How to Fix & Display Your Trophy to a Shield
So having stalked it, shot it, recovered it, boiled it, sweated over it, … and been shouted at for making a mess of the kitchen, what’s the next step to get your pride and joy up on the wall?
A shield adds the finishing touch to a trophy, but keep in mind that it’s important to match the size of the shield to the trophy. Avoid the mistake of using large slabs of timber that will detract from it!
Regardless of species, trophies reach this stage of their journey either as whole deer skulls or having been cut. We’ll look at the cut skull first as that is without doubt the most popular display method. The easiest way for most of us to achieve a level cut is to use a “sawing off stand” also called a cutting jig.
Decide on the amount of skull you want, set the angle, tighten the screws and saw through. The most popular are long and short nose.
You can fix a cut skull to the shield in one of two ways, either by using a proprietary metal fixing or by packing the cranial cavity with car body filler and a wooden splint. The metal fixing works best with long nosed cuts though car body filler can be used for both.
If you use a metal fixing, place it into the cranial cavity, to check it will grip the bone. Then mark, drill, and countersink the shield. Thread the locking screw through the shield and into the fixing, and tighten. Job done.
With filler, first cut a splint of wood that will comfortably fit into the cranial cavity. Next mix a suitable amount of filler and hardener together and pack it in around and over the wooden splint. Leave to harden.
The trophy can now be fixed to the shield. To do this, drill two holes in the shield and countersink. Make two corresponding pilot holes in the filled cranium, align and screw the trophy to the shield.
Trophies where the skull has been left whole offer a number of options for displaying. Full skulls can be fixed to shield without filling the cranium though care needs to be taken to get a good strong fixing. This is best achieved by drilling a pilot hole in the thickest and strongest part of the skull; found on the underside of the skull where the atlas joint joins the head. Having drilled the shield use a self-tapping screw to screw directly into the bone..
An increasingly popular method to use for full skulled trophies is to use a display stand;
These can either be in wood or in stainless steel, and are often used with heads that have achieved a medal award. Not only does it allow your trophy to be viewed from 360 degrees and at the angle nature intended, it might …just might… be easier to keep dust free in the long run.