Marks on skull?

[Swamphunter]

The weather here is still pretty cool to stand outside for hours and simmer the meat off of my skulls. Here is my questions.

1. Will it be alright to thaw them out and skin them out removing the hide and most of the flesh...then freeze them again until a bit warmer weather? (30's here again)...

2. What do you all use to remove the hide and flesh from the skulls without leaving cut and scrape marks from the blade?

Thanks

[johnf]

Re: Marks on skull?

This may seem nasty, but would it work to put the skull on a big fire ant pile. I've seen them clean a yote in a day and a half.

[Swamphunter]

Re: Marks on skull?

I don't believe we have fire ants in NY.

[huntinsonovagun]

Re: Marks on skull?

You can simmer it with great results....just not in bleach. Use peroxide instead, when you get to that point.

Just don't use a razor blade and you should be fine. Just try to keep the knife off the bone the best you can and it will turn out ok. Post pics!!

[artisticwhitetails]

Re: Marks on skull?

I agree with huntin'sonovagun. However, if your deer is big enough for P&Y or B&C and you plan to enter it, then have it beetle cleaned like taxi man suggested. Otherwise, simmer and scrape is my preferred method.

[RTF]

Re: Marks on skull?

Putting it back into the freezer will be fine. You do not have to stand outside and watch it every minute either. I let mine boil all day and just check it once in a while to add water. You will have to add water. I also do not boil in anything but sal soda mixed with water. the peroxide is for after the boil and final cleaning. I think these flesh eating beetles are way over rated.

[Hoosierbuck]

Re: Marks on skull?

I agree that beatles are probably the BEST route, but for sake of ease, boiling with Sal or Arm & Hammer WASHING soda is not the worst thing in the world. Try to get all the brains out that you can, and remove all the flesh you can before boling. Boil for a couple hours, then try to scrape more off, boil more, etc. Don't leave the skull soak in the water any more than you have to as that exacerbates the problems noted by TaxiMan.

Not the best pic:

HB

[QDMAworks4me]

Re: Marks on skull?

[ QUOTE ]

Putting it back into the freezer will be fine. You do not have to stand outside and watch it every minute either. I let mine boil all day and just check it once in a while to add water. You will have to add water. I also do not boil in anything but sal soda mixed with water. the peroxide is for after the boil and final cleaning. I think these flesh eating beetles are way over rated.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, I have done a few and my family has done quite a few euro mounts and they come out just fine boiling. You just have to be careful but I actually just used my jacknife and a wire brush to get all the meat off without any scratches. Personally I would just wait until you are ready to boil the skulls and take the hide off then, but that is just me

QDM

[huntinsonovagun]

Re: Marks on skull?

I didn't notice any cracking on the bridge of the nose on this one I did for my buddy.

It's a little yellow-looking because I didn't put it in peroxide. Be easy to do, but I just basically cleaned the skull for him.

[Swamphunter]

Re: Marks on skull?

Thanks Taxidermyman but beetles are out of the question..its going to have to be simmering.

[artisticwhitetails]

Re: Marks on skull?

[ QUOTE ]

Heres a little test to try if anyone thinks im wrong about how Boiling COOKS the bone. The next time your wife is going to put a chicken in the crauk pot cut off one of the raw legs and try to snap the leg bone with your fingers. Then try it again when you take it out at the end of the day.You will see what I mean. The hot water cooks the bone and makes its soft and also breaks down the cartlige. This is why you see all the euro mounts with a big crack up the Bridge of the nose. Thats because when you cook the skull it starts to seperate. Once again just trying to help everyone learn the right way to do there euro mount. Here is a euro mount I just did. You will notice how white it is and there no excess cracking of the bridge of the nose or skull cap. Good Luck Taxidermy Man "

Taxi Man, I was just wondering if you have a dermestid colony, or do you wholesale your skulls out?? If you wholesale them, how much do they charge you?? Im only asking because you can probably make 3 times more on Euro's if you do them in shop by cooking them.

I average around 20 Euro mounts a year and Ive never had a problem with any kind of damage using the simmer and scrape method. Now, I only have about 1 hour total in the water and would never consider cooking one all day like RTF, if it works for him though thats great. I saw your mount on your other post and I agree you need to raise your prices on shoulder mounts. Don't worry about what others in your area charge. If the quality is there you will get quality customers regardless of price. Those customers who bargain shop are the main ones that give you problems anyway.

[RTF]

Re: Marks on skull?

[ QUOTE ]

I only have about 1 hour total in the water and would never consider cooking one all day like RTF, if it works for him though thats great.

[/ QUOTE ]

I aint into scraping skulls. The meat just peels and falls off when I remove it from the water. The longer it boils the easier it is. YES boiling may make the bone weaker and brittle. There is no doubt. But I am not about to invest in a colony of beetles just to do a couple of skull mounts per year or will I ever send anything out.

This taxidermy forum is basically a do it yourselfer type of room. We try to steer non-taxidermists to an easier and less costly way of doing taxidermy for themselves , while getting acceptable results.

[need2hunt]

Re: Marks on skull?

Here's three that I've done, also helped my hunting partner do one. All were done by boil and scrape method and then peroxide to whiten. For me to do one it takes approx 4 hours of boiling + scraping time and about 45 min to an hour for whitening.

[artisticwhitetails]

Re: Marks on skull?

"I aint into scraping skulls. The meat just peels and falls off when I remove it from the water. The longer it boils the easier it is. YES boiling may make the bone weaker and brittle. There is no doubt. But I am not about to invest in a colony of beetles just to do a couple of skull mounts per year or will I ever send anything out.

This taxidermy forum is basically a do it yourselfer type of room. We try to steer non-taxidermists to an easier and less costly way of doing taxidermy for themselves , while getting acceptable results"

Im not into scraping skulls either. The point I was trying to make is this: profit wise, Euro's are better than shoulder mounts when taking turnaround time into consideration. I have about 3 hours labor total in a skull mount. I charge $110 for a flat panel, $135 for a pedistal type mount. Less than $10 in materials {excluding panel}, and paying myself $20 an hour labor, that's almost 40 bucks profit and less than 2 weeks turnaround. If the customer didnt damage the cape, that's another $30 or more in my pocket after I sale it. Im all about helping others learn too, but at the end of the day Im working to make money. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

[Ravin R10 man]

Re: Marks on skull?

I don't believe we have fire ants in NY. ....LOL you dont want them either!!!..Glad we dont have any nasty irritating pests like that here...other than bees!!