European Mounts – A cool alternative to expensive taxidermy mounts
Many years ago, I stood and watched as 177 big game mounts from Alaska, Africa, and North America were sold at auction. They were my grandfathers. For pennies of what they cost to have done, the mounts were sold and went to new homes. That day left an impression on me. I do not have one head mounted in my home. The walls of my home are filled with photographs of past hunts and fishing trips.
These photographs keep the memories fresh. I am reminded of the last hunting trip with my father, my first steelhead in Alaska and the unbelievable snow goose hunts through these photographs and up till now I have been satisfied with just photos.
I guess part of the reason might be that I am a little on the cheap side and have always seen the money I would spend on a mount, whether it be a deer, goose, duck or turkey, as money I would rather spend towards another hunting trip.
This past fall, I killed a real nice whitetail buck and my hunting partner took the hacksaw out of my hand and said I really should have this one mounted. So I did. But not as you would think. I had a European skull mount done by Bower’s Place in Keymar, MD. (410) 756-4272
Bobby at Bower’s Place cleans the mounts using dermestid beetles, then soaks it in several solutions giving it a nice bright white finish. There is no boiling involved to ensure that there will be no shrinkage or brittleness.
Of course now, I need to finish cleaning up the second rack. European mounts are a great affordable option to the traditional full taxidermy mount. I love the way mine turned out and have begun to clean some of the other racks from past hunts and plan to display a few on the wall. This way I can remember the hunts while spending only a fraction of what it would have cost to have traditional mounts done.