Skull Mounting help!!!
 

I just shoot one of my biggest does ever, and was wondering if any of you guys had just mounted the skull your self. I would like to keep the skull but dont know how to get all the flesh and goodies off of it, so if any of you guys know how to do this it would be greatly appericated.

Thanks again.

-Andrew-

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

i have never done one myself but ive heard you use hydrogen pyroxide and/or clorax, you might post on the taxidermy board and get some help. around here people have told me you can stick them in a fire ant bed and they'll eat everything but the hide and all you have to do is trim it off, i may try that on my next buck i want to skull mount, i could send you some fire ants if you'd like

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

My buddy is a taxidermist and to get the european mount he sends them in to a guy that has a tank with some type of beetle in it. The skulls come out looking like plastic. The teeth even come clean!!! Check your local taxidermist and see if they have access to anyone with the tank of beetles otherwise, leave it outside and the bugs and such with clean it off nicely for you. It may take some time but they do a good job!!!

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

Here is a technique I used on a nice 8pt I bagged a couple of years ago. depending on what type of facilites you have it may not be applicable to you.

I put the skull in a five gallon bucket full of water. Didnt skin or remove any of the meat. Used a 2X4 to keep the antlers elevated and out of the water and ensure that most of the skull remained below the water line. I placed the bucket ( and skull) inside an old dog crate that was under a shed at my father farm. Note that the shed is not near an area where smell is a concern. I checked the bucket every few months and refilled the bucket. After about six months the skull was almost completly devoid of any flesh. However it was somewhat discolored. I simply sprayed it off with a hose and scrubbed with an old toothbrush to remove any small scraps of flesh, then put in a shallow alluminum pan and poured bleach over the skull whenever I though about it for a couple of days. the skull now hangs over my fireplace on an old board as it has for the last 18 months. It is sparkling white and has never given off any odor.

I was somewhat worried that mice or other rodents would find the rack and chew on it but had no problems. I think if I hadent used the dog crate some sort of animal would have carried the skull off.

Another technique I used once on a bear skull was to simply bury it in some loose topsoil.

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

I would like to know how to do this so if I get a shot on this decent 9 pointer I can mount the rack,,,wonder if my piranha tank would work ;)

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

hey buck aren't piranha's man eaters, still have some fire ants FREE

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

First off, I was told by my taxidermist not to use bleach, it will continue to eat away at the skull for a while and may have long term damage. I just get an old pot and a burner that you can hook up to a propane tank and boil the head for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The burner I use came with my turkey frying kit. After you boil the skull for so long, then let it cool and scrape all the loose meat and flesh off. Then go to the hair products section at any store and get the peroxide people use to bleach their hair with. This peroxide is a lot stronger than the kind you buy in the medicine section. Rub it down with the peroxide and it will turn a nice, pure white. After saying all that, the best way to go is to find someone with the beetles like uphunter15 said, the only bad thing is, it's hard to find someone with them that won't charge you an arm and a leg to use them. Good luck!

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

They seem to eat whatever I throw in to them..and they liked the little chunks of venison...hell maybe I am looking at a gold mine here if they are charging an arm and a leg to use beetles, haha

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

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

RE: Skull Mounting help!!!
 

I forgot the most important thing. To stop the bleach from eating the bone, rinse, and I soaked the whole skull, in white vinegar after rinsing the bleach powder. This nutralizes the bleach.

Greg