Skull cleaning

[Ozone]

With the bear contest going I guess I'll have to clean the skull. How does one do this?

[NEEHAMA]

boil it then make soup.

[DieselDog]

Mmmm, Headcheese!:rolleyes:

[bsa30-06]

I boiled part of a deer head once worked great , but did i get some funny looks from the nieghbors when i took that steaming pot of water outside and pulled a set of antlers out of it.

[Ozone]

How long do you boil them for, does that get rid of the brain goo?

Since its a contest Ill have to get a 45gal drum to fit it in.HaHa

[CanAm500]

I boiled part of a deer head once worked great , but did i get some funny looks from the nieghbors when i took that steaming pot of water outside and pulled a set of antlers out of it.


rofl :lol: :D

[bcfarmer]

don't over boil it...and do it outside!!!! corn burner and canner pot works well
take a wire and scramble brains then use a pressure nozzle or light pressure washer to clean it out...do this several times...between boilings...once all meat and cartlige off then paint with 34% peroxide...do a few times..scull comes out nice and white.
once again don't over boil..scull will go soft and fall apart if you do

good luck

bcfarmer

[Steeleco]

don't over boil it...and do it outside!!!! corn burner and canner pot works well
take a wire and scramble brains then use a pressure nozzle or light pressure washer to clean it out...do this several times...between boilings...once all meat and cartlige off then paint with 34% peroxide...do a few times..scull comes out nice and white.
once again don't over boil..scull will go soft and fall apart if you do

good luck

bcfarmer

To add, you'll need a picture of the teeth locations before you boil. They are very likely to fall out, if you want them after, strain the water well, they'll be in the goo in the bottom. I've never done it since I messed up my first skull, but I'm told white wood glue works good for holding them in place.

[huntwriter]

With the bear contest going I guess I'll have to clean the skull. How does one do this?
Take as much meat off as you can. In the meantime bring a pot of water to the boil. Pot should be big enough to totally submerge the skull. Add dish washing liquid soap to the water, this will breake down the fat fast. Boil the skull, take every 10 minutes out and with a blunt knife scrape of the meat that comes loose. When all the meat and tendons are cooked away change the water and bring to boil again. This time add bleach or borax and cook skull for about 10 minutes. Now you should have a snow white skull with all the fat cooked out of the bone and all the meat gone.

Take the skull to a car wash and wash the brain cavity with the pressure washer out by sticking the nozzle in the hole on the back of the skull where the Atlas bone was connected. Move nozzle in a circular motion.

Note: This does not work on a head shot animal. If animal is head shot use garden hose as this pressure will not cause bone breakage.

Depending at the age of the animals, the skull looses the teeth during the boiling process, so be carefull when dumping the water out of the pot. You can clue the teeth back in the bone cavity with a simple hot glue.

As a final treatment paint the skull with a 50/50 solution water/bleach or straight Hydrogen Peroxide, leave to dry out completely.

Do all this work outside as it will stink badly and you will not be able to get rid of the smell in the house for weeks.

Good Luck with your bear hunt.

[Gateholio]

Last I heard, Steadygirl had some beetles to do skulls up nicely.

I dont' know how many she has, though...

[ruger#1]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/bobcat_was_on_truck.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2082&ppuser=699)had a bobcat cleaning the skulls on this nice truck that is in my yard. i might turn it into a fire pit.

[huntwriter]

Last I heard, Steadygirl had some beetles to do skulls up nicely.

I dont' know how many she has, though...
Yep that's the latest fashion now. Never tried it but the folks who have and told me about the Dermestid Beetles are very happy with it. It's a beetle which only eats dead animals and it can be found on any road kill or other dead animal that has been laying around for a few days.

Here is a website. Skull Taxidermy (http://www.skulltaxidermy.com/kits.html) they sell starter breeding kits with the beetles (not the boys from Liverpool, England). There are exact instructions as how to keep them.

CAUTION: Very graphic pictures of skulls in different stages of rotting. Maybe better to look at them after dinner.;)

Unfortunately not everybody is as lucky as ruger#1 having bobcats doing the job of cleaning the skulls.
Would that be hunting over bait if you poped one after they done cleaning the skull for you? :-D

[ratherbefishin]

I've simmered-not boiled deer skulls and that works well-but I've also heard of guys who just wired it to a log and left it in the chuck for the crabs and sculpins to clean up

[mark]

ive heard an ant hill works good too.

