23 replies to this topic

[DaveHawk]

I have 3 heads I am going to European mount so the question is

Beetles or Boil

Time is not a problem. Which gives the best aesthetic look ?

[03MARINE]

I think Beetles will get you the best look.

[Ingwe]

I would consider maceration if you have a place that is big enough smell wont be a problem. beetles my second choice, DO NOT BOIL unless you are in absolute hurry.
maceration is easy and will give best results, keeps the small bones inside the nose intact. be careful when flushing the skull, use a soft but constant flow when flushing cavities and be sure to remebmer the teeth placement since they might fall out. elmer glue or other water soluble glue to secure them after the skull is bleached. if the animal has a massive jaw you want to consider drilling small holes inside the jawbone to release all the marrow or the fat will stain yellow after a few months to years after bleaching. ask chris, he does lots of crocodile skulls

[bucknbill]

everybody has opinions here,s mine...boil no doubt about it to me..i do several euro mounts every year..here,s my recipe..submerge the head in water up to the base of horns..to this water add sodium carbonate.(.not the bicarbonate)i order mine from taxidermy supply but you may find it at feed store..if not get a bag of the deer cocaine that you put on the ground it has a lot of sodium carbonate in it..i would put about a handfull of this to enough water to cover the skull..it really helps the meat to fall off and will go a long ways in whitening the skull..do not use a vigorous boil because it will foam over..but once it boils let it slow boil, will take about 2 hours or less..some times the nasel bones will come loose but that is no problem just use a little super glue..using the sodium carbonate cuts down the boiling time considerable so you should not loose teeth...good luck

[DaveHawk]

If I took the heads and put them on top of my garage and left them .............?

[bucknbill]

depends on want you want it to look like..if you want it pretty for show..not too good..the meat will eventually dry out ..but it will not fall off clean..and will look dirty and nasty..but if you are just trying to keep them..it might work but it will stink for a long time after it is dryed out

[Ingwe]

in spring and summer you might get the beetles to clean. they dont mind dried meat it just takes a bit longer for them to clean the head. we have tried ants, burried the skull in a hill but that did not work out so well. in any case clean the skull from exess meat before you do anything
cooking is speedy but imo too much effort since the beetles and maceration does it without chemicals at first. all you need to get is peroxide solution once the skull is done.
i am now talking about results that are comparable with mounts done by an university. there are many ways depending on your experience. maceration is stinky as hell no question but still for fine work unbeaten. beetles for snakes since they can eat the meat of the ribs without too many ribs falling off (sorting 300 of them is not cool). cooking for the unpatient one. add some washing poder for the last cycle it will degrease the bone. or you can also add engine degreaser or other stuff if you cook

[DaveHawk]

I work with chemicals all day in the shop so the smell is not a problem AT ALL LOL

I like the idea of boiling but I want to keep as many bones as possible. I will most likely used a Wood Bleach on the skull to whiten them. But will do a test 1st.

[bucknbill]

be careful with the wood bleach..i am not familar with it but it may damage the bone..if you like you can get high strength peroxide at beauty supply store..that is commonly used by taxidermist to give a snow white color and is safe on horns..makes a beautiful mount

[hoghntr]

this is what i do and i do many skulls each year. i got sick and tired of getting crappy work back from professionals!.***do not put frozen skull in boiling water*** skull should be room temp and placed in pot when you turn on cooker. think of it as a hard boiled egg. i personally simmer skulls NOT boil. rapid boil has a tendancy to do damage especially if animal is young and has thinner bone on skull.(i used to bury skulls but they are very hard to bleach after in ground for a year) i simmer and hover over so that i am constantly pulling skull out and cleaning **make it a beer day outside, just you a brew and a dead rotting critter**. borax as a abrasive. rub borax on let dry for a few and it helps rub meat off use small nylon wire brush and pipe cleaner type cleaner for sinuses and all hard to get to areas. i usually have baking soda and simple green in pot while simmer is on. i clean every bit of meat off skull. when finished i let bone dry than submerge in coleman fuel as a degreaser!!! a must for hogs and bear etc. that dark crap on forehead, sinus areas and back skull is grease. i soak couple days and take out. let dry. drain fuel remove grease then re-submerge in fuel. when skull has gone 2nd time (may require more if old as dirt) then comes the 20 volume liquid hair peroxide $7-$10 per gallon. you can go higher volume if licensed but i like slower cook time put in direct sunlight if desired brighter. i personally dont like the cream peroxide cuz it just flat out does not penetrate. important whith each step to let skull dry for maximum penetration of product... on hogs and bear i clean root from teeth then fill with silconixed latex caulk so when caul dries it pulls tooth together and helps with cracking problems.

