Gotbuck

Awesome job. Wish I had time and materials to do such. I am interested in how the ants would come into play. I assume you clean as much of the meat off as explained but how long and where do you set it so the ants do their thing. I assume you would have hundreds of ants and it would be tricky doing it in a backyard subdivision with neighbors seeing the head being boiled and all the ants around the area. I guess you could do it in your neighbor's yard you know the one who always lets his big dog crap in your yard.

Semisane

That's not uncommon dirt. It has nothing to do with coating. It's the oil in the bone coming to the surface. I don't coat my skulls with anything so the oil cannot become trapped under a sealer. I kind of like the ivory color that results when the oil surfaces over time. But if you want it bright white, boil the skull again with a small bit of laundry detergent (not dish washing soap) in the water. Also, after boiling, apply common hydrogen peroxide liberally to the bone and let it sit for an hour or so, then rinse it off well. Then place it in the sun for a day or three to bleach.

Semisane

Gotbuck, I do not recommend the ant method. Ants will eat the connective tissue between the bone sutures and the bones will separate. Here's what I do.

1. Remove as much tissue from the bone as possible with a small knife (the eyeballs are the hardest part).

2. Submerge the skull in a pot of boiling water with about a half cup of baking soda and let it boil for an hour or so. I tie a stick across the antlers so the skull hangs in the water with the antlers above the water.

3. Remove the skull from the water and blast the whole thing with a high pressure nozzle on the hose. Use a screwdriver or something similar to poke around the brain cavity to break up the brain tissue, and stick the nozzle in there to blast out tissue (a little messy). Scrape or wire brush off as much tissue as possible.

4. Boil the skull again for another hour or so with about a quarter cup of laundry detergent (not dish washing soap) in the water.

5. Water blast it again, scrape and/or brush again.

6. Coat with hydrogen peroxide and let sit an hour or two.

7. Rinse off hydrogen peroxide with hose and place in sun to dry/bleach.

The thing is, there's no rush to get all of this done. You can do the basic skinning of the head then submerge it in a five gallon bucket of plain water and leave it there for days, weeks, or months before getting around to boiling it. If it starts to smell after a while just change the water. This actually has some advantages because a long water soak will leach out all blood and the tissue will begin to decompose a little. I once let a skull sit in a bucket of water for over six months before I got around to boiling it. It came out fine.

flounder33

One of my neighbors had a dozen deer heads in his machine shed from bucks over the years. Some of them I know were over 8 years old. We got a guy pretty close by that does lots and lots of skull. He took them over to him and they turned out great, the bone might have been a little darker than if they were fresh but they were still quite nice. This fella did one for me a few years back and only charged $25. I have done them myself and it was well worth the $25 to have him do it.
I like the euromounts as good or better than any mounts.

rafsob

Hey kp1 nice work pal. However, though I am as cheap as they come I think that boy would have been stuffed and mounted for the wall. He was a beauty.

Question did you cover the antlers with the spray clear coat??

kb1

rafsob;it was either a mount or a new X7(X7 won)i've done about 7 euro mounts now and the older skulls dry out over time and can get chalky.these are the first 'ive coated and i only did the skull with a very light coat.the antlers seem to hold up on their own.and along with semi's previous post,the sun does wonders for whitening up the skull.....karl

Semisane

Good decision.

Colorado Cajun

Go to a beauty supply store and get a lot of the peroxide they use to bleach hair with and mix it 50/50 with water. Soak for about 12 hours then put it in the sun for a few days. This is how I did my elk 3 years ago and it has not yellowed yet. Make sure not to get the mix on the horns or it will bleach them too. Now, this might not work well if you have some kind of clear coat on it. I never did put any kind of clear coat on mine and don't plan on it. I think a lot of people coat them before they are fully dried out and them the bone can't let the moisture out.


My advise for anyone trying to do it them selves is DON'T RUSH it. Let it dry out good for 5 -6 weeks or longer in the shade. Also, don't over boil it, that is what causes the bones to seperate and teeth to fall out.

dirt1008

I appreciate everyones help with my problem.

builder459

this is one company that sells these,there is another one also, i can't find. these are very nice, especially the camo ones lol.http://www.masterofskulls.com/faqs.php