Hey,

I just finished my sons first bow buck. A pain in the butt but well worth it. Anyway, here is how I did it.

Skin the head of most of the hair and skin.

Boil the head OUTSIDE on a coleman camp stove. I got the water boiling inside and then took the pot out to the camp stove. (2+hours)
Run cool hose water over the skull to cool and start picking and pulling. Most everything will slide off readily. I had to get these twelve inch long tweezers that my hardware store had for the nasal passages. If you start pulling the brain out of the hole where the spinal column goes while the skull is still hot, it will "bubble" out a bit and make it easier. After you have most of it, boil it again in new water. Seems to softne up any little pieces that are tough to get off.

After you get most of the meat and cartilage out/off, put it away for the night. Those bones that are low down on the face where the nose would be will come off. When they do, just clean them up and set them aside to "Gorilla Glue" back on later.

When all the meat and cart. are gone, the nasal passage is tough, let it soak in Acetone for two or three hours. If you do this in a plastic bag you only need one can of acetone. This takes the oil out of the bone and what "stuff" you can't get out. Save the acetone.

Lastly, let dry outside for 24 hours and go to the local beauty parlor. Purchase the peroxide and bleach that they use for lightening hair. The peroxide is the consistency of hand lotion and comes in 40% and 20% I got the 40%. Mix with the bleach powder and put on skull. Put in a clear or white plastic bag for the day in the sun. Rinse and brush clean and it will be pure white. I know others say and I heard that bleach would make the bone brittle, but my skull is fine from the bleach paste and my taxidermist couldn't believe how white I got the bone.

Anyway, that is about it. I'll post a pic over the weekend. I had been saving a cedar tree for years and I cut it on a very extreme angle and sanded smooth. Six coats of satin polyurathane and I have the perfect placque.

Good luck.

Sorry this took so long to write.

Greg