I let everything sit till early summer(after bear) then boil them, do 7-10 a year never had issue.... i do boil them several times over couple days so that i keep changing water. Use 20 mule team whatever and dawn dish soap. Once boiled clean 40% peroxide and whitener power mixed into a paste and applied with a brush, sit in sun do that for couple days with rising off previous days with hose and applying new coat turns out great. Got many euros some for many years now never had a weakness problem, just use big enough pot(sq galvanived feed pot/turkey fryer) occasional nose bone works loose and obviously elk ivorys fall out just pick them out when u dump pot, little glue in finished product. My pots usually have 1 elk and 2 deer in them at a time, occasional wire brushing or scraping with a puddy knife or chisel helps speed things up. I have a euro tool box full of brushes of all sizes and scrapers i use cause they are nasty. I dont understand the boil ruins them arguement but works for me so going to keep doing it and best of all pretty cheap and fast. My spring bear this year was finished in 10 days from when i shot it and looks amazing!
European Mounts: Why you don't boil skulls...
- Thread starter SaskHunter
- Start date
thusby
Well-known member
I have just been using a pliers and pulling out the honeycomb in the nose. I can't see the value in saving that portion of the skull for the amount of work it takes to carefully get all the meat out.
I do this except I put the skull on a bright white sheet in the sun to bleach. mtmuley1. Never boil.
2. Super washing soda in your water.
3. Never boil.
4. Dawn dish soap to pull the grease out.
5. Never boil.
6. 40 volume crème developer and basic white mixed into a paste, cover all the bone, wrap in a plastic bag, let stand for a couple/three days.
7. Rinse and let dry.
Oh, and never boil.
Stuff my wife and I shot in 2009, did the euro's using items 1-7 above.
SaskHunter
Well-known member
It's pretty much the same as making a stew, or soup with a hint of dish soap. If your skull is fresh and you've trimmed enough meat off it's barely noticeable. I've only done a couple in the house with no foul smell.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
My method. Which I do inside, in a small apartment.
Deer, Elk, Pronghorn
1. Skin the skull out, get as much meat off as possible.
2. Sousvide 135 degrees for 48 - 72 hours, with Oxiclean change water in the middle if possible.
3. Power wash
4. 40-50 Vol developer
5. Dry
6. Seal with Paraloid B-72
Bears, additional steps
......
3a. Soak in acetone for a couple of months
3b. Rinse and soak in dawn for a week
3c. Bring Vol 50 mixed with some water to a rolling boil, cut heat drop in skull, let cool to room temp
....
Sous vide is essentially controlled "boiling", you have precise control of the temp so you don't 'over-cook' and you can therefore leave a skull unsupervised for a long period of time.
Maceration is a great method, downside it's very stinky and you have to deal with the grease afterwards
Beetles probably the best method... but you have to have beetles, and then degrease
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Deer, Elk, Pronghorn
1. Skin the skull out, get as much meat off as possible.
2. Sousvide 135 degrees for 48 - 72 hours, with Oxiclean change water in the middle if possible.
3. Power wash
4. 40-50 Vol developer
5. Dry
6. Seal with Paraloid B-72
Bears, additional steps
......
3a. Soak in acetone for a couple of months
3b. Rinse and soak in dawn for a week
3c. Bring Vol 50 mixed with some water to a rolling boil, cut heat drop in skull, let cool to room temp
....
Sous vide is essentially controlled "boiling", you have precise control of the temp so you don't 'over-cook' and you can therefore leave a skull unsupervised for a long period of time.
Maceration is a great method, downside it's very stinky and you have to deal with the grease afterwards
Beetles probably the best method... but you have to have beetles, and then degrease
Bear Euro...pain in the
After having done 30+ euros and 2 bears I thought I had a pretty good method down but this skull kicked my butt. It's been a 5 month process, so I'm sure I will level out some details, but essentially my POW bear skull was just heinously greasy. Cleaned the skull using my sous vide, you can...
www.hunttalk.com
...
Thought I’d do a quick post as this method works so well for cleaning a skull. 48 hours 155 for first 24 hours and then 145 for the last 24 hours. 4 scoops of oxiclean. Power-washed and drying, no picking required. After whitening with 50vol developer creme After sealing with...
www.hunttalk.com
How to Euro Pronghorn?
Can you provide some more details about this sous vide method? How much actual picking do you usually have to do?
www.hunttalk.com
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I like the sous vide idea... Would be nice not to have to babysit a pot and burner.My method. Which I do inside, in a small apartment.
