Wooden Deer Head

I'm not a hunter. I wasn't raised in a hunting family, so I never learned the skills necessary for hunting. But I can work with wood! And the idea of having proportionally accurate décor modelled from local deer using locally sourced reclaimed wood was appealing. The idea came to me during a walk through the Ponderosa Pine forests of central Oregon, where the branches resemble deer antlers. It wasn't until I was finished that my wife informed me that fake deer head décor is popular and you can buy them online. But if you want to make your own...hopefully this will provide a guide. This is my first Instructable, so forgive me if I'm still learning!

2x Pine wood log sections

Crowbar

Hammer

Reciprocating saw (chainsaw would be better)

Belt sander

(optional) hand-held planer

Table saw, or table router

Cordless Drill

Tie-downs

Protractor

Ruler

Tape Measure

2x double-ended screws (also known as "dowel screws"

Large 1" width x 6" length

1/4" fluted wood dowels

Wood glue

Plastic wood

Sandpaper

White Paint (natural paint gets a good whitewash)

3/4" drill bit

Mounting kit

My neighbor, being a hunter, had a great specimen of Mule deer, and he let me take pictures and measurements. Feel free to use these photos for your reference. If you are not using a block of wood that will allow you the same proportions, then you will need to use photos to convert the real deer head measurements to the respective measurements that will fit within your wood. I used a couple sections of Ponderosa that let me keep the proportions, which meant less math (yay!).

You can use any type of wood your prefer, but I would recommend pine since you'll want a softer wood with all the cutting and sanding you'll be doing.

One final note: I don't own NEARLY as many tools as I would like (the man's lament), so I've convinced myself that part of the fun of doing wood projects is completing the job with the tools you have. If you have better tools for the job, by all means use them!

Print out you pictures and mark up with your actual deer head measurements. The neck measures taper down dramatically down to the head. By using algebra (useful for the first time in my life), you can convert these measurements into inches and find other needed measurements, such as the line connecting the neck to the head.

You will also need a protractor to find the important angle for mounting against the wall.

Go for a walk! Find some branches that look just like antlers. It's okay if they don't perfectly match, but they should be roughly the same size.

Start preparing your log by removing the bark. If the log has been seasoned, you should be able to accomplish this easily with a crowbar and hammer. If you need to just start cutting into your log, that's okay too.

Once stripped, use your angle for mounting on the wall, and apply that angle on the log. A big black sharpie will be to serve as your line. I used a board against the log and looked at it sideways and drew it from that perspective.

At this point, gosh a chainsaw would have been nice. But good old elbow grease was all I had.

Finish up by sanding smooth and drill a large strong bolt into the back in order to hang it temporarily while you're working on it.

Your neck measurements are not just for the width of the deer neck, but also the width as it tapers down. Using a sharpie, make measurements at the distances at which the neck starts tapering down from 14"-->10"--->8"--->6".

Then, on the end of the log, draw circles of the 10"/8"/6" (the diameter of the log was already 14").

Starting at the 10" line, start cutting sections with either your chain saw or reciprocating saw, all the way around, making sure you stay at 10" all the way around. From that 10" line, take it down to 10 inches all the way to the end (remark your sharpie line after cutting sections away)).

Once that's done, do the same at the 8" line and then 6" line, until you have a very rough, cubed out taper. You can kind of cut odd sections slightly, but you want to have your rough form to maintain measurements.

As your slicing sections off, pay attention to the pieces your cutting off. Two of these slices will make great ears for your dear. Find a couple ones that have good shape like deer ears and set them aside for later.

Now you start sculpting with your belt sander! Start sanding and smoothing all the way around.

Smooth out odd unnatural ridges, bumps and lines - your goal is to make the neckline look as close to the picture as possible. Keep your photos of the deer head posted immediately nearby and, as you sand, look at it constantly, both from underneath, side, and front. Your comparison should highlight areas that don't look right.

As you notice sections that need more sanding or smoothing, use your sharpie to circle or mark the sections that need more material taken away. If certain sections need a lot of material removed (and would take a lot of sanding), you can use a hand planer to slice off material. It can be hard to slice off parts that you've just painstakingly sanded smooth and pretty, but once you've gotten a section to dimensions that match the picture, your belt sander will make it smooth and pretty once again.

This is the part of the project that takes the most time, so be patient. Take your time in comparing, noticing subtle things like rounding as it connects to the neck, a sharp angle upward at the top of the neck, and a indented groove at the very base of the neck.

Go back to your drawing and do some more measurements and math. Using algebra once again, measure the lines of the head to find your full size measurements.

