deer skulls
 

a few years ago, i put my deer head of a six point in the bushes and let nature take it's course, the result was perfect. is there anyway to speed up the process???

RE: deer skulls
 

Heard about beetles? i've never tried them. There was a thread on here at one time about the European Mount and it had a link to a website. I'll try and find it. It worked this year for me. All you need is fire and water in a large kettle.I used a 55 gal drum cut down.

RE: deer skulls
 

I have taken a couple courses on this matter.
the best way is to bury so that the bugs will get at it better.
especially near something else that is decomposing, like a
rotting log. :eek:

RE: deer skulls
 

Just last year I shot an 8 pointer, but it was a little small for a shoulder mount, so I saved the head (with skin) until spring in the freezer. Then I hung it off the roof of the house (could not be seen by passers-by). My wife was not happy about that at all, but I wanted a way to observe the changes without worrying about dogs or something getting into it. Around late July I took it down and bought a large pot (calderon, Wal-Mart $12) and boiled the skull to get remains off. I didn't bleach the skull like most people do because I wanted the more natural off-white color to accentuate the cracks and crevices of the skull. Also the bleaching agents eat away at the bone making the bone structures between the eyes and nose even more fragile than they already are.

Then I bought an oak plaque specifically made for skull mounts. It cost 25 bucks (www.vandykestaxidermy.com, item # BL-106797). Then I ran heavy fishing line through the holes in back of skull to make a loop that extended over the back of the oak base and hung it from a small nail that I attached to the back of the base. My thinking here was so that I could take it off with ease and because the suggested way to mount it involved running a screw through the inside base of skull. I didn't feel comfortable with that, so I opted to the fishing line thing.

ONE DRAWBACK TO "Letting Nature Take Its Course" - The antlers were sun bleached. I did not want that, but live and learn. I figure if I do it again, I can cover the antlers in something to prevent this from happening.

I read a thread about beetles on here last year. Sounded like it would work, but seemed a bit exotic to me. I also read about a guy that skinned out head, removed as much as possible after that, and then placed the skull in the fridge in a large pot of water. He changed the water every so often. After about three or four changes of water, he boiled and removed remains. I can not recall how long it took him, but I know it was quicker than what I did. Wanting to say it took him about 3-4 weeks. I've also read of people skinning out skul and boiling repeatedly until all remains are removed.

RE: deer skulls
 

Heres one I did myself, and I'm no taxidermist. Start to finish, about 6 hours,( from body to wall.)

RE: deer skulls
 

Here is a link to the Beetle works. This guy has done several projects for me. I will suggest that you NEVER go there in person. The place has a stench that would gag a maggot.
http://www.treasurestate.com/beetleworks/
Here is a Bear he did a few years ago.

RE: deer skulls
 

Beetles work really well but have their downfalls. Send it off if you want beetles. I've seen a bit here and there mentioned on boiling. It definitely has its negatives. Its quick, but it also opens the pours, liquifies the fat and allows it to penetrate deep into the bones. Leaving a rancid smell a lot of the time later on. And a yellow stain you cannot get out. You can only color over.

One of the preferred ways to do skulls for museum quality work(besides beetles) is to simply rot the meat off in a bucket of water. I wait till its hot out in the summer. Keep changing water every other day and it'll be clean in a week or two. Little chance of bleaching the color off the antlers that way. Its a stinky job though. And don't let water develop a stain to it as it'll get in the bone permanently.

Once rotted off I rinse and let dry for a few days in the sun and then soak in a 50% bleach/water mix for 2 hours to eat away any excess cartilage. No longer or it attacks bone and antlers. Keep antlers out of the mix.

Then rinse really well, let dry a few days. And use hair bleach on the skull. Hair bleach has to have heat to activate it but it does a really good job. 1-3 coats, rinsing and drying between will usually have it really white. I use a heat lamp type setup to activate the paste bleach.

Other methods may work, but besides beetles this is the only way I am aware of that produces a white skull, no loss of antler stain, and no chance of yellowing or rancid smell later on. And no need to use any type of paint etc..... to get really clean looking(whiter).

