PA Bow/Flinter

Well this past spring I entered the wonderful world of taxidermy. My first undertaking was a European Mount of my first muzzleloader deer. He was a shed antler buck that I figured I could cut my gums on, and it wouldn't be terrible ifI completely ruined it.
To start off:
I put the complete skull in a wire cage and set it outside from like January until June. This actually worked rather well and the majority of the meat and membrane rotted away, to the point when I opened the cage almost all of the hair came off with the push of a stick. Then I placed the skull in a pot of boiling water for a couple of hours. Next I dumped out the dirty water, put in new water, and added a couple of squirts of dishsoap to cut through all of the remaining fat. Boiled this for a half hour and the took it out and sprayed it off with a hose to finish cleaning everything off. Finally, I put the skull in a solution of 1:8 water to bleach. I let that sit overnigh, and wah-la it was finished. Then I made the wood plaque you see there in woodshop and that is how I aquired my second attempt at a European Mount.
What I messed up:
[ul][*]I threw out the nose pieces because I didn't realize you were suposed to keep them.[*]I used bleach instead of peroxide, so the bone has weakend a little bit.[*]I let the water get too low at one time and there are a couple of burn marks on the skull.[/ul]
Pictures:

PA Bow/Flinter

My Second Attempt:
For my second attempt, my woodshop teacher gave me a small buck to try and see how I could do on it.

This deer was a little harder to do. He had left the skull hanging in a tree from December through June, so the hide was all dried out and didn't come off very well at all. After cutting and pulling for a couple of days, I got the hide off and was ready to start boiling. Because this skull had antlers, I couldn't just drop the entire thing in the pot like I had for my skull. I went and wrapped aluminum foil around the antlers and then tied them to the sides of the pot so they would stay at a constant height. Then I filled the water up to that level and boiled the skull to remove all of the flesh, membrane, and fat that was still on the skull. After working with that for a couple of days, boiling with just water, and then adding dishsoap again,I had it cleaned and I was ready to bleach it. Instead of using bleach on this one, which would weaken the bone, I used ordinary peroxide that I dumped over the skull that was wrapped up in cheesecloth to absorb the liquid. Leaving that out in the sun for a couple of days and bringing it in and letting it dry out at night, I got the skull pretty white.
Improvements Over First Attempt:
[ul][*]I didn't throw out the nose pieces.[*]I used peroxide instead of bleach.[*]I didn't burn the skull by letting the water get to low.[/ul]
Problems I Encountered:
[ul][*]The bases of the antlers lost some of their coloring, due to boiling water coming in contact with them.[*]Not all of the skull became completely white, some still stayed a darker whiteish/brown color. Could be that I didn't get enough peroxide to the area, or the skull was stained from the nasty hide staying on for so long?[*]The hide was extremely difficult to remove.[/ul]

PA Bow/Flinter

Sorry wouldn't let me post the pic above:




Ok, now after reading the above posts, I have a couple of questions for you guys to see if I can get a better grasp of how to do it.
[ul][*]How do you wrap the antlers so there is a tight enough seal that boiling water won't come up and make them lose their coloring?[*]I have heard that you shouldn't let the skull set out with the hide on it still because it will cause the bone to stain. Is this what happened to the second skull? Should I remove hide immediately and freeze them until I am ready to work with the skull? CanI freeze the skull with the hide still on it? Or doesn't it make a difference?[*]I have decided to stick with the peroxide for whitening the skull, but what is the best way to do it? Like I was, just be more patient? Or I have read of people who use a type of paste. If I should use the paste, what is the paste made up of and how would I go about appling it?[*]I guess thats all of the questions I have at the moment. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.[/ul]
Thanks for all of your help in advance, and I hope I didn't bore you too much.
--Steven

skinnerdawg

when i do mine we skin the skulls out right.
the dish soap is a good idea but in the future try using lemon juice.
i have also found it easier to pulll the skull out of the water every 20 to 30 min to peel more membrane and what not... this also helps to keep the weeker bone (nose and jaw) intact.

that being said those skulls you did look really good and you did just fine for your first attempt

Alex The Hawk

The second one looks pretty good, but skinning while is fresh is better, and do as skinnerdawg suggests, pulling it our and removing fat, if you use soda ash when boiling you will remove a lot of fat.
and then the bleaching with peroxide is easier.

PA Bow/Flinter

Thanks you guys...any more suggestions?

Numbskullz4

I skin mine out right away,and if Im not readt to clean it then I wrap it in trash bags and put in my deep freezer. I clean mine using beetles. It can be a lot of work keeping a colony going but, they do a better job of cleaning the skull and aren't as hard on the skull and teeth as boiling.I'm doing a boar head for my buddy right now with them and I've done several coyotes,bobcats,and badgers for my self.

After I degrease the skull,I use a mixture of 40% peroxide and Clairol Basic White to whiten them. You can get both of them at a Hair supply chain,such as Sallys. I mix it up about the thickness of Mayonois and brush it on the skull and then wrap it in a clear plastic bag and let it sit in the sun for a few days and then rinse it off. Should come out really white if not I just put some more on and let sit a few more days.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at [email protected]

cardeer

Looks good

PABowhntr

I think both attempts look pretty good. I am rather a novice at it myself but other than the suggestions previously mentioned I wouldn't know what else to say.

krub6b

i've yet to try this but my uncle sinks his in a pond over the winter and lets the perch and bluegill clean them off for him