Skull Mount

[LuckyLegs]

I asked the slaughter house to save the severed head on my recent cow so I could have a horned skull mount. Any ideas as to the best way to clean the skull and horns - I was gonna go tie it to a tree way back in the woods and let it rot for a few months. Thoughts?

Thanks

[cross_7]

put by an ant bed

[DavisBeefmasters]

Coyotes will eat through the ropes and you won't find where they drag it to... try putting it in a container they can't get to but the bugs can get in and out -- then once most of the cleaning is done, take it out to bleach in the sun for awhile.

[Calman]

Tie a cable to it and drop it in the river or farm pond. Fish and minnows will clean all and leave only bone. Don't even have to skin it.Takes roughly 45 days.

Cal

[LuckyLegs]

Never thought bout coyotes, may try the pond thing, just need to fence the cows out of it so they don't drink that water!

Thanks

[mossy_oak23]

Im assuming this can be done the same way as I do my deer skulls. You can boil them to get all the crud off of them but its a messy process that reaks. You don't have an army of dermisted beetles by chance do you? Too bad because maceration is the best and cleanest and fastest way. You can also just leave it in a bucket of water and eventually the meat will fall off. Plenty of ways just not the easiest thing to do. By the way don't use pure bleach it breaks down the bones and they will crack and break.

[Workinonit Farm]

I have a few deer and hog skulls that I 'did' by setting them out on the roof of a small shed. Periodically I would turn them over. They are up high enough where four-legged critters cannot get them, and too close to a tree and couple of dogs for buzzards to get at. They've cleaned up nicely.

I also have a bear, bobcat and beaver skull that I 'did' by "cooking" the meat off of them. I set up a half a 55 gal. drum over a fire pit to heat the water. As they "cooked" I would periodically cut the flesh off. I then put them in a mild bleach solution to turn them white. More work than the 'setting them out method' but quicker. Took a couple of days. 1 day for "cooking" and 1 day for the bleach.

Katherine

[hooknline]

peroxide from the beauty supply store does a far batter job to bleach them than than anything else. Leaves them intact. Or so I have been instructed by those that do alligator skulls. Ive got one gator skull that I need to do, and this thread just reminded me of that.

[BRYANT]

Im assuming this can be done the same way as I do my deer skulls. You can boil them to get all the crud off of them but its a messy process that reaks. You don't have an army of dermisted beetles by chance do you?

The beetles you can buy off of ebay sometimes ;I have done several by boiling 'boil till the horn slips off of the skull because you don't want to put it in the peroxide or bleach water mix with horns on they can turn white also ; go to a beauty supply ask for salon care liquid ,not gel, it is kind of like a super strong peroxide .So you dont have to cover the whole skull you can wrap it in towels and keep then soaked with whatever you choose to use in the bleaching process

[KNERSIE]

fastest way I've seen is blowfly maggots

[xbred]

give it to a cajun and tell him you want the bone back, he'll make supper out of it..