[NEEHAMA]

my friend who is not a hunter but collect's skulls uses the ant hill as well and says the skulls come out polished!

[Kirby]

I've done ant hills, maggots, and boiling, if time isn't an issue, and you can find an ant hill that your not worried about a dog/coyote/bear grabbing the skull and going they work, but not the fastest. Personally I like boiling, however beetles are suppose to work well and fast.

Kirby

[talver]

I did a bear skull and a set of moose antlers in the back yard in the vegetable garden both turned out great it takes a couple months. but costs you nothing

[jakerazer]

Take as much meat off as you can. In the meantime bring a pot of water to the boil. Pot should be big enough to totally submerge the skull. Add dish washing liquid soap to the water, this will breake down the fat fast. Boil the skull, take every 10 minutes out and with a blunt knife scrape of the meat that comes loose. When all the meat and tendons are cooked away change the water and bring to boil again. This time add bleach or borax and cook skull for about 10 minutes. Now you should have a snow white skull with all the fat cooked out of the bone and all the meat gone.

Take the skull to a car wash and wash the brain cavity with the pressure washer out by sticking the nozzle in the hole on the back of the skull where the Atlas bone was connected. Move nozzle in a circular motion.

Note: This does not work on a head shot animal. If animal is head shot use garden hose as this pressure will not cause bone breakage.

Depending at the age of the animals, the skull looses the teeth during the boiling process, so be carefull when dumping the water out of the pot. You can clue the teeth back in the bone cavity with a simple hot glue.

As a final treatment paint the skull with a 50/50 solution water/bleach or straight Hydrogen Peroxide, leave to dry out completely.

Do all this work outside as it will stink badly and you will not be able to get rid of the smell in the house for weeks.

Good Luck with your bear hunt.

Huntwriter was right about the smell!!! I tried brain tanning some leather once in the old native tradition. My then new girlfried came over while I was boiling brains and fat on the stove in the kitchen.....:roll:
ooop's. she was'nt impressed with the smell. I must admit it was number 3 of the worst smells I have ever experienced. number 1 being a bloated dead seal I accidently popped with a stick on vancouver island:frown: .
I have boiled off a couple of skulls and it does work well as do ant's.
I also destroyed my first skull by over boiling it, It turned chalky.
be careful

[mainland hunter]

I'll have a working colony of beetles within a month and can do it for those in the lowermainland area

[Foxer]

I'll have a working colony of beetles within a month and can do it for those in the lowermainland area

Really! - that would be fantastic. You should charge for it to pay for the little bugger's care. I'd pay 15 bucks to have a skull done no sweat.


BTW guys - you CAN freeze skulls and do them later. I've done it a few times and there's no problem. So if you get one in the feild you want to keep, just chuck it in the freezer till you can figure out how to deal with it.

[Steyr]

Mainland Hunter,

How's your working colony of beetles? How much would you charge for a bear skull?

Thanks!

[~T-BONE~]

Just looking for a solution to my problem that is getting that proffesional white look to the skull. I've tried a low percentage peroxide (medical type) and I did not get the results I was hoping for:confused: ! Should I get a stronger peroxide and if so where? Any info would be greatly appreciated.:D

[greybark]

;) Hey T-Bone , In the past I swabbed gasoline on the spots that would not lighten up with very good results .

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[3kills]

t-bone talk to mainland hunter on here he is a taxidermist...

[mainland hunter]

i charge 90 bucks cleaned and whitened. i dont boil, beetles do the best job.

[3kills]

mainland where do u get beetles from??? how do u keep them alive??? where do u store them???

[mainland hunter]

i live on a chicken farm so get them from the rotting chicken, i keep them in a large tote with a screen over the top and grease on the walls so they dont crawl out and eat stuff there not suppose to. if they stay under 80F they wont grow wings and fly, right now i dont got any cause there's no work for em but can dig em up any time

[3kills]

thats interesting...