warthog skull mounts. Is it possible for you to show measurements that you used for yours? Much appreciated. My wife loved my Kudu so much that without hesitation she saw the pic I sent to her, and she said that should be a shoulder mount, not just a skull mount.

 

[Troubleshooter]

If you're referring to the top photo (wrapped in plastic), that was the 4' height version. As mentioned, we used an outline of the continent to trace onto the wood, so width was proportional. The actual plaque is at the taxidermist's shop now, but I would guess it's roughly 40" at the widest point. We used a partial sheet of plywood for that one.

The bottom photo was the 3' version. We used several planks of repurposed wood planks for that one.

Recommend that you determine what height is needed for your application, then just use an outline of the continent and it will give you the correct dimensions.