I killed my first buck Friday.It was only a spike but it was my first and it is a trophy to me.I planned on keeping the skull and bleaching it.How do I go about doing this?Do I just skin the head and such?How do I go about getting the internal stuff out like the brain and stuff?If someone could give me some steps that would be great.
Thanks,
JE



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ya just skin the whole head out and then after hide is gone take your knife and get out as much meat as possible. Then boil with sal soda ( a type of baking soda) carefully clean off meat
it should just pretty much fall off. Then let set outside for a few days in the sun and then u can use peroxideand soak it in there or use clairol white with 30% peroxide and mix to a paste and then brush it on and then let it dry overnightand then rinse off and let dry out in sun again. U dont have to bleach it but it makes it look alot nicer. Hope this helps



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What you need to do is skin the skull and then boil it. I've never done a euro mount before though so idk if you have to use anything else on it to make it bleech white.

It's a rather tedious job,first cut the skull plate the way you want it with a hack saw. I usually cut straight across the bottom, just below the eye sockets and then straight downabout three or four inches behind the antlers then a straight downcut across the nose about two inches in front of the eye sockets.
Now it gets messy. Cut all the fur from the skull, dig the eyes out, GROSS, then allor as much as you can of the brain matter, GROSSER, and boil your skull in a large pot for maybe 10 mins. Carefully remove and let cool. Now take a knife and or a screwdriver (flat) and scrape away any remaining crap. This is time consuming but you have anice skull mount. I do not use bleach! I hope this helps for as long as it took to type.

best way i've found is to bury it in the ground for 3 weeks. dig it back up it will be as clean as clean can get. Then clean off the dirt, bleach/peroxide etc. and you're good.

i just throw the entire head into the boiling water...it's waaaaaaaay nasty but makes it a lot easier....you can go to your local beauty supply store to getthe peroxide that you'll need...you can also throw it on top of an ant hill but make sure it's secured to something so the yard critters don't run off with it....right now i have a hog skull and two alligator heads inside a coon trap on an ant pile...they are ready to be done but i just haven't found the time....best of luck to you and you gotta post pics when your done...congrats on your first buck.

Skin the head, remove the eyeballs andbottom jaw, and boil it in a mixture of water and borax (soap powder detergent available at most Wal-Mart's), being careful to NOT SUBMERGE THE ANTLERS - they will discolor.

Using fingers/pliers/screwdrivers/knives/etc., dig out the meat, skin off the gristle, pay close attention to the sinus cavities and underside of the skull. Most of the funky stuff is in those areas.

TIP: You can use an electric turkey roaster to boil the head. Fill with water, Borax and crank it up.
Huge TIP: DO NOT tell your mother/wife/fiancee/gf that you're using her good turkey roaster to boil dead animal heads. Women get funny about that stuff, so spare yourself the drama.
UsefulTIP: mush up the brain with a screwdriver, and use a hose to blow it out.
Biggest TIP: Point skull AWAY FROM FACE while hosing out the boiled brain matter. I learned the hard way. That stuff might be a delicacy in some countries, but where I come from, it tastes like... well.. you can imagine.

Whole process is absolutely filthy and takes at least 4-6 hours. The less impatient you are, the easier it is - give it a good,long time to simmer.

After it dries, I'd recommend taping off the antlers, and spraypainting the skull white.

It's cheap and it looks awesome when it's finished, but if you have a weak stomach, don't even try it.

Option #2 - find someone with some hungry dermestid beetles, and send it to them.

That's what I do. It works great.

www.taxidermy.net is a good site to learn from. Do a search and you will be reading for a while.

one additional comment: don't let it boil too long cause the bones will soften and often break.