First Time Euro

[Four22]

After reading the article listed below I figured I’d give this method a shot. My dad did a few by boiling and the were extremely brittle and chalky plus the thought of boiling and scraping wasn’t too appealing.

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/elk-euro-sous-vide.293063/

So here goes nothing. 155 for a while and I’ll do a little picking and scraping then change they water and back in for a while more.

 

[TOGIE]

Little trick I just learned from elkfever on here

once its mostly clean and youre doing your final soaks, wrap the nose in rubber bands to keep those top nose bones from splitting apart. Especially important to let it dry with them on before doing a peroxide wrap

 

[Four22]

Any suggestion on drying time before the whitener?

that’s the only thing I wasn’t sure of

 

[ashersdad]

This is the first year I've done my own since I had to boil the heads before leaving Colorado and Kansas to keep in compliance with the law. I didn't really know what I was doing and ended up with a less than stellar turnout.







You all must have a lot more patience than I do or have an easier way of doing it because I'll gladly pay the $95 to my beetle guy to do this for me. I still need to touch up the antlers where they got whitened but holy crap, talk about a process...

 

[TOGIE]

This is the first year I've done my own since I had to boil the heads before leaving Colorado and Kansas to keep in compliance with the law. I didn't really know what I was doing and ended up with a less than stellar turnout.

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You all must have a lot more patience than I do or have an easier way of doing it because I'll gladly pay the $95 to my beetle guy to do this for me. I still need to touch up the antlers where they got whitened but holy crap, talk about a process...

those really don't look that bad, but it's hard to tell in those pictures. antlers look really white all around? how did you do them?

either way, i'd gladly pay 95 for someone to do my heads. but a small deer on the colorado front range is gonna get done for like 150 these days. you'll see lots of guys charging 300 for an elk. which is stupid, because in my mind elk are easier - they are so much sturdier you can almost abuse them with heat and peroxide and get it done even more quickly. it's the small animals that take more time and care

 

[ashersdad]

those really don't look that bad, but it's hard to tell in those pictures. antlers look really white all around? how did you do them?

either way, i'd gladly pay 95 for someone to do my heads. but a small deer on the colorado front range is gonna get done for like 150 these days. you'll see lots of guys charging 300 for an elk. which is stupid, because in my mind elk are easier - they are so much sturdier you can almost abuse them with heat and peroxide and get it done even more quickly. it's the small animals that take more time and care

Thanks. The whitetails are decent but the muley got a little whitened at the base of his antlers when I boiled him. Nothing that can't be easily fixed.

I boiled them pretty good in the field to get all the brain material out and then when I got home I boiled again (both times with Oxi Clean) and used the pressure washer to clean them. Just not my idea of fun. Stinky, messy and tedious getting every piece of flesh off.

After that I put Salon Care 40 volume creme all over them and wrapped in plastic wrap and let them sit for 4 days. Then cleaned them off and put a little Mop n Glo on them.

They didn't turn out horribly but for the amount of time I have in them, the $95 would have been much more economical. Now if I enjoyed the process, that would be different but I really didn't...

 

[Four22]

Id say they look pretty good

I’d pay $95 also but around here in Ohio the cheapest I found was $225 for deer. Hince the DIY approach

 

[ashersdad]

Id say they look pretty good

I’d pay $95 also but around here in Ohio the cheapest I found was $225 for deer. Hince the DIY approach

Thanks! For $225 I'd stick with the DIY approach as well.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Any suggestion on drying time before the whitener?

that’s the only thing I wasn’t sure of

The peroxide & whitener paste works best if it goes on while the skull is still hot out of the pot. No need to dry it off. Are you mixing Clairol whitening powder with 40 volume beutician peroxide? That is the paste we paint on our skulls. Wrap in clear plastic and leave them overnight. If you can leave it out in the sun through the day that helps a lot too.

 

[Four22]

About 24 hours in at 155 and after about 10 minutes of light scraping and poking with a screw driver

 

[Four22]

36ish hours and a little scraping and pulling things out of holes.

 

[Four22]

48 hours and power washed.

Back into clean water with dawn and washing soda for 24 more hours

The stuff at the back of the skull doesn’t really want to come off.

 

[OntarioHunter]

To clean off that stubborn stuff at back of the skull use a stiff wire brush like ones used to scrape old paint. Also for cleaning more delicate areas you can buy small wire brushes at Home Depot, both brass and steel bristles. Brass ones don't last long.

In the end you don't need to worry too much about getting every speck of that stubborn stuff at the top of back of skull off. You've cooked it enough times it's essentially leather now. It shouldn't stink. And no one should be able to see it once the skull is mounted.

 

[Four22]

The peroxide & whitener paste works best if it goes on while the skull is still hot out of the pot. No need to dry it off. Are you mixing Clairol whitening powder with 40 volume beutician peroxide? That is the paste we paint on our skulls. Wrap in clear plastic and leave them overnight. If you can leave it out in the sun through the day that helps a lot too.

What ratio do you mix the whitening powder and the 40 volume? Just make a paste?!

 

[OntarioHunter]

What ratio do you mix the whitening powder and the 40 volume? Just make a paste?!

Yes, just make a paste thick enough to paint on. I never measure it out, sorry.

 

[MT Bound]

another way of doing it I guess, everyone has their own methods.

This season I boiled ours within a day or two of shooting them, boiled for 3-4 hours then power washed down and got 99% clean. Then put on 40 Vol bleach and stuck in a trash bag for 3-5 days, rinsed off the whitener and set in sun for a few min. to dry off and whalla, easy-peasy.

Can't beat a power washer, hands down the easiest & quickest process IMO

 

[Four22]

24 More hours and all clean. I propped it up in the window hoping my neighbor will see it

 

[Four22]

24 hours with vol 40 and whitener.
I’ll take it for the first try ever!

 

[SaskHunter]

I propped it up in the window hoping my neighbor will see it

I always make sure my neighbour can see mine when I let them dry in the backyard!

Also, the euro looks good!

 

[OntarioHunter]

24 hours with vol 40 and whitener.
I’ll take it for the first try ever!

Looks good!