DIY European Mount

This post sharing tips on how to Create your Own DIY European Mount contains affiliate links which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link within this post, I will receive a small portion of the sale at no additional cost to you.

Create your own DIY European Mount easily with this step by step tutorial loaded with tips to make your deer skull mount an eye-catching piece of decor.

Sometimes you may Harvest a deer that is not special enough to pay for a traditional shoulder-mount or European mount but you would still like to preserve the memory and have a nice souvenir for your wall.

In this case, I am going to show you how to make a DIY European Mount. This process starts with burying your skull in the backyard and showing some serious patience.

Some people choose to buy Beatles to eat the flesh away when making their own DIY European Mount but that is a tricky process and the Beatles sometimes get mites and die.

Sometimes people prefer to boil their heads but in my experience, that process can be very messy. I choose to bury them in the backyard and wait 12 months to get my keepsake.

This is by far the simplest way to make your very own DIY European Mount.

All you do is dig a hole big enough for the head to fit in and cover everything but the antlers with the dirt. After that I like to cover the antlers with a garbage can topped with bricks to make sure no squirrels nibble away at your rack.

After about 10 to 12 months you simply dig it up and almost everything has been cleaned by Nature. The next step is to hose it off but don’t use a power washer and be careful with too powerful of a stream as many of the nasal cavity bones are very sensitive and will break easily.

I like to use a nylon scratch brush to clean off any excess material that may be stuck to it.

When you are finished it has a darker natural look to it than a European mount that you may pay for. I actually prefer this look but if you prefer the more traditional white color, simply tape off the antlers and spray paint with a bone colored paint.

Also, you can design your own plaque by simply drawing out the shape on a 1×12 board.

After you have sketched out your shape, cut them out with a jigsaw.

The next step in creating your own DIY European Mount is sanding the edges so that it is nice and smooth all the way around your cuts.

You can use a piece of sandpaper for this part or pick up an electric sander, it will make this job much quicker.

Take a sawtooth picture frame hanger and attach it to the back then stain it whatever color you would like.

The back of your DIY European Mount will never be seen once hung on the wall so if you want to save on stain, don’t bother painting this part.

I love the contrast that a black background offers to the color of the skull but I also think light wood adds a nice touch as well.

Choose a shade that will fit in well with the rest of your decor. If you already have lots of mounts in your lovely room of death as Ace Ventura called it, you can try to match your existing pieces.

Or if you are like me, you may shop the ding and dent section of paint at your local hardware store and pick up whichever is on sale.

Then you simply take a small drill bit and drill one hole through the plaque where you can put a screw from the back through the front into the skull of the deer.

I like to drill a small pilot hole in the skull as well to make sure that nothing gets damaged.

Your DIY European Mount is now ready to be hung in a prominent location inside of your home.

Show off your finished product on social media and be sure to tag me so I can see how your DIY European Mount turned out and leave a comment below to tell me all about it.