|
|
Post by parson on Dec 8, 2020 11:50:10 GMT -5
Got a nice 8 pointer last Saturday and want to do a European mount. For those who have done this, how do you clean the skull?
|
|
|
|
Post by parrothead on Dec 8, 2020 11:54:28 GMT -5
If your married and want to stay married DO NOT DO IT IN THE HOUSE. I have an old hot plate I use and an old pot.
|
|
|
|
Post by parrothead on Dec 8, 2020 11:55:55 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by 36fan on Dec 8, 2020 12:09:49 GMT -5
I bury them out back for about 6 months or so, and then dig them up in the summer and hose it off. Just be sure to mark it where you bury it. I currently have my 10 pointer from this year in the ground. My youngest son shot his first deer this year and wanted to keep the skull. It's a doe, but we just made the hole a littler bigger and through them in together.
|
|
|
|
Post by jman46151 on Dec 8, 2020 13:46:33 GMT -5
Clean, SIMMER, rinse and repeat. Then use peroxide to whiten it if you want. An old turkey fryer works good but the last one I did I used a metal bucket that had been cut and bent to fit the skull a little better and used the side burner on my grill as the heat source.
|
|
|
|
Post by bill9068 on Dec 8, 2020 14:24:26 GMT -5
What jman said, I use a power washer and to whiten a product found in any beauty store called salon 40 to whiten.
|
|
|
|
Post by tynimiller on Dec 8, 2020 14:42:45 GMT -5
So I've done both bury or simmer (DO NOT BOIL). Simmering the thing is IMO the best way, as I like the whiter finish to them than the almost rawhide yellowed look burying them gives them. Now Before I simmer them I spend some time scoring the skin all over the head some with a razor blade, as the flesh simmers and begins to separate this will help you separate it easier. If you boil it the bones in the nose and such will get very brittle and eventually from just the slightest nudge will crumble.
Low simmer, for 2/3 hours or so...take out clean as best you can by hand...place back in for more...repeat. A pressure washer can greatly assist here too. You'll get down to just the most stubborn pieces and a needle nose pliars and wire brush becomes your best friend. As for the brain well warm a coat hanger slipped in attached to a drill will help emulsify the brain and most will fall out of the hole (I cut my hole more on back underside).
Just a quick couple thoughts.
|
|
|
|
Post by tynimiller on Dec 8, 2020 14:43:23 GMT -5
Oh high percentage of hydrogen pyroxide soaked rags rubbed on the skull a few times, let dry and DO NOT TOUCH antlers will greatly assist in the whitening of the skull.
|
|
|
|
Post by parrothead on Dec 8, 2020 14:44:13 GMT -5
Ty, you skin head before you start simmering?
|
|
|
|
Post by tynimiller on Dec 8, 2020 15:23:28 GMT -5
Ty, you skin head before you start simmering? I don't skin it, just score it some, cut from corner of mouth and wrap around back of skull. I'll score a few lines around bases and down forward to snout. Just to allow skin expansion as it simmers and expands as it saturates. |
|
|
|
Post by onebentarrow on Dec 8, 2020 16:00:18 GMT -5
This guy is good at it Watch "HOW TO CLEAN A WHITETAIL DEER SKULL "GRAPHIC"" on YouTube youtu.be/sOVbnB1KzFoHope ihe link worked |
|
|
|
Post by Woody Williams on Dec 8, 2020 17:00:40 GMT -5
Got a nice 8 pointer last Saturday and want to do a European mount. For those who have done this, how do you clean the skull? What? Where is your picture of your nice eight pointer and the story that goes with it? We want to see it and hear all about it. |
|
|
|
Post by Woody Williams on Dec 8, 2020 17:01:49 GMT -5
I'm lazy and took mine to a feller in Elberfeld that has a dermistid (sp?) beetle colony.
|
|
|
|
Post by huntnandplumbn on Dec 8, 2020 17:22:12 GMT -5
I'm lazy and took mine to a feller in Elberfeld that has a dermistid (sp?) beetle colony. I agree with Woody! The best way is to take it to a processor or taxidermist 😉. |
|
|
|
Post by parson on Dec 8, 2020 19:46:36 GMT -5
Appreciate all of the responses. I actually did bury one several years back...., but apparently not deep enough! It disappeared.
|
|
|
|
Post by scrub-buster on Dec 8, 2020 21:02:15 GMT -5
I do anywhere from 2-8 skulls each season. I skin them and remove the brains with my home made brain blaster. Cooking them with the brains intact puts more grease into the bone which will look bad later as it leaches out. I cut the eyes out, remove the bottom jaw, and cut off as much meat as I can. Next I simmer it for a few hours in a turkey fryer set up. When the roof of the mouth comes loose and hangs down it's cooked long enough. I use a small electric pressure washer to clean them off. That saves hours of hand cleaning. I still have to do a little by hand, maybe 10 minutes worth. I use the 40 volume peroxide from a beauty supply store to whiten them. I soak mine in a cut down bucket that I heat in a tub of water with a boiler. Peroxide works better when it's warm. The hotter the better. This winter I'm going to make an angled shelf in my archery room to display all of my skulls.
|
|
|
|
Post by elmucho277 on Dec 8, 2020 21:17:23 GMT -5
A tip for whitening the skull, use the cream 40 peroxide and add powder whitener which you can also get at the beauty supply store for cheap. Mix the two together according to the directions on the powder and paint it on the skull, letting it sit overnight under a white light and sitting on a white surface. Do not get any of this mixture on the antlers. They say to wrap it in saran wrap to make it work better and add a slight heat source overhead, though I've never tried that. I've done several and they all turned out well using this method. I think the others above have pretty well covered how to clean the skull. It's a nasty job, but a big pot of water with dawn detergent simmering on a gas burner and a good pressure washer afterward will help tremendously. Like said above, score the flesh and remove the brains before simmering in the pot. Be sure to check for teeth in the water when you dump it out, sometimes they come loose when simmering. If you have a taxidermist do it, be prepared to pay anywhere between $125 - $200 from what I've seen. I'm a tight wad so I do it myself
|
|
|
|
Post by scrub-buster on Dec 8, 2020 21:34:46 GMT -5
I add dawn dish soap and about half a cup of borax soap to the water when I cook it. If you do get peroxide on the antler and whiten it, let me know. I can show you how to fix that with dye. I used too much borax last year and turned about 6" of antler bone white. After I was done dying them you couldn't even tell.
|
|
|
|
Post by scrub-buster on Dec 8, 2020 21:40:42 GMT -5
Appreciate all of the responses. I actually did bury one several years back...., but apparently not deep enough! It disappeared. I found a nasty dead head this summer. It was really bad. I chained it to a tree with a padlock so nothing or nobody could take off with it. A month and a half later it was cleaned off really good. It was just sitting on the ground. I did not bury it. I still cooked it for an hour and hit it with the pressure washer. |
|
|
|
Post by Ahawkeye on Dec 8, 2020 22:19:30 GMT -5
I'm lazy and took mine to a feller in Elberfeld that has a dermistid (sp?) beetle colony. About how much does that cost? Last one I had professionally done was 150. They simmered it and it turned out great. If I'm just going to put one in the garage I bury it and mess with it as I have time. If they are going in the house I take them to the taxi. |
|
