European mount

The 2012 mule deer head had still been hanging in the back yard for 5 days before i had a chance to bury it. 

this may sound nasty but, kept in the shade, it has been freezing at night despite the warmer days. 

it looked much the same as it did a week ago

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i have always been partial to european mounts. especially since most of what i harvest are not monsters. time restraints due to work ensures that if i do see a cabela's wall hanger i wont have the time to properly pursue it. the european mount doesn't take up as much space and can be displayed outdoors.

the procedure for prepping the deer for cleaning the head is just removing the ears, then burying the head up the base of the antlers and covering it with a large box. 

it will sit in the ground until late spring or early summer.

the bugs will completely clean the skull down to the delicate nasal membranes.

this deer was to take the place of a little 2x3 mule buck i harvested two years ago.

a bee hive settled into the box and i for the first time kept putting off the daunting task of de-hiving. and so it sat.

here is the head under the tote. not sure what to expect bee wise.

after removing the tote i know that all of the bees will be under the ground. 

the skull was picturesque. riddled with used honeycomb.

i was able to control most of the bees. 

the skull was completely bare minus some skin between the antlers. a knife and a pair of pliars made short work of that.

2 years is way too long for best results.

replaced with the 2012 head 

place logs around it so the dogs or animals wont disturb it until early summer.