# Sticky  Shoulder mount care



## U of M Fan

Any suggestions on what you should do to care for your mount as the years pass? What to do or what not to do.


----------



## Mitchell Ulrich

Do keep it clean.

Avoid direct exposure to sunlight, some sun is OK as long as it's not extensive as this will cause fading and dry out the hair.

Avoid direct exposure to heating and cooling registers. You dont want warm/hot/cold air blowing up or down onto the hair/fur as this causing drying and blows airborne dust directly into the hair.

Never place you mount over the fireplace even if it's been converted to nat'l gas. The heat rolling up the wall and onto the mount will reduce it's shelf life by about 1/2. Real ones will smoke damage a mount even quicker.

Do keep it clean. Take an old wool hunting sock, spray pledge (I like cedar scented) into the sock until there is a small white puddle of polish 
built up and wipe down the mount following the direction of the hair. The hair goes every which way, so pay attention to that and don't just wipe in a general direction.

Side Note....there is paint and epoxies around the eyes-ears-nose-lip line- junstions...DO NOT clean these areas as you could remove paint. To clean the eyes use a Q-tip and just enough windex to wet the tip then clean the glass in a tight, yet soft circular motion, taking care to keep contact with the lids to a minimum.


IF you mount has antlers, they tend to dry out and become brittle. To help avoid this from happening, do as above and lightly "Oil" the antlers.

DO NOT let people touch your mount. This is probably the number one killer of low hanging, child accessible mounts. The best thing to do is when you first get your 3 headed widget home, assemble the wife and kids around and allow a supervised, one time petting, using only the back of the hand. This often removes the "NO, NO, DONT TOUCH THAT!" taboo of mounted animals. Hopefully now that they've touched it and know what it feels like, they'll quickly lose interest in it but still know enough to stop their friends from wanting to pet you critters.

IF you have any more questions, just look at it like this..IF this were my Ol' lady thousand dollar fur coat..would you hand it on the wall where the sun shines on it all day, never dust it, let the kids reach up and rub their grimy hands into the fur..yadda yadda...

Mitch


----------



## U of M Fan

Thanks. This info should be a sticky.


----------



## fish patroll

U of M Fan said:


> Thanks. This info should be a sticky.


yes, i agree. very good information, well done Mitchell.


----------



## neil duffey

a VERY light application of skin so soft on thee antlers will help keep them from going brittle as well as clean them up and give them a tad of a bony shine. apply as mentioned above w/ the pledge.


----------



## QDMAMAN

Mitchell Ulrich said:


> IF you mount has antlers, they tend to dry out and become brittle. To help avoid this from happening, do as above and lightly "Oil" the antlers.
> 
> Mitch


Mitchell, What do you recommend for an "oil"?

Thanks,
Big T


----------



## Trophy Specialist

QDMAMAN said:


> Mitchell, What do you recommend for an "oil"?
> 
> Thanks,
> Big T


The last step in my mount finishing process is to apply Pledge Revitalizing Oil with a rag soaked with the stuff. It goes on looking shinny, but soaks in and then does not look shinny. It protects the antlers with a natural look.

I maintain my mounts by just going over them with a feather duster a few times a year. If dust builds up that won't come off with a feather duster (inside nostrils, ears, mouth...), I use my air hose with the compressor set on about 50 psi and blow the dust off them. In fact about every other year I blow off all of my mounts and while I have the air hose in my studio, I'll also blow the dust off everything else there too including taking my computer and sundries apart and blasting those clean too. If dirt builds up that I can dust or blow off, then I wipe it clean with a water dampened rag wiping with the grain of the hair. If the hair gets messed up on my mounts, I brush them back into shape with a horse hair brush.

I would not recommend using Windex to clean the eyes because that stuff can remove some paints if you are not very careful. I have some cleaner called Bright Eyes that is made for cleaning eyes. I apply a couple drops to a Q-tip and then wipe it dry with the dry end of the Q-tip. On my mounts, after I'm done painting the eyes, I ring the very edge of eye skin with automotive clear coat using a tinny paint brush. That does two things: it adds a wet look where the eye meets the lids and also protects the paint too when the eye is cleaned. I use the same clear coat on the nose too which gives it a wet look and helps protect that often bumped spot.

I'll also add that if your antlers have been repaired, then you should contact the taxidermist that did those repairs for any cleaning recommendations or warnings. That also goes for repairs done to the body of the mount too. I go though transportation, hanging and cleaning particulars with my customers when they pick up their mounts.


----------



## archer87

Trophy Specialist said:


> I'll also add that if your antlers have been repaired, then you should contact the taxidermist that did those repairs for any cleaning recommendations or warnings. That also goes for repairs done to the body of the mount too. I go though transportation, hanging and cleaning particulars with top rated kittie dewormer reviews when they pick up their mounts.


Great idea!


----------



## bowhuntingrules

Some great info guys, thank you so much.


----------



## Blaze

I have read where WD-40 can be used on antlers, is this correct? Also read that vasoline can be used on nose, and very small amount on skin around eyes. 

Is any of this information correct?

Thank you.


----------



## jexmex

I had not planned on getting it done so I didn't look into it. Since it was my first buck I figured why not for $25, but it was the meat processor so IDK does that change things? Does this thing need to go to a actual taxidermist within a time period?


----------



## ryan-b

jexmex said:


> I had not planned on getting it done so I didn't look into it. Since it was my first buck I figured why not for $25, but it was the meat processor so IDK does that change things? Does this thing need to go to a actual taxidermist within a time period?


If you have the freezer space you can freeze it for a bit. If not it will just rot. Actually it’s most likely already started to experience slippage


----------



## 22 Chuck

When you pick up the mount ask the dude about care recommendations/etc.


----------

