How to make a European skull mount

[osage outlaw]

Friday I was able to cook the skull.  I have a large stainless pot that I use.  I pile some of my fire bricks up and sit the pot on it.  I  extend the ends to try to keep as much heat in as possible.  I also have some pieces of metal that I put around the sides of the pot to keep the flames from going up the sides and scorching the antlers.  I put a scrap of wood under the beams to hold the head at a better angle.



I wrapped the antlers in some old rags and wetted them down.  You could wrap them in foil if you wanted to.  I didn't do this to the first rack that I did and the smoke turned the antlers black.  It came off, but I had to scrub them.



You want to keep the water just under a boil.  Boiling can weaken the bone.  Think Crock pot!  I actually use an old crock pot for smaller skulls like beaver and river otter.

[osage outlaw]

While it is cooking, there will be some green/brown grease and fat floating on the surface.  I take a small cup and skim it off.  It will stick to the bases of the rack if you leave it in. 



Now I just keep a close eye on it.  If it starts to boil I add a little water.  While it is cooking, it is a great time to get some yard work done before winter gets here.  After hunting hard for a month, the wife usually has a list for me to do.  Just keep checking on it every 20 minutes or so.  I used some hickory scraps left over from splitting staves for the fire wood.



I cooked it for 3 1/2 hours.  When it is done, there will be big chunks of meat almost falling off of it.  The roof of the mouth will be loose and hanging.  If you don't cook it long enough, cleaning it will be a lot harder.



The top of the skull should be pretty clean looking.

[osage outlaw]

About 5 minutes of pulling meat off and it looked like this.



Now I take it back to my work bench for some final cleaning.  I am sure using a pressure washer would be a lot quicker and easier, but I have seen how powerful those things are and I would be afraid I would damage the bones with it.  I don't mind spending a little more time cleaning it by hand. 

Here are my tools I use to do the finish cleaning.

[osage outlaw]

I usually start at the back of the skull.  I use the needle nose pliars to remove a small bone near the ear.  Sometime it comes out in one piece, but most of the time it breaks in a couple of pieces.  Removing this makes it easier to clean around the base of the skull.



Here it is after the bone is removed.



I remove the piece of cartilage in the nose with the needle nose too.  You want to get as much of this out as you can.

[osage outlaw]

Here is all of the junk that I picked off/out of it.



I get it as clean as I can.  Any remaining tissue will turn yellow and won't look very good.  All of the hard work is done now.



I also did the bottom jaw on this one.  This is the first time I have done this.  I am curious to see how they look together.



Next, I soak it in very hot water and dish liquid.  It helps to get any remaining grease out.  I take it out and scrub it with a brush a couple of times while it is soaking.  I will let it soak over night.


 
Now it needs to be whitened.  DO NOT USE BLEACH.  Bleach can weaken the bone.  Use peroxide.  The stuff in your medicine cabinet is 3% strength.  Beauty supply stores carry 30% strength.  That is the stuff that you want to use. 


Tomorrow, I will put it in to soak in the peroxide and post an update.

[Pat B]

Very cool!   One thing I read about when I did mine was to be sure when you boil the head to keep the antler bases out of the water. It can remove the coloration from the antlers. I think I also used the dish detergent while boiling instead of having another step later.

[osage outlaw]

Pat, I have never had a problem with loosing color on the bases while cooking.  If you get peroxide on them, they will definately loose color.  I made that mistake on my first one.  The back side of the bases were submerged a little and it turned them white.

Warning!  Peroxide of this strength is very dangerous.  It will give you a terrible chemical burn if you get it on you.  You should wear latex gloves while using it.  I usually don't and end up with a few white spots on my hands.  Last year, I turned the tip of my pinky finger white and it was sore for a few days.  I didn't even know I got it on me.  I just noticed it burning.


Today I put the rack in to soak in the peroxide.  I use a square bucket with two notches cut out of the corner to allow the rack to sit in.  It works really well.  I keep slowly adding the peroxide until it is just below the bases.



To whiten the top of the skull that is not submerged, I mix the peroxide with baby powder to make a jelly. 

[osage outlaw]

I use a small cheap paint brush to dob the jelly onto the skull.  I put a good layer all over it and around the bases.  I put it on real thick right at the center cap of the skull because it will very slowly ooze down into the liquid.



This is about an hour later.  It is already starting to turn it white.  The dark lines on top of the skull are gone.  There is a layer of white bubbles on the surface. 



I will let it soak over night.  First thing in the morning, I will take it out and rinse it off.  Once it dries, I will seal it and it will be done.  I will  also show how I attach them to a plaque.

[osage outlaw]

What you see in the bucket.  I think it was about a gallon.  It depends on how big of a container you soak it in.

[osage outlaw]

I took it out this morning and hosed it off really well.  I let it soak for a few minutes in a clean bucket of water to get all of the peroxide out of the inside.  I will let it dry overnight and seal it tomorrow.  It is basically done, and has taken less than a week to do. 



Bottom jaws.

[JW_Halverson]

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned using "Basic White" and 30 weight Hydrogen Peroxide.  This is where you can avoid bleaching out the antlers.  Just like you are mixing the baby powder with the peroxide to get at the top of the scull where it is not down in the peroxide solution...except you paint the whole skull with the Basic White and the commercial strength Peroxide.

PatB, you are definitely right about keeping the antler bases out of the water if you are boiling.  BUT if you keep it below boiling, like OsageOutlaw does there will be no problem with bleaching out the bases.  A pro taxidermist taught me that trick.  He also advised I use distilled water and NO detergents, soaps, lye, or other shortcuts.  Just keep the water around 200 degrees, that's all you need.

I've done a couple dozen like this and the below boiling in pure water seems to work the best of all.  I use a hotplate out in the garage and try to keep the pot as covered as possible with tinfoil and let 'er simmer all nite....gooshy, gooshy head soup!

[osage outlaw]

I like to soak them so it destroys any tissue up inside the nasal area that I couldn't get cleaned out.  I am sure my wife would have a problem with a smelly deer skull on the bedroom wall.  But if it was going in the garage, using the paste would probably be easier.

[JW_Halverson]

It's tough to balance boiling long enough to clean out the sinus cavities and leaving the skull together.  I have overboiled a few and had to glue the nasal bones and teeth back in place.  Try sticking a garden hose in the back of the roof of the mouth and using water pressure to blow out the remaining sinovial tissues. 

By the way, that is a really nice looking buck.

[osage outlaw]

Thanks!  I cook it just long enough to really loosen all of the meat up.  So far, I have never had a tooth or nasal bone fall out on me.  I blast all of the openings with a hose after I cook it, but there is always some junk left in the nose area.

I sprayed it with the sealer today.  I have been told this helps to prevent them from yellowing over time.  I use Deft wood sealer in satin finish.  I would rather use flat, but I haven't found it yet.  I am going to epoxy the bottom jaw together tonight.  I have the next two days off, so I will try to get it mounted on a plaque.

Here is the sealer that I use.

[osage outlaw]

I made a great time saving discovery while skinning out a couple more deer heads.  My knife was dull so I started looking around for something else to use and I found this hooked blade utility knife in my toolbox.  It worked great.  I skinned the second head out with it and it took half the time that it usually takes me.  It also works great for slicing open deer legs for sinew removal. 




I still need to mount it to a plaque.  I have been very busy lately.  I will try to post pics soon.