One thing you'll notice as you examine the picture from the front and side: deer heads are surprisingly square and straight lined. This log is smaller than the neck section, and it's about to get a whole lot smaller. So it's somewhat harder to secure while you're cutting away at it.

Using a couple rectangular sections of scrap wood, screw them to the side of the log at the angle that you are cutting. The scrap wood will both serve as a means of tying it down, but also provide a straight line guide as you cut.

Your first cut you make will be flat part that will attach to the neck, so find the angle to cut. The angle you're looking for is from the bottom line of the head up through the center of the neck.

Your second cut will be the bottom of the head, from the neck to the jaw. Use the scrap wood to guide you straight. As difficult as it is, I recommend using a hand-saw to be able to control your cut and make it clean.

Taking a piece of paper and pencil, make a stencil of the top of the neck you just worked so hard to sand and smooth. Cut your circle out and put it on the base of the head block you're working on. Trace the line of the cutout.

Your third and fourth cuts will be on either side of the circle you made - straight down. You'll taper it down to the nose later, but make them straight for now.

Your fifth cut will be from the base of the neck up to the top of the head, where the ears and antlers are. Like I previously mentioned, the deer head is very angular, so this top part is like a roof.

Your sixth and final cut will be from the top of the "roof" down to the nose.

Okay, you're actual last cut is cutting the sharp tip off the nose, but that barely counts.

From here, use your belt sander to start rounding, smoothing, and sculpting the head. Using your picture as reference, observe that the from the back of the head to the nose, it's fairly square, but tapers down to a 2-inch square. On the top of the nose, there's a slight bridge that leads up to the eyes. Your belt sander will make short work of this sculpting process.

[I forgot to take pictures of this, I'm sorry] Use your cordless drill and handheld drill press with a drill bit the same diameter as your wood dowel. Drill a hole in the middle of your neck and the middle of the base of your head where they will interconnect. This large dowel will serve as the main load-bearing center for connecting your head to the neck. To strengthen this even further, and ensure your head is aligned where you want it on the neck, use 5 or 6 1/4" fluted dowels around this large center dowel. Line up the holes of your fluted dowels by using inserted metal dowel centers. Use wood glue and try to clamp as best you can. Leave overnight.

Once your glue has dried, use plastic wood to smooth in the head with the neck. It dries pretty quick, but I waited overnight to ensure it dried all the way through since you use quite a bit. Once it's dry, give it a quick sanding.

Use a 3/4" drill bit size for installing the antlers, since you'll want some good anchorage to make sure the antlers are sturdy.

Do a sample drill to get the circumference of the drill size. Use a piece of paper and stencil the circle. Cut the circle out (you'll use this as our template for the base of the antlers to ensure it fits snug into the head-hole.

Make a mark on your drill bit to make sure you don't go too deep. Using the photos as reference, drill two holes in the top of the head, slightly on the side.

Make a clean cut for your antler base. Using your 3/4" template, trace out the circle.

At this point, you'll be making a dowel at the base of your antler. You can do this one of two ways: using a table router or table saw. A table router would be preferable (and safer), but I used a table saw (very carefully).

Once again, use the measurement that you made on your 3/4" drill bit to measure the height of the table saw blade/router bit. Trim the excess around the antler base around your traced circle, and sand it round. Periodically try putting it in the deer head hole. It should be snug but still easy to put in and pull out.

One you've completed this with both antlers, drill a small pilot hole into the dowel you've made at the antler base. You are going to install your double-ended dowel screws, and you definitely don't want them to split the antlers. So make sure your pilot hole lets you screw it in snug but without risk of splitting.

Drill another pilot hole into the holes of the head. Do not use wood glue when you put the antlers in. You're going to need to remove them for getting it through a door and hanging the head without risk of breaking them. For now, simply screw in your antlers to try them out and remove them and set them aside.

Now, take your deer ears from when you were whittling the neck and sand them into ear shapes. You can simply glue and clamp them to the back of the head, just below the antlers. Reference your photos for the right angle. Leave overnight.

This is the easy part! White wash your deer head. You can use any type of white wash you prefer, but I really liked a natural white paint. I used Amy Howard natural one-step paint, and really liked the chalky finish.

Whitewash is simply white paint with some water mixed in to dilute it a little. Use about one part paint to one part water, and experiment on a piece of scrap wood until you get the right look you want.

Paint your deer and let dry.

Install a couple heavy-duty metal loops on the back of the deer neck. Using a stud finder, hang at least one of the hooks on a stud. Your deer head is pretty heavy and you want to make sure it's secure.

Hang the head on the wall and then screw in your deer antlers...and you're done!

No animals were harmed in the making of this Instructable!