Crossing State Lines Dealing with CWD (Possible Solution)

[Deleted member 28227]

I have seen a bunch of threads about CWD, and how to legally transport the head of your animal home. In particular, how do you get your head home if you want to do a euro mount and keep the skull. The obvious answer is boil it in the field, but that could require bringing a bunch of extra equipment. I think a possible solution for a lot of out-of-state hunters might be buying a cheap sous vide machine. Benefit to this method is you only need to buy one piece of equipment, the machine and it's very small, you set the temperature so there is no possibility of screwing up your head by cooking it too hot, there is no flame involved so you could rig this up in the bed of your truck or in a hotel room.

I'm not going out of state, but I got an elk this past weekend and this is my solution for doing a euro mount in an apt. I bought an extra sous vide machine at target (one of the really cheap ones ($80) I then put the head in a trash bag with a bunch of Biz (enzymatic laundry detergent) and then put the head in a cooler. The trash bag is to catch all the meat that falls off and hopefully keep the a bit more sanitary.

I stuck the sous vide machine in directly in the water (I'm sure if I do a bunch of heads it will eventually die... but after one it doesn't seem any worse for wear... just a little gunky.

Leaving over night at 150-160 got all the meat and brains loose enough so that everything came clean at the car wash. Smell was almost non-existent, I wouldn't hesitate to do this in a hotel room. The machine is pretty small so you could probably run it off of your 12V car outlet.

Two tips for those who have never used a sous vide: 1. After everything is running cover the cooler in a trash bag and toss a blanket or something over it to help keep in the heat and reduce evaporation 2. If possible use your stove to help bring water up to temperature or put hot water from the sink into the cooler. The heating in the machine is more than adequate to keep the water at temp but it can take forever to bring that much water up... 2hrs~ so if you can help it but starting with 120 degree water that helps a ton.















https://www.target.com/p/instant-po...VC0BpCh0M4AxlEAQYASABEgKerfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[MThuntr]

very interesting...that's pretty cleaver. It may not hurt to invest in some inexpensive dissection tools to help facilitate brain material removal though those tools are often more efficient precook.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

very interesting...that's pretty cleaver. It may not hurt to invest in some inexpensive dissection tools to help facilitate brain material removal though those tools are often more efficient precook.

I'm going to do a full clean for a euro, but I will take pics of the result with just a sous vide simmer + car wash and post...

 

[tjones]

Interesting.

As a side note I had to google "sous vide machine". I don't get out much.

 

[BrentD]

VERY clever.

 

[teej89]

I do the exact same thing just with a twist never for elk, probably would work..... 5gal bucket, water heater thermostat zip tied to the outside of the bucket(set to 135) and a water trough heater wired thru the water heater and placed in a PVC pipe in the bucket(put in the PVC to prevent burning thru the bucket). Once the water in the bucket gets to 135 the thermostat turns off the trough heater and it'll simmer at that temp. A little detergent and ammonia and a great euro after a bit!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Really happy with how the process turned out... definitely considering bringing the machine to AK to clean up heads before I fly home.
Cooler with blanket...


Post sous vide...


Post car wash + dry for an hour...


Inside skull

 

[Firedude]

That's a heck of a good idea! Thanks for sharing.

 

[apick]

Very nice! Lot better than toting pots, burners, and tanks!

 

[kylemcintyre67]

Interesting.

As a side note I had to google "sous vide machine". I don't get out much.

I had to look it up too.

 

[BrentD]

ya'll ain't alone.

 

[Muskeez]

Thank you for posting this! I have never done my own Euros but want to, 3 need done already from the past month. A couple questions; so you put the head in a garbage bag to catch meat/brain matter, etc. - I get that, but you put dry laundry detergent in the bag with the head? Or what kind of products for that? Do you add any water to that bag? I understand that the machine heats the water in the cooler to desired temp and basically slow cooks the head. Another question; Did the plastic wrap and black tape protect the antlers well enough and leave them the same color as they were?
Any other tips?
THANKS AGAIN for sharing!!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Muskeez I just finished up a pronghorn last night . New recipe I really like; 24 hours at 145 degrees, I think for an elk or mule deer I might extend the cook time a bit but I wouldn't up the temp any. (For my pronghorn I just used a smaller cooler, set it cooking right after I got home from my hunt and then left it all that night and the whole next day while I was at work, when I got home around 7 I took it to the car wash)

The garbage bag is full of water and detergent and holds the head and machine. The point of it is to make clean up easier. I can make a small hole in the bottom of the bag, let out the water and then throw the bag will all the tissue in the garbage. I'm doing this whole process inside a small apartment so I'm trying to avoid spills/smell/invoking the ire of the boss.

For detergent I like to use either Bizz or Oxi Clean, powdered detergent, dye and perfume free, make sure it says no chlorine on the box chlorine is what will screw up your mount.

For both the elk and pronghorn I added water ever 10-12 hours as there was some evaporation despite being completely covered. I really like how my pronghorn came out of the water bath, I barely had to remove anything and the bone wasn't soft and didn't show any signs of heat damage. The delicate bones in the nose were firm, not brittle

Plastic wrap and tape worked very well, there was zero change in color.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Post car wash, pre peroxide treatment

 

[Muskeez]

Looks great! How did you get the horn sheaths off?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Looks great! How did you get the horn sheaths off?

Microwave the entire skull for 2 min and then soak in hot water (hot from tap) for ~20min. Nothing added to the water.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Thanks, this is a great idea and looks much easier than trying to keep a big pot from getting past a simmer and cooking the skull apart.
One question I do have is whether the teeth are still firmly attached?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Thanks, this is a great idea and looks much easier than trying to keep a big pot from getting past a simmer and cooking the skull apart.
One question I do have is whether the teeth are still firmly attached?

Yep. 145 is a pretty low temperature (medium for steaks) so it really does a good job of preserving the delicate bits, including teeth. I've played around with beetles and maceration as well and honestly I think this pronghorn came out as good as my beetle one. Once complete I will post side by sides.

 

[JBS]

What are your thoughts on placing the machine in water outside the bag in cooler? You could put a modest amount of water and soap in bag with head. This would keep your machine clean, the water should all be the same temperature all you are losing is the water circulation next to the head.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I initially tried that but my trash bags were too large and the bag enveloped and "plugged" the machine. I'm sure it would probably work with a smaller bag and/or less water.

I bought a new machine to dedicate to cleaning heads, since given the possibility of CWD I didn't want to cross contaminate, so I'm not worried about gunking it up. That said I'm two heads in and it's in perfect condition. Honestly keeping the machine clean doesn't seem to be a huge issue.