How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
07-06-2005, 08:50 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: windsor ontario canada
Posts: 90
How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
Hey guys, I'm in the process of doing my first european mount with the deer I shot last November. I've been drying it outside since last year. I've got all the flesh cleaned off of it, and the bone is a nice white colour. The problem is that the skull still smells like rotten meat. What do you suggest to get rid of the stench?
07-06-2005, 09:06 PM
#2
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Evadale, Texas
Posts: 625
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
i put myne on the biggest ant bed i can find. cover it in a box of some sort, so the dogs cant get at it. let is sit for a few weeks. ants will get everything off of it. Just dont let it sit to long they will get into the bone. Then i boil and bleach it and mount it up
07-07-2005, 05:21 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 7,876
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
ORIGINAL: cardeer
Brush some vanilla extract on it
Brush some vanilla extract on it
Where's cardeer and what have you done with him?
07-07-2005, 09:32 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,695
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
I suggest you quit doing it the way you are. I can do a euro mount from deer to wall in 6 hours.
Skin the head, remove the lower jaw bone, boil in water with dish detergent for about 3 or 4 hrs, take out and pressure wash clean,brain matter and all, reboil in water with one big bottle of peroxide for 30 min. remove and let dry in sun preferably, mount on plaque and place on wall.
Skin the head, remove the lower jaw bone, boil in water with dish detergent for about 3 or 4 hrs, take out and pressure wash clean,brain matter and all, reboil in water with one big bottle of peroxide for 30 min. remove and let dry in sun preferably, mount on plaque and place on wall.
07-07-2005, 10:08 AM
#6
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Roanoke, VA
Posts: 730
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
If you cleaned all of the outside meat off, but left the brians it will we rotting. [:'(] Try to drill a small hole in the skull and wash out the brains with a water hose.
07-07-2005, 11:33 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Fairbanks, AK
Posts: 3,132
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
After I get all of the meat off of mine, I go and boil them again (remember to put tin foil on the antlers so they dont bleach also) and I add a couple squirts of Dawn dish soap (use the kinds with the degreasing agent in it). This will help to remove all of the fats that are on the skull, (thats what smells) and if the soap is scented then it also helps to remove the stench while boiling w/o making the skull floweery smelling when it comes out. Thats what I do and it seems to work good for me.
Let us know what you did and how it works out.
Let us know what you did and how it works out.
07-07-2005, 04:09 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location:
Posts: 1,785
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
I do several european mounts a year on both deer and hogs for myself and friends. I acknowledge that there are probably numerous processes used to clean a skull, and I have used a couple different processes myself. I am currently using the same technique that my taxidermist friend uses. I , first, skin the head and clean as much meat off as possible, then I boil the head in a stainless steel pot in a sal soda solutionfor about 30-45 minutes. I order my sal soda from Van Dykes taxidermy catalog usually in the 5# bag. Boiling in the sal soda makes most of the meat and tissue justfall off the skull. AFTER cooking the head, I use a long flat head screw driver to remove the brain matter. There will be some meat/tissue left on the skull after the boiling process. For what is left, I use a thin blade "boning" type knife to scrape the skull. After ALL the meat is off the skull, I bleach it in hydrogen peroxide (I use the cheapest hydrogen peroxide I can find at Wal Mart or the "dollar store"). I take alot of time on the bleaching process because I think this makes the whole "look" complete. I try really hard not to get peroxide on the bases of the horns because it will bleach them. I keep my skulls in the freezer until I am ready to boil them and hang them out in the sun after the bleaching process to completely dry the skull.
This process has proved to be the simplest and most odor-free method that I have found. I can do a whole skull in about 4 hours. One tip that I forgot to mention is do not freeze a skull before skinning it. My dad brought me a head from his cousin out of state that was frozen and I almost never got the hide off of it.
Our taxidermists around here charge from $100-250 for a european mount. I figure I have saved myself, friends and family SEVERAL thousand dollars by doing the skulls myself.
This process has proved to be the simplest and most odor-free method that I have found. I can do a whole skull in about 4 hours. One tip that I forgot to mention is do not freeze a skull before skinning it. My dad brought me a head from his cousin out of state that was frozen and I almost never got the hide off of it.
Our taxidermists around here charge from $100-250 for a european mount. I figure I have saved myself, friends and family SEVERAL thousand dollars by doing the skulls myself.
07-08-2005, 07:52 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
RE: How do I get my Deer Skull to stop stinkin?
ORIGINAL: retrieverman
I do several european mounts a year on both deer and hogs for myself and friends. I acknowledge that there are probably numerous processes used to clean a skull, and I have used a couple different processes myself. I am currently using the same technique that my taxidermist friend uses. I , first, skin the head and clean as much meat off as possible, then I boil the head in a stainless steel pot in a sal soda solutionfor about 30-45 minutes. I order my sal soda from Van Dykes taxidermy catalog usually in the 5# bag. Boiling in the sal soda makes most of the meat and tissue justfall off the skull. AFTER cooking the head, I use a long flat head screw driver to remove the brain matter. There will be some meat/tissue left on the skull after the boiling process. For what is left, I use a thin blade "boning" type knife to scrape the skull. After ALL the meat is off the skull, I bleach it in hydrogen peroxide (I use the cheapest hydrogen peroxide I can find at Wal Mart or the "dollar store"). I take alot of time on the bleaching process because I think this makes the whole "look" complete. I try really hard not to get peroxide on the bases of the horns because it will bleach them. I keep my skulls in the freezer until I am ready to boil them and hang them out in the sun after the bleaching process to completely dry the skull.
This process has proved to be the simplest and most odor-free method that I have found. I can do a whole skull in about 4 hours. One tip that I forgot to mention is do not freeze a skull before skinning it. My dad brought me a head from his cousin out of state that was frozen and I almost never got the hide off of it.
Our taxidermists around here charge from $100-250 for a european mount. I figure I have saved myself, friends and family SEVERAL thousand dollars by doing the skulls myself.
I do several european mounts a year on both deer and hogs for myself and friends. I acknowledge that there are probably numerous processes used to clean a skull, and I have used a couple different processes myself. I am currently using the same technique that my taxidermist friend uses. I , first, skin the head and clean as much meat off as possible, then I boil the head in a stainless steel pot in a sal soda solutionfor about 30-45 minutes. I order my sal soda from Van Dykes taxidermy catalog usually in the 5# bag. Boiling in the sal soda makes most of the meat and tissue justfall off the skull. AFTER cooking the head, I use a long flat head screw driver to remove the brain matter. There will be some meat/tissue left on the skull after the boiling process. For what is left, I use a thin blade "boning" type knife to scrape the skull. After ALL the meat is off the skull, I bleach it in hydrogen peroxide (I use the cheapest hydrogen peroxide I can find at Wal Mart or the "dollar store"). I take alot of time on the bleaching process because I think this makes the whole "look" complete. I try really hard not to get peroxide on the bases of the horns because it will bleach them. I keep my skulls in the freezer until I am ready to boil them and hang them out in the sun after the bleaching process to completely dry the skull.
This process has proved to be the simplest and most odor-free method that I have found. I can do a whole skull in about 4 hours. One tip that I forgot to mention is do not freeze a skull before skinning it. My dad brought me a head from his cousin out of state that was frozen and I almost never got the hide off of it.
Our taxidermists around here charge from $100-250 for a european mount. I figure I have saved myself, friends and family SEVERAL thousand dollars by doing the skulls myself.
Ditto, that's exactly how I do it. Thanks! You saved me the typing
