# Euro bear is FINALLY done



## jerry russell (Jul 24, 2012)

Well I finally got around to finishing a couple of bear skulls today. I put many hours into the project with over four hours on the claws alone. I took those things apart down to the toe bone. I then whitened the bone and after a detailed multi-step polishing of the claws everything was put back together.  I took the time to video all the steps and may post it up here one day.

The claws turned out fantastic and shine like jewlery. 
I then built my stand out of a rough piece of 30 year old cedar...LOTs of sanding.

I put it all together with a center piece of the 40 year old bear razorhead that I took him with. 

This was a ton of work but I like how it turned out.


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## Budda (Jul 24, 2012)

Thats awefully prudy.  I got a 19 13/16 skull jist sitting here that i aint never done anything with.


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## Marlin_444 (Jul 24, 2012)

Very NICE!  

I'd be shy one "HOOK" as I owe EddyM (I have not forgotten) one that I've been promisin him for many years...  

*V*


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## GONoob (Jul 24, 2012)

Thats really nice. What does the coin mean?


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## jerry russell (Jul 24, 2012)

GONoob said:


> Thats really nice. What does the coin mean?



Just a token from the country where the bear was taken. Both bears were taken in Quebec.


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## FMBear (Jul 24, 2012)

Downright awesome job!


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## Jasper (Jul 25, 2012)

Simply awesome job on that! Congrats, what a way to remember the hunt!


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## robert carter (Jul 25, 2012)

Great job Jerry. You got skills.RC


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## buckeroo (Jul 26, 2012)

You should be very proud of that sir. Nice work!


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## Wetzel (Jul 26, 2012)

Looks great.


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## mwilli24 (Jul 31, 2012)

Very nice mount.


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## buckeroo (Aug 4, 2012)

It was nice to see this piece in person at the blast yesterday! Looked great and enjoyed talking to you Jerry.


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## jerry russell (Aug 5, 2012)

buckeroo said:


> It was nice to see this piece in person at the blast yesterday! Looked great and enjoyed talking to you Jerry.



Thank you. I was great to meet you and a bunch of the other guys off of here. I hope more of you will stop by to say hello today.


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## Boot (Aug 6, 2012)

Very nice mount! Your hard work payed off with a great piece!


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## hillbilly12 (Aug 8, 2012)

friend of mine just finished my NC skull. Now i want to do something with the claws


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## hillbilly12 (Aug 8, 2012)

Budda said:


> Thats awefully prudy.  I got a 19 13/16 skull jist sitting here that i aint never done anything with.



never measured a skull. were or the measurement points taken from?


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## jtomczak (Aug 16, 2012)

Awesome!


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## Limbhanger2881 (Aug 16, 2012)

I do really great European Skull Mounts and especially for bears. I do not use beetles and my tturn around is a week. Send me an email headsnskulls@hotmail.com


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## oldugahat (Aug 19, 2012)

Nice job. What method did you use for cleaning the skull? And did you do anything special on the teeth?


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## jerry russell (Aug 19, 2012)

I used the simmer method on the skull but will never do that again. It is something that could damage a trophy skull.  Next time I will use the maceration method.

Nothing special on the teeth but I did use two whitening treatments (40 vloume peroxide paste) on the entire skull after a two day white gas soaking.


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## tkyklr1 (Aug 19, 2012)

Looks Great!


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## oldugahat (Aug 20, 2012)

I have been told that it is the best way, without access to beetles.


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## Killer Kyle (Aug 25, 2012)

Those claws look amazing Jerry!  Could you explain the prep on the claws/toe bones?  I think I'd like to give that a try this season.  Did you actually separate the claw from the toe bone, and simmer the toe bones?  Also, did you use some sort of rotary tool and a buffer type attachment to polish?  I saw where you had used the simmer method and would no longer ise it......would that still be safe for the toe bones?  I've used the maceration methon on two different whitetail skulls, and I just used two different applications of regular hudrogen peroxide, and set them in the sun to bleach both times, and I had GREAT results.  I did have to glue two or three teeth each time but other than that, maceration works great!


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## Killer Kyle (Aug 25, 2012)

No doubt though, that 40% peroxide paste you used turned the bone much whiter than my regular perozide from the pharmacy.


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## Limbbaconeer (Aug 25, 2012)

I paid someone last year to do my european mount.  This year I want to do it myself.  Can you give a Very brief description of the process (maceration)?

Thank you!


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## jerry russell (Aug 25, 2012)

I did a video of the claw polishing process and skull work and I will post it as soon as I can get it produced. It will be very detailed and shows all of the rotary tool attachments and various chemicals used. It will do a much better job of explaining than I can type here.
I will tell you flat out that it is a good bit of work but it turned out so well that it was worth the effort and something anyone can take pride in doing.


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## Limbbaconeer (Aug 25, 2012)

Thank you.  I look forward to it.


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## Killer Kyle (Aug 25, 2012)

I second that. I look forward to it as well.  It should come out  cheaper than having it done by a taxidermist, and since I am a broke college student I need every red cent I'm able to save!


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