DIY Antler Mounting

[Bear55]

Nice work and great pics DonBo, I do something very similar to this but a lot of your tips/steps will make my next mount a whole lot easier.

[DonBo]

This nice piece of barn board made a good coat rack.

This is a no-brainer for an archery kill.

Slab wood. If I shot two bucks in the same year I like to put them on the same piece of wood.

I know you've seen this. All three came from the same area in So. Dak. three years running.

A small section of my office wall.

Thanks for looking at stuff. Please feel free to show off your own and add any tips you may have.

[hockeybc69]

Here is my method.

I mount every rack we shoot and have shot. Super cheap and super easy.

I cut out a bunch of these wood plaques from a cedar plank and simply sealed them with Thompson deck seal.

My total cost to mount a set of antlers is about $5 when its done.

The cedar plank used was a cull board that was almost free. Beyond that I use batting for the filler you can buy at Walmart. And the felt with the trim is cheap stuff.

Start by simply drilling 2 holes in the skull plate and put 2 screws into the plank.

Next I fill the area below the skull plate with the batting. Just cut some chunks and start stapling them down till its filled.

Now I cut a piece and lay over the batting I put in and cover over the skull plate.

Next is the felt. I have a pattern that I lay over an 8x11 piece of felt and cut that out, then work it around the antlers.

Just use a simple stapler and tack it down around the batting and skull plate.

Then I use an exacto knife and trim everything up around it.

Next is taking the "trim stuff". I cant remember what its called.

Take a hot glue gun and lay a bead around the felt and simply trim things up.

Then you have one great looking trophy for the wall for almost NOTHING invested.

[hockeybc69]

I do this with everything from spikes up to the non-head mounters.

This happens to be a rack from a deer a friend of ours found dead last year during rifle season. Not my best work, but turned out really good.

[Cheetah]

If anyone has some photos of the process or even finished product of shed antlers they have mounted, I'd like to see it. I have two sets of elk sheds I keep meaning to do, and have looked up lots of mounting systems for it, but the cost per set is a little on the high side for me. Some sort of home-brew method would be great to see if anyone here has done it.

[LightningBG]

This happens to be a rack from a deer a friend of ours found dead last year during rifle season. Not my best work, but turned out really good.

Quick off topic question. If you find a buck like your friend did, is there any way to keep it without using your only buck tag? Would it be legit to have your wife or someone go get a buck tag? Sure, she didn't shoot it, but neither did you...

[BLACKJACK]

Good thread and good pictures guys!!! I've done some sets of antlers using Donbo's methods but this thread gives me some more ideas - and incentive. I'm behind a few years, too many other projects I guess!!

[Scoot]

What a great and informative thread! Thanks for taking the time to do this, fellas.

[DonBo]

Thought I'd bump this back to the top with archery season now on us.

[hockeybc69]

Just did this one last night. Friends Sconny buck, so thought it would be fitting to have the green with gold accent.

Started at 7:45, and finished at 9:15.

[hockeybc69]

Another one I did recently. I dont honestly like the brown and green combo.... Bleck.

But hey, its antlers.

I have the entire process down to 2 hours or less. This one had the fur still on the skull plate. Total time getting the skull plate cleaned and to the finished product was just over 2 hours.

You guys that use plaster need to start with the batting. Start and finish the entire project in less time than it takes the Twins to beat up on an opponent.

[swampbuck]

Hard to see from photos but a buddy used a dremmel (sp?) to sand down the skull plates and then attached them to flat granite rocks from where we shot them, lot work but pretty cool '

[Hench]

Here is the one I finished this spring from the 2008 season. I didn't take any photos of the process but used autobody filler to mold around the skull plate and then wrapped crushed velvet around it. The skull base has two bolts I formed in the autobody filler to attached it to the plaque. I had a local cabinet maker make the plaque. It is walnut with a clear satin finish.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo235/bhench_photos/Hunting/Nikon026.jpg

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo235/bhench_photos/Hunting/Nikon002.jpg

[DonBo]

Hench, thats a nice looking mount. I really like adding the photo.

