Written by: Clint Patterson
10/9/2010 7:57 PM 

	Camo Skull Mount by Chris Melvin, Pin Oak Taxidermy SEE A CLOSE UP OF THE MOUNT

One day while I was at Hickory Hills Smoked Products in Van Wyck, SC I saw something that caught my eye.  One of the tables off to the side had some taxidermy displays and I saw something I’d never seen before among the displays.  There was a skull mount with the skull painted in a really neat looking camo design.  I walked over and looked at some of the samples, felt how slick they were, took some pics with my phone, and looked at the info about the guy who was doing it.  The business card in front said “Chris Melvin, Pin Oak Taxidermy, Great Falls, SC”.  I was pretty impressed as I looked at the designs available and the samples that were on display.  I made a mental note to myself about it and went on about my business.

The next day was when I shot the 8 pointer right at daylight.  This deer was a nice deer, but he wasn’t big enough for me to mount in the style of a normal mount and since it was fresh in my mind I figured I’d give this camo skull mount a whirl…after all it looked pretty neat.  I called back up to Hickory Hills and got the phone number for Pin Oak taxidermy and gave Chris Melvin a call.  I told Chris that not only did I want my skull mounted with this neat new camo design, but that I also wanted to meet with him and talk to him about it and post something about it here on the site. 

A couple of days ago I did just that… I went down and met Chris and got some more information from him about the camo skull mounts and saw some more examples.  Chris was a real nice, easy going guy and I have to tell you that this camo skull stuff is pretty neat!  I asked Chris some questions about the camo skull mounts and he told me a little about the process etc. 

One thing I found interesting was the Chris has a very unique way of getting the skulls clean.  He mentioned that many people boil a skull to get it clean, but that boiling it makes it brittle and more likely to crack.  In order to get the skulls clean and let them maintain their strength, Chris uses something very unique.  He uses a specific type of beetles and they eat everything, but the skull!  Yes, you may find that rare, but I have to tell you that these things really get the job done.  They also get the job done fast.  Chris said that in a matter of days the beetles will have the skull as clean as a whistle. (If you want to see a pic of the beetles cleaning a skull, click here). After the skulls are clean he lets them air dry out for a while and then he prepares the skulls for painting. 

While I was at Angelus Deer Processing getting my deer processed I showed some of the camo skull pics on my phone to the guys down there and they really liked this style of skull mount too.  I’m writing this blog entry because you may be like me (and the guys down at Angelus Deer Processing) and have never heard or seen this style before.  Hopefully I can help spread the word about this new technique in skull mounts and give Chris a little publicity! 

Chris said that with all things normal the turn-around time with a camo skull is around 3 months.  If he gets really busy then that can affect the turn-around time, but generally that’s about how long it takes.  The camo skull mounts go for $165 and you can choose from a wide variety of designs and man I’m telling you they look good.  I saw several designs on different skulls and they all looked different and were shining from the glossiness of the finish.  I’d definitely recommend this style at least for one of your mounts and I’m going to post the pic of mine here on the site when I get it back. 

Another note that is worth mentioning is that Chris can still give you a camo skull mount if you have the horns from a deer you harvested many years ago.  Chris can get a fake skull and attach your horns to it.  He showed me a camo skull mount that had real horns, but with a fake skull on it and it wasn’t easy to tell so they still look good.

Below is a quick video I made with a few different variations of the camo mounts

So if you have an old set of horns or if you want a neat new type of mount then give Chris Melvin at Pin Oak Taxidermy a call or email.  Chris’s info is below:

Chris Melvin
j_c_melvin@yahoo.com
Pin Oak Taxidermy
Great Falls, South Carolina
803.519.6203

Regards,


Clint
 

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Tags: Camo Skull

Categories: Hunting, Reviews, Other

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