I killed a 10pt buck three years ago, and I considered having it mounted, but it was just too expensive..
Instead, I took a bowsaw and cut a wedge out of his skull to remove the antlers.. Then I went to a local sawmill and got a slab of spalted hard maple, and on to
wal-mart to get a ball of styrofoam and about a half-yard of beige felt.
I let the antlers and the slab dry out good, then ran the slab through the planer and polyurethaned it.. I cut the styrofoam ball in half and removed a wedge from one half that was the same size as the wedge of skull.. A little glue here, a few screws there, and I had the styrofoam and antlers mounted to the slab. I sprayed the back of the felt with glue, then worked and stretched it around the styrofoam and antlers, then tucked it in neatly between the wood and the foam..
Voila..
A really nice looking mount, if I do say so myself...a mount that I've been told just
couldn't have been a DIY job...and I think it cost me about $6, total.