Deer, Elk, Pronghorn
1. Skin the skull out, get as much meat off as possible.
2. Sousvide 135 degrees for 48 - 72 hours, with Oxiclean change water in the middle if possible.
3. Power wash
4. 40-50 Vol developer
5. Dry
6. Seal with Paraloid B-72
Bears, additional steps
......
3a. Soak in acetone for a couple of months
3b. Rinse and soak in dawn for a week
3c. Bring Vol 50 mixed with some water to a rolling boil, cut heat drop in skull, let cool to room temp
....
Sous vide is essentially controlled "boiling", you have precise control of the temp so you don't 'over-cook' and you can therefore leave a skull unsupervised for a long period of time.
Maceration is a great method, downside it's very stinky and you have to deal with the grease afterwards
Beetles probably the best method... but you have to have beetles, and then degrease
View attachment 150896
View attachment 150897
View attachment 150904
Bear Euro...pain in the
After having done 30+ euros and 2 bears I thought I had a pretty good method down but this skull kicked my butt. It's been a 5 month process, so I'm sure I will level out some details, but essentially my POW bear skull was just heinously greasy. Cleaned the skull using my sous vide, you can......
Thought I’d do a quick post as this method works so well for cleaning a skull. 48 hours 155 for first 24 hours and then 145 for the last 24 hours. 4 scoops of oxiclean. Power-washed and drying, no picking required. After whitening with 50vol developer creme After sealing with...How to Euro Pronghorn?
Can you provide some more details about this sous vide method? How much actual picking do you usually have to do?
i can vouch for the wllm method, mine was slightly tweaked though, no power washer. and I did a short sousvide with the developer and water to whiten
it was great to just leave that thing going in the spare bathroom while i was at work
my first attempt at a skull ever, and i was happy with it. it was a small deer, so i did end up having to glue those nose bones back on
certainly will tweak a few things in the future. but it's a solid method.
it was great to just leave that thing going in the spare bathroom while i was at work
my first attempt at a skull ever, and i was happy with it. it was a small deer, so i did end up having to glue those nose bones back on
certainly will tweak a few things in the future. but it's a solid method.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
@TOGIE Looks great!
i have you and whitebone creations to thank. i just studied both of your methods and melded them to fit my situation!
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
The thing I like about whitebone, is that he does so much volume he really has the ability to test out a ton of methods.
It's one thing for me to say this works after doing 20-30 skulls.... entirely different for someone who does hundreds if not thousands.
His method is definitely going for volume rather than perfect, and he doesn't keep nose bones, but nevertheless great info.
I stole the dunking in boiling peroxide from him.
kwyeewyk
Well-known member
All my first attempts I did wrong as I boiled too hard, they lasted a few years and then started falling apart. Maybe it was the hard boil, or waited too long, but man they stunk. If wllm1313 does it in a small apartment it must not be too bad! Hopefully this year I can kill something and learn to do it right, if I get a bull in WY I'll need to do it before I bring it home.
runningmt
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2018
- Messages
- 717
Great points on the boiling.......too bad we say “boil”, it’s more of a long slow simmer.
Also too bad we say “bleach”, NEVER, EVER use bleach....go to your local hair and nails product supplier and get liquid and gel peroxide. Real bleach will whiten, but it never stops degrading the bone, and in a few years it will be as fragile as a Pringle.
Also too bad we say “bleach”, NEVER, EVER use bleach....go to your local hair and nails product supplier and get liquid and gel peroxide. Real bleach will whiten, but it never stops degrading the bone, and in a few years it will be as fragile as a Pringle.
i'll need to find a way to have the patience to keep nose bones. he's pretty impressive with his volume and end product though
luckily volume should never be an issue over here, or should i say unfortunately?
i keep offering to do my friends stuff for practice. i need more friends that actually shoot stuff i think...
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
Smell is marginal if it's at 135, fresh head, and mixed with Oxi... Kinda just smells like a laundry room.
Plastic wrap on the cooler also helps keep the smell contained and minimizes evaporation.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
Careful with you quickly end up with 4 or 5 people asking you to do all their heads every year.
too true. i've thought about how even one skull could cause quite a screw ball to my schedule with no place to keep it pending
though with some storage and a house sometime in the future i could gladly see myself taking skulls from friends and working on them through january with little else than an ask to cover costs
geetar
Well-known member
beginnerhunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2016
- Messages
- 1,320
What about traveling out of state? I'd have to have all brain matter gone before bringing it home. Any tips on accomplishing this in the field and finishing it when home? Thinking of taking a pot and cooking it on a propane camp stove. Then carwash. Sound good? Thanks!
just be careful with those carwash power washers. they can have some serious power
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
Yeah that's probably the easiest to do it... you don't have to finish it just long enough to get everything to flush out at the car wash.
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