Preparing a Red Stag Trophy Skull for Wall Mounting
You regularly get to read Bushwear's own perspectives on all things hunting, but we're also delighted to bring you content straight from experts who carry unique insights in their particular field. We've enlisted the help of Emily Hannah of www.emilyhannah.ltd.uk to take us through her process for mounting a bespoke and ornamental red stag skull in her style. If you'd like to be featured on our blog and social media, drop an example review to marketing@bushwear.co.uk.
The brief was to have a Royal red stag trophy skull mounted on a wooden back for a wall inside a pub.
There were a number of things to consider before the work began on this fantastic set of antlers from the Scottish Highlands. Firstly, the weight, the skull and antlers weighed in at 10 kilograms. The other consideration was making the piece strong enough to hang it from an internal wall (and just for safe measure, in case someone tries to swing on the antlers after a few pints in the pub!).
We used the sawing off jig to create a good sized and flat edged cavity in the back of the skull which would fit neatly onto the wooden panel. This was easy to achieve as the jig can be altered to fit most size skulls and this one was pretty big!
Next we took a prepared block of wood, placed it inside the cavity and then filled the cavity around the wood with high strength adhesive (We used Stixall adhesive and sealant as it is super strong and is used in the building trade. It can even bond things together under the sea!).The plan was to fix the skull securely to the wooden back without seeing the bolts. It would ruin the overall look and effect of the trophy if there were bolts sticking out of it all over the place!
When the Stixall was set, the wood was placed over the back of the skull and the bolts driven through the back of the wood and into the wooden block inside the skull. A nice piece of olive or elm wood contrasts wonderfully with the white of the skull.
If we decided not to mount the skull on wood, a key hole or two could have been drilled into the block of wood in-bedded into the back of the skull. Then the trophy can be hung directly onto one or two anchor bolts on the wall.
Another option was to put four bolts through the front of the skull and into the wood and then covering the bolt ends with some Milliput epoxy putty. When the Milliput has dried and hardened overnight, it can be treated with furniture wax until in blends in seamlessly with the rest of the skull.
The results are a really eye-catching center piece.
You can view more of Emily and her team's work with thophies Here!