Euros Gone Wild

[thomas89]

Where to begin?

Long story short: Wyoming Skullworks had my raghorn for 20 months. Said it was ready for pickup. This is what I picked up. Essentially a dirty deadhead. Antlers cracked and weathered, skull cracking and weathered, greasy, stinky, tooth loose, not whitened, flesh still on the bone. Avoid at all costs. Voiced my concerns, paid what she wanted and left. This is after months of dodgy communication. In searching for contact info, you’ll come across social media pages, she was all over the world hunting/fishing in that time period. This after giving a 3-4 month turnaround at drop off. Bad business.

Said in a few days after it dried she’d put it up on social media as representative of her work.

Full disclosure: She offered to fix my concerns but if after 20 months we’re this far off from satisfactory, I’m out. Also received a $50 discount.

Lesson learned. Currently have it degreasing, hoping it doesn’t crumble but fully expecting to buy one of those fake skulls and screw the sawed off antlers on there.

Anyone think I’m wrong for just cutting my losses? Any excuses for this kind of work? First time I’ve tried to get a beetle cleaned skull, this doesn’t sound like it’s even close to the norm.

 

[brymoore]

Post a full skull pic.

 

[TOGIE]

a beetle cleaned and properly whitened skull should be practically flawless.

and not take 20 months.

it is what it is, but you shouldn't have paid a dime for that.

 

[EYJONAS!]

You sure that's beetle barned? Beetles do a flawless job.

Looks cooked. And not cooked right.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Did she take a hammer to the skull? I would be very worried she cooked it in chlorine bleach solution. If she did, be careful putting at back in hot water. It may very well disintegrate.

Note that she didn't break off the ear canals. Very important for thoroughly cleaning the inside of the skull.

I have done a couple of chlorine fix ups. The faux skulls don't work well. Especially the cheap ones on Amazon. Had a client drop one of those off and I threw it in the trash right in front of him. I suggest a cap mount.

Here's mine:

 

[thomas89]

Post a full skull pic.

You sure that's beetle barned? Beetles do a flawless job.

Looks cooked. And not cooked right.

There were beetles stuck in the nasal canal. Sounds common.

a beetle cleaned and properly whitened skull should be practically flawless.

and not take 20 months.

it is what it is, but you shouldn't have paid a dime for that.

Awesome skull.

I know I shouldn’t have paid. It’s important to me to take the high road and not get into a pissing match.

 

[thomas89]

Did she take a hammer to the skull? I would be very worried she cooked it in chlorine bleach solution. If she did, be careful putting at back in hot water. It may very well disintegrate.

I have done a couple of chlorine fix ups. The faux skulls don't work well. Especially the cheap ones on Amazon. Had a client drop one of those off and I threw it in the trash right in front of him. I suggest a cap mount.

I’m degreasing with a sous vide and some dawn detergent. Sprinkle of Biz bleach powder. I have done a mess of other heads with Biz bleach, and no damage to the skulls. Think 120* or so, hoping it will not be too much for the weakened bone.

 

[TOGIE]

View attachment 329732


There were beetles stuck in the nasal canal. Sounds common.


Awesome skull.

I know I shouldn’t have paid. It’s important to me to take the high road and not get into a pissing match.

that picture definitely makes things look less concerning IMO. can't imagine how that crack on the pedicle was created if it was never over cooked or anything like that. seems it clearly was beetle cleaned then just sat around for the rest of its stay. if it were me i would likely just give it a very gentle sous vide peroxide bath. should degrease and whiten all at once.

don't forget to throw some rubber bands around the nose bone while you're soaking.

 

[ForkieShooter]

What Togie just said above. Plus a Paraloid B72 application when you’re done. It should hold some of the brittle bits in place.

 

[EYJONAS!]

View attachment 329732


There were beetles stuck in the nasal canal. Sounds common.


Awesome skull.

I know I shouldn’t have paid. It’s important to me to take the high road and not get into a pissing match.

I don't see much for signs of using bleach or anything. You'd see flaking or bubbled looking bone if it was damaged along the nasal cavity. Looking at the nasal cavity details it would appear that they did use beetles as you said you found some. My thought is that they didn't put it in the barn right away and allowed the left over meats and oils to essentially setup and get into the bone which causes the yellowing color. You should be fine to degrease with sous vide machine at low temp. I would wrap the bases in plastic wrap and tape em with electrical tape. Scoop of oxy and clear volume 40. Leave for a couple days and see what it looks like. My guess is that it sat with left over material for a long time on it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[TOGIE]

fyi, the double entendre that is this thread title was most intriguing

 

[Nick87]

You sure that's beetle barned? Beetles do a flawless job.

Looks cooked. And not cooked right.

Looks cooked to me as well. That's is a shame and I would have cut my losses as well. Might have been cleaned with bugs then over heated during degreasing either way that is a terrible finsihed product. Just a couple weeks ago I had a similar experience with a painter on our house doing some exterior work. He offered to make it
right and my reply was "if you #@)(*%* it up this bad the first time, what males you think I even want you back on my property" (don't take that quote out of context that was a fter a good 15 minute heated conversation.

 

[Nick87]

fyi, the double entendre that is this thread title was most intriguing

Got me too, not gonna lie.

 

[noharleyyet]

fyi, the double entendre that is this thread title was most intriguing

Thought it might be a finance crossthread...

 

[thomas89]

that picture definitely makes things look less concerning IMO. can't imagine how that crack on the pedicle was created if it was never over cooked or anything like that. seems it clearly was beetle cleaned then just sat around for the rest of its stay. if it were me i would likely just give it a very gentle sous vide peroxide bath. should degrease and whiten all at once.

don't forget to throw some rubber bands around the nose bone while you're soaking.

The antlers and skull feel like a year old shed or dead head. You can see cracks in the antler where they’ve been exposed to too much weather.

That’s my guess on the cracks in the pedicles.

Got it at 120* for 24 hours to start. Cautiously optimistic that temp is low enough to not harm anything but the grease.

 

[Nick87]

The antlers and skull feel like a year old shed or dead head. You can see cracks in the antler where they’ve been exposed to too much weather.

That’s my guess on the cracks in the pedicles.

Got it at 120* for 24 hours to start. Cautiously optimistic that temp is low enough to not harm anything but the grease.

120 shouldn't do any further damage. Keep a close eye on temp.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I’m degreasing with a sous vide and some dawn detergent. Sprinkle of Biz bleach powder. I have done a mess of other heads with Biz bleach, and no damage to the skulls. Think 120* or so, hoping it will not be too much for the weakened bone.

BIZ is fine. No chlorine in it. Soda ash will help degrease. Dawn is good.

 

[OntarioHunter]

This skull very much resembles one a client brought in for us to clean up another wannabe taxidermist's mess. I put it in pot of Dawn to simmer and degrease. About twenty minutes later I pulled it out and the skull fell to pieces as soon as I set it on the counter. The clown cooked it in chlorine bleach solution.

 

[Nick87]

to simmer

That was probably where it started to go wrong. Just saying

 

[OntarioHunter]

That was probably where it started to go wrong. Just saying

We generally simmer deer skulls longer than that with no issues. Gave up on the beetles a couple years ago. Too hard keeping them going fighting with parasytic mites. If bone has been cooked in chlorine bleach solution it will fall apart sooner or later.
These are few of the skulls cleaned by simply simmering and bleaching with peroxide. Oh ... bottom photo is last year's buck before bleaching. That's what it looked like after cleaning in Montana before the long drive home. It's partially visible in top photo after I finished it.