Best way to clean a skull cap

[gillgrabber]

My Son has a couple of small skull caps from deer he has taken the last few years - nothing big but they're important to him. I'd like to mount them on those small antler mounting kits you can buy at Gander Mountain for display in his bedroom.
Can anybody recommend the best way to clean them before I mount them? I've never done it before. Thanks in advance.

[Harley]

I usually hang mine outside and let the bugs clean them out. This way usually takes a long time but is very effective. I tried boiling one once on the woodstove out in my garage but it did not work so well. I too would like to hear a better way to clean them up.

[hoosiertaxidermist]

we boil everythingin or studio prior to mtg. Simply bring enough water to boil to cover the skull cap in a small pan and submerge the skull for 15 mins. or so. Don't boil for much longer or you will weaken the bone. Pull the skull out and remove all loosened tissue and repeat if necessary. After the skull is clean give it a couple days to dry before mntg to any panel.

[danf]

Is it the same boiling process for european mounts?

I'd like to do a european mount on the 8 pointer I shot this year and have never done it before. I know I've seen a post from BSUTravis about simmering them, but I don't think my wife would appreciate the extended session.....

[chicobrownbear]

danf...

Go to Goodwill and buy a hotplate and a pan to suit your needs. You should be able to get it far enough away from the house that you will only recieve disapproving frowns.

[chicobrownbear]

This is the best way to clean one.

tinyurl.com/2cbxnt

A warning about keeping a dermestid beetle colony though...

They will eat the skin off of your shoulder mounts if they get to them. There are native Indiana species so if you don't utilize an exterminator and you have prized mounts then you have a formula for heartache.

www.taxidermy.net/forums/IndustryArticles/03/i/039F9DAE0.html

If you are going to keep a colony make sure you have a dedicated building, and don't mess around with the proper procedures.

[Hoosier Hunter]

hoosiertaxidermist said:

we boil everythingin or studio prior to mtg. Simply bring enough water to boil to cover the skull cap in a small pan and submerge the skull for 15 mins. or so. Don't boil for much longer or you will weaken the bone. Pull the skull out and remove all loosened tissue and repeat if necessary. After the skull is clean give it a couple days to dry before mntg to any panel.

I read a few articles that boiling causes the fat to penetrate the skull causing permenant yellowing How true is this?

Also, how do you get meat out of the nasal passages and the brain out as well?
Wonder how they boil those large skulls like from an Elk.

[Deleted]

i do mine on the grill outside get a metal pan big enuogh to hold your skull get it to a hard simmer until it comes off easy take a garden hose to blow all the brains and little pieces out. then soak in prokide solution you get from a beauty salon for bleaching hair for a couple days then leave it in the sun to dry will be white as snow

[hoosierhuntinful]

i bury mine under ground and come back 2 months later...works great for me

[beehunter]

I have always heard to tie a skull onto a milk jug and let it set in a pond all winter and it will come out as white as snow in the spring. Supposedly the small fish pick it clean. I have no idea if this is true or not but a guy at work swears by it, might work if you have your own private pond or lake. Anyone else heard of this?

[huxbux]

hoosiertaxidermist said:

we boil everythingin or studio prior to mtg. Simply bring enough water to boil to cover the skull cap in a small pan and submerge the skull for 15 mins. or so. Don't boil for much longer or you will weaken the bone. Pull the skull out and remove all loosened tissue and repeat if necessary. After the skull is clean give it a couple days to dry before mntg to any panel.

This is the method I've used for years and it works very well. It'll take some work to get the skin and hair off if they're old though. You'll probably have to repeat the process several times. I recommend you do it outdoors, as it's a little stinky.

Then again, chico's method sounds pretty simple in case you can't stand the smell of the boiling and happen to have a spare building begging to be used for the purpose of housing a dermestid beetle colony.