[GRH]

what a great thread. I'm going to have to give this a shot and mount some of my antlers I have laying around. Thanks

[DonBo]

what a great thread. I'm going to have to give this a shot and mount some of my antlers I have laying around. Thanks

That's what made me start this. I had boxes of bone laying around the garage. Sorta made me sad to take all those bucks and not show 'em off. Even the little ones have great stories/memories behind them and they all deserve some respect.

[BLACKJACK]

Even the little ones have great stories/memories behind them and they all deserve some respect.

Donbo, I agree, I've saved every rack from every buck that I've ever shot and everyone has a story behind it!!! Two winters ago I took the time and hung everyone of them in my shop. Only about half of them, the older ones, are mounted on plaques but my plan is to one by one get them all mounted on plaques.

I've done mine very similar to the way you described, trimming the skull, round mounting board, plaster of paris. One thing I want to add to my plaques is a notation like 'Bow 94' or 'Gun 02', haven't decided whether to get little plates or use a wood burner.

[DonBo]

One thing I want to add to my plaques is a notation like 'Bow 94' or 'Gun 02', haven't decided whether to get little plates or use a wood burner.

Good plan. I write that info on the back of the plywood used to mount the skull plate. It doesn't show, but the record is there.

[Nate McVey]

Great thread! Thanks for bumping this back up.

[DonBo]

Time to bump this again with the season finally here.

Congrats to those of you who've scored already!

[tunrevir]

Hey Elwood, nice bucks! Those metal tags are still used in Wisc after you register your deer. I think they are kind of cool momentoes of the hunt.

Tunrevir~

[jwhawkridge]

Hey DonBo - got my first buck this year and followed your treatment (except used batting rather than plaster) and I think I turned out pretty darn good. I know it's a small set but I was my first set

so I had to mount them. Also tried mounting a pheasant tail (I know, I know this isn't' the pheasant forum). Got another tail I'm planning on mounting soon. This is my first venture into amateur taxidermy. Whaddya think folks?

[JimmyJames]

Very nice, good work!

[deets22]

i recently did 3 bucks that i had laying aroung from many years ago. to put the form around my skull plates i used crayola modeling clay. it isn't runny, it's easy to mold, and if you get some where it doesn't belong all you have to use is water to wash it away. it's very cheap and is available pretty much anywhere. i picked mine up from the school supply section area in wal-mart.

[DonBo]

jw, congrats on that first deer. No nead to appologize for the size. That first one will be remembered with pride for a lifetime. Every buck taken deserves that same respect and an antler mount is a great way to show them off.

I love the fact you added the shell. I'm working on one right now that's a young man's first deer also. That will also have the shotgun shell AND the slug that his Dad found along with a photo. I'll be sure to add pics when it's done.

You've done a fine job, congrats and thanks for sharing.

[jwhawkridge]

DonBo - Thanks man! I wouldn't have been able to do without your post!

Here's the 2nd pheasant tail I did and their final spot in the house:

[Cicada]

The first is my first bigger buck,an eight point, shot 11-09-08. I used twine to wrap the antler base, a cabinet door for the backboard, and found a clock that I could disassemble and mount to the cabinet. The second, a nine point, was taken the next year, to the day, on 11-09-09. I used the twine again and found a weather station to mount. The boards came from my deer stand, which was destroyed by someone a day or two before the season began. The third one belongs to my cousin's father-in-law. He asked me to come up with something. I liked the rustic look of the twine and found a oak slab in my uncle's wood pile. I made the frame so he could add the picture of the deer on the day he got it.

[DonBo]

Nice job Cicada, very creative backings!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Here are the small bucks my Pop's and I got last season (09) The one on the left was my first and first with a bow. Dad got his during the tail end of the rifle season.

Best part of these is the leather I used was from a deer hide my Grandpa tanned himself years ago.(He died when I was very young and my mother had it stashed away).

Here's my first attempt at a Euro mount on the nice buck my dad got during the 07 season. Turned out nice, I think.

[DonBo]

Love the euro mount. Did you bleach the skull yourself?

Here's my latest.

The photo was glued to the plaque, then bar-top varnish was poured over the whole thing. The slug/shell was set into the varnish while still wet, then the antler mount was screwed into place later. Nice trophy for this young man's first deer huh?