I shoot a nice piebald buck last year and I am getting it in a half mount. When I get the mount back from the taxidermist I want to hide the fact that I don't have the hind quarters mounted behind a tree. I will build the base myself and will go looking in the woods for the tree. I want to find a tree that is dead and is broken off, it would be around a foot taller than the deer and plan on sawing the tree in 1/2 or maybe in 3/4 quarter to 1/4 quarter depending on the look I need. I want the set to look as if the deer is coming out from behind the tree. My question is what do I use to kill any bugs that may be in the wood and how do I preserve it? Is there any sources for an artificial trees I could use?
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The key word in your question is, "dead". Dead wood in a forest or woods is rife with all sorts of creatures which use it for habitat, food, and shelter. Surface insects which hibernate under loose bark and in crevaces can be easily killed with common household insecticides. Burrowing grubs and the like are much more difficult to remove. Eggs and some encysted species can survive the sprays and all but the most extreme methods only to hatch later and begin the process once over.
We build museum exhibits. Natural wood is rarely used in those habitats any longer, simply because it is simple to mold and cast replicas - even huge trees - than to risk contamination of the exhibit. You can kill most life in dead wood by heating until the core temperature is at least 150 F, but then most ovens won't hold the chunk you describe.
You can also bag the wood in a heavy vinyl wrap and cut a bug bomb loose inside and leave it alone for at lest 72 hours. My advice would be to follow that protocol, but I don't guarantee complete success.
Dave,
I would put it in a plastic bag and treat it with a pesticide, let it sit for a few hours then seal it with a polyurethane spray. If they aren't dead they'd be sealed into the wood?
joe
I agree with Joe, except that you should leave the wood sealed in the plastic covering for at least 72 hours to insure permeation.
Thank you for your responses. I may also go up to Lake Erie to see if I can find a nice piece of drift wood. If I can find a piece of wood to work I thought that if I had it kiln dried it would kill the bugs plus the wood would be dried out for my project. Does any one know if a kiln dryer would kill all of the pests with it's heat?
Some kiln drying operations will not accept found wood for fear of contamination of quality stocks. The temperature in most oasts will not reach high enough to kill some species. By drying the wood, insects and their grubs are deprived of water which they need to survive. Even termites cannot live in dry wood - they require some moisture, and wood fresh from a kiln has amost none.