What to do with a dead head?

[Potsie]

Came across this dead head while hiking out last day of season, snagged it up and brought it home.

I’ve got my wife convinced it’s nature’s euro, so I can hang it in the house, but I can’t decide if I should bleach the antlers out more, leave them as is, or try and stain them a bit darker.

Any ideas?

 

[Mudranger1]

If its nature's way I say leave em

 

[Bc1992]

Definitely leave them as they are

 

[Pucky Freak]

I’d touch up the skull and leave the antlers be

 

[David58]

Here in NM, it's illegal to remove a dead head from the woods unless you tagged it. Seems funny, that, since you can have sheds...

 

[SG25]

I’d say leave it how it is

 

[Shortbowshot]

If you decide to darken it. Used coffee grams work well.

 

[drexal]

That's a tough one. I really like the look of an elk 'euro' with really dark antlers and whitened skull. But this one looks really cool just the way it is.

 

[OntarioHunter]

That one's not bad as is. Here's one I picked up in the woods back in 1965. Some kid shot the skull with a .410 and broke it in two. Several points were gone and it was badly bleached. Shows you what can be done with a careful paint job. We used a couple different oil stains.