Old spike head...what did I get myself into

MTelkHuntress

MTelkHuntress

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
Messages
725
Location
Montana
So while working on my buck euro, my dad casually mentions that he has a spike head in the garage that's been wrapped up for 30 years. I always vaguely knew there was some sort of antlered skull in the garage but I never really knew what it was. He then goes on to say that he initially meant to maybe try to euro it himself, but it was frozen from when he dragged it off the mountain. He didn't have much time to work on it so he got what meat and hide he could off, wrapped it in a trash bag and tape and then proceeded to forget about it for the next 30 years. He didn't take the eyeballs out....or the brain. I was a little worried to take this project on....but I figure it's better than letting it sit in the garage any longer. He didn't really remember too many details about his hunt. He shot the spike with his rifle and proceeded to quarter it up and drag it out on a sled. He knew he couldn't make it out before dark in the two feet of snow so he decided to leave the sled and come back in the morning. He wanted to save the elk hide and so he put it on top of the sled to cover it. When he came back in the morning, a mountain lion had actually stolen the hide as he could see the tracks in the snow.
There's a lot of family memories on the mountain where he shot this spike so it is kind of an extra special project.

I could see a small hole in the bag where bugs had gotten in...I was a little worried what would be on the inside.
20210331_181304.jpg

So. Many. Dead. Bugs. The skull didn't gross me out but the bugs sure did.
20210331_183913.jpg

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tackle this skull but so far I've just been soaking it in water and getting more hide off.
20210401_121957.jpg
 
MTelkHuntress said:
So while working on my buck euro, my dad casually mentions that he has a spike head in the garage that's been wrapped up for 30 years. I always vaguely knew there was some sort of antlered skull in the garage but I never really knew what it was. He then goes on to say that he initially meant to maybe try to euro it himself, but it was frozen from when he dragged it off the mountain. He didn't have much time to work on it so he got what meat and hide he could off, wrapped it in a trash bag and tape and then proceeded to forget about it for the next 30 years. He didn't take the eyeballs out....or the brain. I was a little worried to take this project on....but I figure it's better than letting it sit in the garage any longer. He didn't really remember too many details about his hunt. He shot the spike with his rifle and proceeded to quarter it up and drag it out on a sled. He knew he couldn't make it out before dark in the two feet of snow so he decided to leave the sled and come back in the morning. He wanted to save the elk hide and so he put it on top of the sled to cover it. When he came back in the morning, a mountain lion had actually stolen the hide as he could see the tracks in the snow.
There's a lot of family memories on the mountain where he shot this spike so it is kind of an extra special project.

I could see a small hole in the bag where bugs had gotten in...I was a little worried what would be on the inside.
View attachment 179197

So. Many. Dead. Bugs. The skull didn't gross me out but the bugs sure did.
View attachment 179203

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tackle this skull but so far I've just been soaking it in water and getting more hide off.
View attachment 179204
Click to expand...
Boil it with dawn dish soap (low simmer) for half hour. Power washer 3000 to 3500 psi . I do deer heads and use the O degree nozzle
biggest problem with yours is getting that stuff softened up for pressure washer to off
 
Yummy....or mummy, haha. I'd say soak it for while to softe up whatever tissue and hide is left, then maybe simmer it for a bit and hose it off. Shouldn't be too difficult. Fun project.
 
Little update after I finally had some time to work on the skull. I soaked this skull in dish soap and water for weeks to fully rehydrate. Thankfully the bugs did most the work but I was able to get more of the hide off as well as pop the eyes out and remove some remaining pieces of brain. I was also finally able to get the ivories out.
20210416_163141.jpg

I then put it back into some water and dish soap until I had more time to work on it.

The hide on the pedicles? (just below the antlers) was an absolute pain so I figured it would come off with some heat along with the rest of the tissue. I was a little afraid to use heat so I did so sparingly. I used the sous vide at 130 for about 4 hours with some oxiclean. Most of the rest of the tissue melted right off. The tissue on the nose was a little stubborn but eventually it pulled off as well with a little more time. It was kind of amazing to see all the tissue come off.

20210602_105855.jpg

20210602_105835.jpg

20210602_105916.jpg

For now I'm just soaking it and scrubbing the skull a bit to clean it up. I'm not quite sure how whitening is going to go but that'll be the next step.
 
https://www.sallybeauty.com/hair-co...8hI09vo7qC7Tei9yM8IaAuGzEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


SBS-760635.jpg
 
MTelkHuntress said:
Little update after I finally had some time to work on the skull. I soaked this skull in dish soap and water for weeks to fully rehydrate. Thankfully the bugs did most the work but I was able to get more of the hide off as well as pop the eyes out and remove some remaining pieces of brain. I was also finally able to get the ivories out.
View attachment 184751

I then put it back into some water and dish soap until I had more time to work on it.

The hide on the pedicles? (just below the antlers) was an absolute pain so I figured it would come off with some heat along with the rest of the tissue. I was a little afraid to use heat so I did so sparingly. I used the sous vide at 130 for about 4 hours with some oxiclean. Most of the rest of the tissue melted right off. The tissue on the nose was a little stubborn but eventually it pulled off as well with a little more time. It was kind of amazing to see all the tissue come off.

View attachment 184752

View attachment 184753

View attachment 184754

For now I'm just soaking it and scrubbing the skull a bit to clean it up. I'm not quite sure how whitening is going to go but that'll be the next step.
Click to expand...
Well done! That caramel color actually looks good and melds into the story as well.
 
I had a buddy do the exact same thing. Wrapped up a couple of skulls in trash bags years ago and left them hanging in his barn. He recently cleaned one up and it turned out fine. I poked a hole in one bag and looked in it and everything seemed cleaned. Only saw cocoons or shell from some kind of worms.
 
You could always have it hydrographic dipped which will help keep it together. Some very cool designs out there. (not such a pure final product but a great talking piece.)
1623275183412.png
 
The skull has cleaned up pretty good so far. I still need to scrub off some of the white flakey stuff on the skull and restain part of the antlers. Staining makes me the most nervous of this process so I'll definitely be practicing on some old sheds to color match.
I think my dad decided not to whiten it but once it dried, it definitely lightened up a bit. I just hope it doesn't stink later.

20210903_113434.jpg
20210903_113500.jpg

20210903_113543.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

belshawelk
God's Bull
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
David58
David58
Big Fin
Uncle Larry's Last Elk Hunt
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
thusby
thusby
Nick87
Long time coming.
5 6 7
Replies
127
Views
4K
Dave N
Dave N
sneakem
Colorado Muzzleloader
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
sneakem
sneakem
Roamer
Just meant to happen
Replies
16
Views
1K
Sytes
Sytes
GOHUNT Insider

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
113,671
Messages
2,029,135
Members
36,277
Latest member
rt3bulldogs

Share this page

Back
Top