if all else fails or you have to do repairs i use kilz primer for pain. mask off teeth and apply multiple coats. kilz gives a crazy white ghostly effect. oviously since it is kilz which is a stain hider it will cover a multitude of problems.

for top coat after clean, degrease, bleach i use a latex satin sheen product from home depot. the water base product does NOT yellow. i use satin and do 2-3 coats to seel bone. i have not found a oil base that does not yellow teeth.

good luck and happy holidays from Arizona.

Edited by hoghntr, 06 January 2010 - 05:26 PM.
add on

[DaveHawk]

I was just thinking so here goes. I was thinking of Gilding the skulls with 23.5 ct. gold.

[bdog]

I like the Bone collecter mounts by Mike Waddell,check those out...

[eddie-shakem]

beetles.

[Ranger]

I have been cautioned by some who use beetles who say if they get loose they could eat up the hides on any mounts you may have in the vicinity. It would depend on how your mounts were preserved, I guess, but if you have mounts around, I would be leery of bringing in any kind of insect that might eat hide or hair. That is just my personal thoughts about it.

I would boil them. After you get all the meat out, mix 50/50 peroxide and Clairol hair bleach from beauty salon store. Use a brush and put it all over the skull. DO NOT leave it on there more than 40 minutes or it will start eating off the outer layer of shiny bone. Rinse it off and you are done.

I have a picture of a bear skull done this way I need to get off my other computer in the shop. I left one part of the jaw bone unbleached to show the difference in it. I will try to get the picture on here in a day or so.

Also, like Bucknbill said, if you just let the skull sit outside it just turns into a mess. Several years ago, I hung a bobcat skull up outside with a piece of wire and left it to see how it would turn out. It came out nice and black with some green in it.

Edited by Ranger, 09 January 2010 - 07:36 AM.

[xbowguy]

I vote for the beetle method.

Check out this link. It is worth a look, it’s really cool.


My friend Scott shot this buck last year with a Parker vertical bow. This year his twin brother Steve (former Horton, now Parker Pro Staffer) shot a
200+ inch monster this year with a Parker Tornado. The Esker boys are some of the classiest Big Buck hunters I know.

Maybe they should be called the Parker Boys

Steve's Helicopter Buck
http://www.crossbown...read.php?t=4642

[ryno]

Beetles. Mount will last much longer. Here is a pretty good (and funny)
video from Dirty Jobs.

[DaveHawk]

ryno that one had me squeamish LOL I could smell the stink !

[tripnchip]

Look left, the mount on the left is 1 year old, the right one is 2 years old. They were boiled and scraped clean and then bleached with the strongest stuff locale hair dresser had. These were my first attemps at this so there are mistakes of my doing.
have a blessed day trip

[Ranger]

I thought I'd throw this out just in case someone might be interested. You can buy fake skulls and mount the antlers on them saving all the effort of cleaning.
Here is a picture of one of mine. It is the only picture I have, but enough can be seen to tell something about it.

Attached Files

•  Skull mount.jpg   135.15K   0 downloads
•  Skull mount.jpg   135.15K   0 downloads

[Ranger]

Here is a better picture of a fake skull close up.

Attached Files

•  Fake Skull 1.jpg   57.04K   1 downloads
•  Fake Skull 1.jpg   57.04K   1 downloads