Got 2” of rain a few days ago. That knocked down pretty much all the remaining leaves except the ones that hang on until spring but it made everything too wet to do anything about it so spent a few hours doing the bulk of the work for a European mount of the buck that got a little too close to the box blind recently. It’s still soaking wet. Will probably have to bleach the skull to even out the color when it dries as it’s likely to be white, yellow, and gray when it’s fully dry.
Did one years ago. It was my son’s first buck. I had promised him I’d mount one for him if and when he shot something worth mounting. Offered to have a taxidermist do a traditional mount but he requested the European mount. Figured I could muddle through that myself after watching a couple YouTube videos. Kind of a nasty job, but not rocket science.
I didn’t see anything that explained the bleaching process, and the yellowish natural coloring of fresh bone was not particularly attractive. Fortunately one of my employees was a hairdresser in a prior life and a country girl. Asked her if she knew anything about bleaching bone as I kind of figured laundry bleach would just give it a lighter yellow tint. She launched into a lengthy explanation of bleaches, more commonly known to cosmetologists as “lightening agents”, as well as the various considerations for when to use what and why. After a while I asked her if she could just give my stupid self a specific product and source to purchase. She wrote it down and sent me to the local Sally Beauty Supply. A few days later, went into Sally, a little storefront about 1500SF in a strip mall, looking like I just got out of a deer stand because I had. So when I went to the “lightener” aisle I attracted a lot of attention. It was pretty busy when I went in. I thought nothing of my appearance particularly since I didn’t get a second glance from anyone at Walmart where apparently full camo outfits and scent kill used as cologne aren’t unusual.
Sally Beauty Supply was a bit different experience. About a third of the of the ladies (no men in sight) stared as they moved well out of my way; another third quickly walked out, some setting down their yet to be purchased items on the way; the last third clearly thought the situation was humorous. A nice young lady approached me and asked if I needed help. Showed her my little piece of paper and told her I was trying to find this stuff in their impressively diverse stock of lighteners. She said, “You’re bleaching bone, aren’t you?” Told her I was. She said guys like me came in once in a while and we weren’t hard to spot. She and her husband did some similar stuff and she was nice enough to explain exactly how to use the stuff on bone (a little different than hair).
This is the first one. 2013. Doesn’t seem that long ago. I guess I’ll try to dress a little more normal when I go back to Sally Beauty if I need more bleach.