Bury instead of bugs

[Horn Seeker]

Why not just boil it?? The last few I've done, I buy some soda ash from the spa store, put a good dose of that in the water, boil for about 2 hours, scrape some meat off, boil another couple and that sum beech is Clean.... (ok...we all know its not that easy, but still..its not bad)...

I just read a great thread on "Maceration" which is soaking it in a bucket of water, at like 90 degrees (use a fish tank warmer)...I guess it takes a few weeks and you have to change 1/2 the water a few times....and it STINKS bad... but its another way.

 

[BuzzH]

Come on, this shit isnt rocket science, I'm just finishing up 4 skulls.

Forget the burying and do this.

Buy some Sal Soda from a taxidermy supply shop, get some magnesium carbonate at the same time. Next go to the nearest beauty supply store and grab up some 40-50 volume creme developer.

Put about 1/2 cup of sal soda per gallon of water in a large pot, heat it up to not quite boiling and let the skulls soak for about 4 hours. Scrape off whats left of the meat, the nasal passages will be clean as a whistle. Repeat the above only this time use about a half a bottle of dawn dish soap and keep the water about 160-180 degrees for a few hours, that will draw out most all the grease from the skull. During the summer, I just leave the skulls in the dawn solution for 3-4 weeks, does about the same thing.

Finally, mix magnesium carbonate and the creme developer into a thinish paste. Paint it on the skulls, making sure not to get any on the antlers. Wrap it in a wal-mart or other plastic bag. Leave the skull for 2-5 days, rinse off and let it dry.

Last years skulls...

Some of our antelope done the same way:

 

[mdunc8]

Never said I couldn't figure it out. I would just prefer to do something else if possible. I've boiled all (two) of my euros myself, but I have to borrow all the gear to do so, so I thought burying them might be an easy alternative. Those do look good Buzz, but I prefer a more natural finish than the bright white, so I usually soak them in diluted hydrogen peroxide for a day or two and call it good.

 

[BuzzH]

Its just the bone, cant get more "natural" than that.

The secret is the sal soda...softens the flesh/cartilage/tissue and it literally falls off the skull...slicker than cat shit on a lenoleum floor.

 

[----]

Is there a reason you use the paste mix instead of soaking in hydrogen peroxide Buzz? Cheaper? Whiter?
I have a bunch of heads I need to whiten and I'm all ears.

 

[BuzzH]

Randy,

I mix either magnesium carbonate or basic white (also available at a beauty supply store) with the creme developer.

I like the paste because you just paint on a nice coat, seal in a plastic bag and in 4-5 days, rinse off, and your skulls are white.

Really easy.

 

[----]

Thanks, looks like that's the cheaper way to go too, and seems like it'd be easier to keep the antlers from discoloring.

 

[BuzzH]

Definately keep it off the antlers...or they will be white.

 

[Bambistew]

I walked into the local beauty supply store here a few months ago, asked where the bleaching products where. The lady asked if I was planning bleaching skulls or hair.

If that would happened in Baltimore, the question probably would have been you planning on cleaning up a crime scene or bleaching hair?

I'm so glad I moved up here...

 

[TheTone]

If you've got time and somewhere you don't mind the smell I really prefer macreation to boiling. Just get some type of plastic container big enough to fit the skull and an aquarium heater and you're ready to go. You'll need to do some degreasing and whitening, but it really is much easier. Just a bucket with a lid is unbeatable for doing a predator skull. Lots of info out there on other sites as well.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Come on, this shit isnt rocket science, I'm just finishing up 4 skulls.

Buzz must have been born with the "Golden Pot".

Inside joke between a friend and I. No one wants to do it themselves and yet they are to cheap to pay for it. They think you want to do it for free cause you have the "Golden Pot"

If you can't figure it out after Buzz's detailed description, you are a retrad.

 

[mdunc8]

Again, that wasn't the point of the thread and no one asked how to do it. I'm guessing Buzzh assumed we were a bunch of "retards" and didn't know how.

 

[Oak]

Buzz must have been born with the "Golden Pot".

Yep! Buzz's Golden Pot has even done a couple for me.

 

[The Hedgehog]

My golden pot has earned me a lot of beer and charitable donations from friends. I hate doing it and refuse to light the match until I have several heads going at once. As for burying a nice head in the dirt, I'll take somebody else's word on how that all works out. Beetles do a nice job, but they are too much work and stink much worse than any skull stew.

 

[drahthaar]

Where are you guys finding some big ol pots for boiling? Nobody wants to give one up. Are you using 55 gallon drums cut off at 14 15 inches or so? Because I can't find one anywhere that isn't rusted out and won't hold water.

 

[Dinkshooter]

My "Golden Pot" is a empty Crystalyx drum a rancher friend gave me. So it is probably 1/3 of a 55 gallon drum. My secret tool of the trade though, is a weed burner on a 100gal propane tank. I can take water straight from the creek to hot enough in about 15 minutes.

 

[whitetailfreak]

I have seen the head being buired and seen them being soaked, but I like instant gratification so I boil and usaully only takes me about 2-3 hours to do several heads. This year I did one boil with 7 heads and it only took 3 hours. How I do it is i have a crystalyx barell that is about 1/3 the size that i bought from our local feed store, I mix the soda and water and bring it to a boil and leave the heads at a boil for about the first half hour and then i bring it down to simmer and after about hour to hour and half i begin to scrape. I find that a good turkey fryer works great gets the pot up higher. I then use the volume 40 and basic white mix to whiten my skulls. I have had great luck with this method. This year i did try a little diffrent method as far as whiting the skulls, after boiling them i taped the horns and soaked them in a 70/30 bleach water mix for 24 hours and then pulled them out let them dry and then applied the paste mix and i have never had skull so white the are just stone white, however some of the horns got a little bleached and had to color them but wasn't a big deal for me. I know this works well as I have boiled over 150 skulls in last 4-5 yrs. Good luck to everyone with what ever method you choose.

 

[noharleyyet]

I walked into the local beauty supply store here a few months ago, asked where the bleaching products where. The lady asked if I was planning bleaching skulls or hair.

If that would happened in Baltimore, the question probably would have been you planning on cleaning up a crime scene or bleaching hair?

I'm so glad I moved up here...

.....................

 

[fowladdict]

I walked into the local beauty supply store here a few months ago, asked where the bleaching products where. The lady asked if I was planning bleaching skulls or hair.

If that would happened in Baltimore, the question probably would have been you planning on cleaning up a crime scene or bleaching hair?

I'm so glad I moved up here...

That is funny. I know a few here do buy it for their hair.

 

[jeremys4]

Man when was 19 I tried to do my mule deer in an ant hill. I was worried about my dark antlers turning white so i taped them with blue painter's tape bad idea. After about a month I pulled off all the tape and all of the brown off the antlers just being young and dumb.