I buried my 9 pointer for a European mount in January. I live in Northern Ohio. I just pulled the skull out and it still was only about 60% complete. The smell just about killed me. I have done this several times but really can't remember how long before I took it them out before. I am looking for new method but don't want to boil them either. Thinking about just leaving the head hang in a tree in the woods and taping the antlers up or something. Any thoughts?
How long leave deer skull in ground
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8andcounting
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I'm curious too . I buried my antelope head and stuck a 5 gal pale over the horns last October .
Haven't takin it out yet figured I'd give it a full hot summer
Haven't takin it out yet figured I'd give it a full hot summer
The Hedgehog
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You'd rather bury them, or hang them in a tree than boil them? Why?
Flatland Crusoe
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Boil them in water with Oxyclean powder, if you keep the powder topped off it keeps the smell down.
A buddy of mine leaves all his in the ground for at least 1yr, this is in Ohio as well. He has very good results.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
You can have head completely clean in a couple hours, and soaked for a day or two in peroxide and be perfectly ready for the wall.
Bambistew
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Hang it in a tree... My neighbor hung his bison skull in a tree 3 years ago... still hanging there with half the hair on it. Seems like a really bad idea.
Once the meat has dried up, its a PITA to get off, no mater the method.
Buy a turkey cooker and a big ass pot, boil away. Start to finish its a few hours if the skull is fresh. It makes very little mess.
I can't imagine how you can get one clean by burring it without putting it in boiling water at some point. The whole process seems like a complete goat rope waste of time.
Once the meat has dried up, its a PITA to get off, no mater the method.
Buy a turkey cooker and a big ass pot, boil away. Start to finish its a few hours if the skull is fresh. It makes very little mess.
I can't imagine how you can get one clean by burring it without putting it in boiling water at some point. The whole process seems like a complete goat rope waste of time.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
I can understand burying a body or a turd, but not something you want to display to remember a hunt.
Make it even easier on yourself and pick up a burner like this-
http://www.amazon.com/IMUSA-GAU-803...pebp=1436476984919&perid=182G2GHKXR4EW0NKSYMN
You have to babysit it even less than propane.
MinnesotaHunter
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I have tried the burying thing, and you need to really have alot of bugs in your soil for it to work, plus the bone gets stained brown. Do yourself a favor and boil it.
Bambistew
Well-known member
You think it would hold up to 5-7 gal of water on it. How about boil time? I think it may work well with a small head. Good idea.
A quick comparison, the 1100W burner puts out about 3400btu, a turkey cooker is about 40,000 btu, of course this is turned way down once the temperature is reached.
To get 7 gallons of water to boil with the 1100W burner, it would take 2.5 hours. With the cooker... about 15 min. I think I would be done by the time the little guy got the water warm enough to work with.
Yes, you would be limited to deer and under only with the electric burner, and it would take longer to get going. You can also get a more powerful burner that that for relatively cheap, or get water boiling inside then transfer it to the pot outside on the little burner. When I've boiled them in the past I haven't actually boiled, but rather gotten right to the point of boiling and backed off. I've always been nervous about having the water rolling. Either way, it'd be a lot easier than burying.
I once found a steer head while deer hunting and brought it home for my wife to use as a decoration. It was pretty fresh and quite stinky so I put it on the roof of my house in Vegas, lots of sun so the sun could work its magic on the hide and bleach the skull. It stunk up there for a couple of years before my wife said to throw it away. It still had hide on it.
Colberjs
Member
You can get a fish fryer cheaper than a turkey fryer and pick up a cheap stock pot at Walmart and you're in business.
I boiled a deer head in the house when my wife was pregnant with our first child. Needless to say that was the last time I did that!!!
I boiled a deer head in the house when my wife was pregnant with our first child. Needless to say that was the last time I did that!!!
Never buried one,bleached in sun and boiled is all.
I have 3 elk skulls in my trees,one 3 yrs old and it still has hide on it.
The NM sun just welds the hide on before sun does it's job. Have quite a collection of skulls.Did alot of deer skulls years ago.Used to leave most in trees stinking for years.Then bleach with peroxide stuff.
