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Post by drfleck on Jun 4, 2019 17:05:38 GMT -5
So I've been saving three buck skulls in my deep freeze with the intention of simmering them to make Euro mounts. After much procrastinating I decided to instead try to let the bugs and worms do my work for me. Got two skulls buried, covered, and weighted down. For any of you that may have tried this I have a couple of questions. First, is it OK to bury them with perhaps a couple inches of the antler bases beneath the ground? I had to do this with one skull so the small wheelbarrow I was using to cover it would be able to fit. Second, how concerned should I be with mice or other critters burrowing to get at the skulls? Mostly worrying about antler gnawing. Third, how long should this process take? 3 month? Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing these hanging on the wall.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Jun 4, 2019 17:11:04 GMT -5
Find a pond. Hang from dock with just the skull in water. Fish and water will clean for ya quicker. Make sure you tie securely. Other critters may try to run off with it. Will turn green. Don’t panic, clean with hose and plastic scrub brush.
Couple weeks should do it.
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Post by whitetaildave24 on Jun 4, 2019 17:33:46 GMT -5
I’ve buried a few. Little bit of antler in the ground shouldn’t hurt anything. I’ve never had anything chew on the skull or antlers. Ive always buried shortly after the kill and then let it sit until spring.
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Post by colonel on Jun 5, 2019 20:13:27 GMT -5
I buried one in April with the base of the antlers at ground level. Left out there for 90 days and it was clean. I checked it after 60 days and it needed more time.
I do wonder though if the time in the ground may have stained it. I used peroxide from Sally's Beauty and dried it in the sun. It never got bright white but I'm ok with ecru color. Still looks nice. I then hit it with a few coats of Deft Satin finish. Looks good. No critters bothered it. My pups sniffed at the bury site for a good year - lol.
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Post by omegahunter on Jun 6, 2019 10:12:10 GMT -5
Natural bone is not bright white. Has to be sun-bleached or artificially bleached to become pure white.
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Post by steiny on Jun 6, 2019 13:13:02 GMT -5
You can be all done in an afternoon going with the boiling method.
I'd be worried about rodents chewing the antlers on buried skulls.
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Post by drfleck on Jun 6, 2019 18:36:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. My intention was to boil them but I lack all the equipment and have a few other projects that need done like refinishing my deck and so on and so on. Kinda like the natural bone look so no worries there. Maybe I'll check them in a month for progress. In the meantime I'll look every couple days at the antlers to make sure they're not getting gnawed. But I do have these covered up pretty good. My 2017 buck is still in the freezer just need to thaw him and skin the head out and then he'll get buried next. My garage wall is gonna be looking good once I get all these hung up.
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Post by steiny on Jun 10, 2019 8:36:46 GMT -5
Not much equipment required. A metal pan or pot to boil in and a fire.
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Post by ukwil on Jun 10, 2019 8:54:55 GMT -5
Buried the small 6, I killed at Big Oaks last fall, just yesterday in the garden. We'll see how it goes.
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Post by canesfan on Jun 19, 2019 18:14:01 GMT -5
I’ve buried my last few. Buried my buddies also. I bury them in November and just dug his up. I always bury to the base of the antlers. I have found if you cover the antlers with dirt they will stain a little. I also always place a plastic tub over the antlers. Put rocks around the base and on top of the tub keeps the antlers from being taken. I don’t mind some of the discoloration because I dip all of mine.
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Post by scrub-buster on Jun 20, 2019 9:01:39 GMT -5
I cook mine in a turkey fryer set up then hit it with a low power pressure washer. Then I use peroxide to whiten them. I don't want to take the risk of a coyote taking off with my antlers. Plus I like the bright white color when I'm done.
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Post by jman46151 on Jun 21, 2019 20:30:09 GMT -5
I buried a doe skull once just to try it. Dug it up a couple of months later to check on it and it wasn't ready so I buried it back. A couple of days later something had dug it up and taken it.
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Post by drfleck on Aug 13, 2019 17:35:17 GMT -5
Update... I just unearthed one of the skulls for a check. Its pretty clean of flesh surprisingly. I buried them with the jaw still attached and that fell off when I picked it up. Still some remains of the eyeballs. Not much but ill remove those prior to burying next time. Bugs crawling all over it. I stuck her back in the ground and ill let her stay another month for good measure.
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Post by mgderf on Aug 14, 2019 5:34:01 GMT -5
I haven't seen it mentioned, but if you cover the skull with peat moss instead of just dirt, it greatly speeds up the process.
I think the bugs have an easier time moving around in the peat than in plain dirt.
Peat also will not stain quite as bad as dirt.
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Post by ms660 on Aug 14, 2019 6:42:56 GMT -5
I have a couple of Euro mount that was very old and had hung in a smokey Bar room for years. They were very discolored. I painted them with flat white spray paint scrubbed the antlers with Mean Green cleaner and they looked good as new.
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Post by soinguy28 on Aug 14, 2019 14:35:09 GMT -5
I do the boil and power washer method. Very easy and quick
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Post by drfleck on Aug 14, 2019 16:30:24 GMT -5
I haven't seen it mentioned, but if you cover the skull with peat moss instead of just dirt, it greatly speeds up the process. I think the bugs have an easier time moving around in the peat than in plain dirt. Peat also will not stain quite as bad as dirt. Great tip. I didny know that. Have one more to bury and i will try this thanks. |
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Post by Sasquatch on Aug 18, 2019 21:51:39 GMT -5
I did a video on this a few years back where I buried two heads ( mine and my brothers ) and it garnered quite a few views. Unfortunately, youtube killed explainitory annotations ( original youtube captions ) so I had to replace them with CC ( closed captions) but the gist is still the same. In short, it works great--I've done numerous heads since. I bury them in a place where it's less likely anything will bother it. Sand is best for ease of use, but dirt works fine. Dirt won't hurt the antlers at all. Cover the antlers wit a tub or something to prevent sun damage. Give it three good warm months, dig it up and rinse. They come out perfectly clean. The only stink is sometimes that "wet bone smell" like you get with sheds, but it goes away as the bone dries. You can leave them the natural color, or do anything you want. Since I'm hanging them indoors anyway I mask the antlers and teeth and spray the skull white. The only real drawback I ever noticed was the wait. Another good part is that if you want to get them out of the way you can plant them in the winter and revisit them in the late spring. I had a comment on the first video where the guy said "How do you have heads with meat on them in the summer??" I was like, "Idiot, they were in the freezer! Not to mention it's hard to find a hard antlered buck in july!" lol Here is the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXr2_8xzZ4o&feature=youtu.beA video showing finished heads: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfplSJPxmjE&feature=youtu.be |
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