Should add that a good way to attach skulls to backboards is to run a few sheet rock screws into the panel from the front where the first vertabrae goes into the skull. So that they go into the brain cavity. Play with it a bit. Then just mix up bondo, and put a good size dollop(highly technical term used to quantify an amount....) into the brain cavity and smear some around on the screws, heads, and a bit on the board. Set skull down and let harden. Its almost impossible for it to come off that way and very easy way to attach them. The heads form a reverse footing and its pretty solid.

Best, Jeff

RE: deer skulls
 

I have done dozens this way and none of them smell or turn yellow.
first off your first boil is in water with dish detergent mixed in, the detergent cuts all the grease. the second boil is with peroxide which turns the skull a powdery bone white. Bleach will deteriorate bone, I dont recomend using it.

beattles are used only to remove the flesh, after that you still have to get the skull white, I believe taxidermists use a type of peroxide paste.

RE: deer skulls
 

Detergent cannot cut all grease. It'll bite you sooner or later. Even if you can't see it or smell it, its there if you've boiled a skull. Having been in the business for over 20 years its just a fact that it'll get cha when you least expect or need it too. Museums I've done work for will specify no boiling due to the above and will not accept any work that has been boiled.

As to the peroxide paste, if you will have looked I mentioned hair bleach. Thats exactly what peroxide paste is. Its called skull bleach and a few other things in catalogs. Its cheap through a local hair styler and very easy to use. Plus you can get it strong, weak or in between from a hair salon. In fact what is often not mentioned with the peroxide paste is that you need to heat it also to have it work better than just sitting there.

Jeff

RE: deer skulls
 

So what happens if its there but I cant see it or smell it ?
I dunno but I have a dozen or so heads I have done this way in my house, from Hog to deer to javeline and they all look very very good ! I'm smelling one right now and it actually smells fresh.

RE: deer skulls
 

Zrex

Sometimes it takes quite a bit of time for remaining grease to turn rancid. Often depending on the humidity and ambient temperatures.

It can often take years for it to start smelling and you then wonder whats going on.

Take it for what its worth. Was just trying to prevent problems later on for folks. Being that the brain is full of fat and it will melt as soon as the water starts to creep above 150 degrees or so, often, even with detergent, the grease soaks in the inside of the skull first, where you may or may not see it.

One could soak the skull in a cutting agent like Acetone to help, but it won't and can't get to all the affected areas. I suspect one might have decent luck if the skull was hot.

But why worry about it all. Just rot it off. I've found that there are reasons for lots of things. Reasons museums request things are usually very pertinant to the life of the mount.

Best, Jeff

RE: deer skulls
 

I've done three skull mounts, thus I'm no expert, but every time, I soaked the skulls in acetone for 24 hours as an intermediate step between boiling and applying the peroxide/bleach paste. No oil what so ever, the skulls are pure white and have a nice "shine" to them. Very nice presentation. I'll have to wait for a couple more years to see if any smell shows up but...

One extra precaution I dreamed up was to spray a polyurathane into the brain cavity and nasal cavity. You can't see it is there and in my mind, it seals in the inner parts that I might have missed but can't tell.

Greg

RE: deer skulls
 

Good luck to all you boilers! Merry Christmas to all!

RE: deer skulls
 

My first post here but I thought this was an interesting topic. I have boiled many skulls in the past. I first skin them out and remove the eyeballs and all lose meat I can. Then I take a close hanger to the brain and flush it all out. I then boil in borax changing the water every twenty minutes or so. It has been a while since I have done this but thats about the scope of it. All my mounts have turned out great also.

RE: deer skulls
 

I think rost is just rying to scare us, being in the bussiness and all, he and other taxidermist lose money if we learn to do them our selves.

I dont even put that much effort into it and mine come out beautiful.
All I do is skin and remove the lower jaw, and boil for about 3 or 4 hours in water with dish detergent, take the head out and pressure wash it spotless, then dump the water and add fresh water with peroxide and boil for another 30 minutes, thats it. SIMPLE.