I have a giant stock pot and a wash basin(old school) that I can boil them in with propane burner or the basin over fire. Some Arm&Hammer washing soda,Oxyclean, and a touch of citrus to get fat loose and boil couple hours, depending on how well it was skinned. Take out half waydone and poke a wire around in skull to break up the brains,then boil some more to rid remaining stuff.
Be carefull not to over cook,or it will ruin the nose cartalage. I'll look up cooking times.
Also have to keep antlers out of the water,by securing to stick across pot.
I bleach them with hair paste stuff wrapped in celophane left on white background in sun for awhile after skulls have dried a bit and they come out real nice.
I believe Glass Eye has a great recipe for this stuff.
........and don't be a dummy and boil them IN THE HOUSE> That's what the outdoors with the buddies day and beer is for. Same with smoking meat and making jerky. Gals love the final product ,but your in the doghouse for sure the other way...IMHO.
Unless your some old hermit with no olfactories functioning
what smell?
Or worse yet,your gal doesn't mind odd dead smells.................................................
I have 3 elk skulls in my trees,one 3 yrs old and it still has hide on it.
The NM sun just welds the hide on before sun does it's job. Have quite a collection of skulls.Did alot of deer skulls years ago.Used to leave most in trees stinking for years.Then bleach with peroxide stuff.
I have a giant stock pot and a wash basin(old school) that I can boil them in with propane burner or the basin over fire. Some Arm&Hammer washing soda,Oxyclean, and a touch of citrus to get fat loose and boil couple hours, depending on how well it was skinned. Take out half waydone and poke a wire around in skull to break up the brains,then boil some more to rid remaining stuff.
Be carefull not to over cook,or it will ruin the nose cartalage. I'll look up cooking times.
Also have to keep antlers out of the water,by securing to stick across pot.
I bleach them with hair paste stuff wrapped in celophane left on white background in sun for awhile after skulls have dried a bit and they come out real nice.
I believe Glass Eye has a great recipe for this stuff.
........and don't be a dummy and boil them IN THE HOUSE> That's what the outdoors with the buddies day and beer is for. Same with smoking meat and making jerky. Gals love the final product ,but your in the doghouse for sure the other way...IMHO.
Unless your some old hermit with no olfactories functioning
what smell? Or worse yet,your gal doesn't mind odd dead smells.................................................
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i do all mine this way: skin them out and deflesh and remove eyes as best as possible as soon as possible after kill (usually day or 2 later). then i just put them on the ground behind my shed or hang then in tree (must be in all day shade)and let the flies/maggots clean them up. once the maggots are gone its ready to boil (usually give it month or two of warm weather) then i us a turkey frier propane burner to heat a old school wash pan you can get at tractor supply for less than $20. works like a champ and easily fits bull elk heads. i use a little dish soap/borax and then once perfect clean i soak in peroxide and let sit over night, then clean any spots that still need it and let it sit one more night. then i scrub it with baking soda and rise real good, once dry its ready to hang. its a lot easy than it sounds,and i usually do 3-4 at a time just to use same materials and hot water.
C
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Foxtrot1
Well-known member
Water maceration is the way to go. Most museums use this method. Basically cover skull in water to let bacteria break down any tissue. There are several step by step how to's online. Preserves small bones, no discoloration, etc... Don't go crazy on the prep work, I did and ended up having to add culture (broth) to my skull it was so clean. Just get the skin off to speed things up. If you have one you've hung in a tree or has dried skin left you can use the same technique, just add about 1/2 lb of fresh meat to the first batch of water and in a few weeks it'll be clean. This needs to be done in the summer or you will have to use an aquarium heater to keep the water warm. This technique sounds horrible, but really isn't that bad and it produces a great skull. The first water change is the worst part, after that its not that bad. Here's a deer and pronghorn I cleaned with this tech. The deer by itself is before it went into the water. Don't worry about getting it this clean. We macerated several at the same time and it really didn't affect how the skulls came out. This deer actually took longer than one that didn't have any flesh removed after it was skinned.
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okie archer
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Water maceration
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