I cleaned up the skull of the buck I shot the other day but no matter how much you scrape there always seems to be a little flesh and stuff there. I drove over to the local fishing shop and grabbed a couple of bags of maggots. Put the entire rack in a big plastic bag and dumped in the maggots. Anyone ever try this before and do you think it will work?
Cleaning skull question.
- Thread starter RAF
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I've never tried maggots. It will be interesting to hear your results. I would not even know where to go to get a bag of them. I watched a TV show once where they used beetles of some sort, and talk about hungry buggers, they cleaned up the bones fast.
I have a friend that boils the skulls, scrapes them and then soaks them in bleach and water combination I believe. He has some pretty impressive skulls. He's a farmer to boot, and has bleached the skulls of some of his large horned beef cows after butchering. They are impressive as well.
I have a friend that boils the skulls, scrapes them and then soaks them in bleach and water combination I believe. He has some pretty impressive skulls. He's a farmer to boot, and has bleached the skulls of some of his large horned beef cows after butchering. They are impressive as well.
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You doing a European mount? I took mine and hung it in the woods all summer. It's now sitting on one of my sheds bleaching out in the sun. I'll put it on a plaque this spring. I'll have to get a pic, it's just about done.
I have boiled them in the past, but I read on another forum that it's not good. I'll quote "The key to producing a nice white skull is Never boil them. Many novices us the boiling technique. to remove the flesh. This liquefies fats in the meat and brain. Impregnating the bone with grease that will cause discoloration"
He also warned about bleach. The sun drying was supposed to be good, but not too sunny around here right now. Before the sun bleaches it, the air will freeze it
.
Anyway, I went to a tackle shop this afternoon and bought 2 packages, about 50 - 60 maggots, put the antlers and bugs in plastic bag and tied it up tight and left in my heated garage. We'll see in a couple of weeks what happened.
He also warned about bleach. The sun drying was supposed to be good, but not too sunny around here right now. Before the sun bleaches it, the air will freeze it
. Anyway, I went to a tackle shop this afternoon and bought 2 packages, about 50 - 60 maggots, put the antlers and bugs in plastic bag and tied it up tight and left in my heated garage. We'll see in a couple of weeks what happened.
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I have a buddy who uses a demestid beetle colony and it is incredible. We found a nice buck who had perished and he was virtually mummified and after soaking the skull in chicken soup for a couple of days the beetles did the trick. A word of caution however, after being around the process, if you plan on starting a colony do it in a well ventilated place, these critters smell awful! If you do a search on Ebay you can even find them there.
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I know that fire ants will clean one up in a couple of days, not sure if it would discolor it or anything.
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skull skill
I have found that if you just cook the skull, not boil it too much, and then take a power/pressure washer to it, it cleans up nicely. Be careful with the beetles.. If they get loose in your house they WILL attack any mounted heads and ruin them.. there was a post over on the Alaska hunting forums about them.. Les
I have found that if you just cook the skull, not boil it too much, and then take a power/pressure washer to it, it cleans up nicely. Be careful with the beetles.. If they get loose in your house they WILL attack any mounted heads and ruin them.. there was a post over on the Alaska hunting forums about them.. Les
europeon skull mount
a buddy of mine actually is doing this as a small business now and is quite good at it.
if you like, privately email me and i will get you pics and such. he has been doing this for years by himself.
just a thought,
bacher
a buddy of mine actually is doing this as a small business now and is quite good at it.
if you like, privately email me and i will get you pics and such. he has been doing this for years by himself.
just a thought,
bacher
My experiment with maggots worked some but not a total success . It's been about 3 weeks. This morning I opened the bag with I antlers and maggots. I noted that they had eaten some but then the progressed to their next stage of their life cycle. I think it's called pupated. I suppose if I had left things alone, they would have become flys, laid eggs and there would have been a lot more hungry maggots. Then again, maybe not since the bag was sealed and air tight. Anyway, I'll do some more scraping and then mount them on a board.
. It's been about 3 weeks. This morning I opened the bag with I antlers and maggots. I noted that they had eaten some but then the progressed to their next stage of their life cycle. I think it's called pupated. I suppose if I had left things alone, they would have become flys, laid eggs and there would have been a lot more hungry maggots. Then again, maybe not since the bag was sealed and air tight. Anyway, I'll do some more scraping and then mount them on a board.RAF,
I do several Europeans each fall. you can boil them without a problem. I actually more like simmer them. One thing I do is add a generous amount of dishwasher soap. The stuff for the machine as it will not foam. Once done I spray with a hose and remove almost anything left. Next I use 3% peroxide from the store to whiten the skull. Do not use bleach as it will break the bone done and ruin it. After soaking in peroxide for 2 days rinse with water and set in the window for a few days and it will look great.
I do several Europeans each fall. you can boil them without a problem. I actually more like simmer them. One thing I do is add a generous amount of dishwasher soap. The stuff for the machine as it will not foam. Once done I spray with a hose and remove almost anything left. Next I use 3% peroxide from the store to whiten the skull. Do not use bleach as it will break the bone done and ruin it. After soaking in peroxide for 2 days rinse with water and set in the window for a few days and it will look great.
Actually, I boiled(simmered) it today and scraped off almost all the tissues. I set it in the window of my garage but the sun here won't do much until next year. The idea of perozide sounds like something I might try. I'll have to figure out what I can use to hold the skull and not get the antlers soaking. I don't know but seems it would bleech them too.
RAF,
The peroxide will whiten them and very nicely. I use a pot that the antlers rest on. I fill the pot up until just below the antlers and then soak paper towels in the peroxide and lay them on the not in the liquid. They will act as a wick and stay wet and the skull will turn out fine. Be careful showing your friends though. I now have to do several every year because of it.
Good luck
The peroxide will whiten them and very nicely. I use a pot that the antlers rest on. I fill the pot up until just below the antlers and then soak paper towels in the peroxide and lay them on the not in the liquid. They will act as a wick and stay wet and the skull will turn out fine. Be careful showing your friends though. I now have to do several every year because of it.
Good luck
The paper towel sounds good. I was worried I'd have to buy a gallon of the stuff. Pot I had to use to boil holds about 4 gallons. Anything smaller and I wouldn't have been able to get the skull in. Took a couple of hours to get it to a boil out in the garage with a camp stove.
I had a skull mount done and it was boiled in a mild acid solution an then pyroxide and it came out great , don't know if they used the flesh eating beetles , but I know that they are the way to go . It's probably worth getting them if your going to do several mounts a year , you can buy them off the net , I checked it out several years ago .
I don't think I'll be getting any beetles. I can only shoot one buck a year so it wouldn't be worth it. Besides, what would I feed them in the off season :lol:
Actually, I'm all finished with this one. It's mounted on a placque and now hangs on the garage wall with the others.
Actually, I'm all finished with this one. It's mounted on a placque and now hangs on the garage wall with the others.
I have done sevral deer , bear, pigs, and some preditors. If you boil do it with Sal Soda. I buy it from a taxidermy suppy. It jells the meat right off. The key to boils is not to over do it. With sal soda 30 minutes is usually all you need. I then soak the skull in Dawn dishwaing saop and water for a day or two to get the rest of the fat out of the skull. Then go to your local hairdressing suppy. Most areas have a "Sally's". Buy 40 volume piroxide ($10.00). The 3% crap you buy for cuts is notstrong enough. Soak in it for a day let it dry in the sun and it will look great.
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Here's a link to Van Dykes for all your chemical needs.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/subcategory/128/
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/subcategory/128/
