Longhorn Skull & Horns Advice

[ClodHopper37869]

What do I do to a just slaughtered bulls skull & horns if I wanted to keep for display?
I was told to put or hang it up some where so dogs & coyotes could not get to it and gnaw it up, and let nature take its course..
How do you polish the horns? What do you use for finish coat, shellac, varnish, linseed oil?
I do not have a clue what to do.. Any advice and suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[Bigfoot]

The few I've done, I hung from a tree limb. It'll go faster if you skin the head. They won't be super white that way, but I had no pot large enough to accomodate the skull. I just used a spray varnish in a rattle can.

 

[callmefence]

Your best to skin and flesh as much as possible this time of year. Without insects and warm weather it'll just dry out and take forever.
Fellow here local cleans up skulls for all the taxidermist by using some kind of flesh eating beetles. He'll drop several skulls in the pen with em and they strip them to clean bone in a few days.

 

[ohiosteve]

I've done a bunch. Best way but not the fastest is warm water mastication. I have a black plastic 55 gallon drum full of the nastiest water you've ever seen because that's all I use it for. After butchering I put the whole head in, I'm in Ohio so I do this in March at the earliest. I leave it in at least a month then pull it out and take a look. It is a nasty job but if it's been warm enough the bugs and bacteria do a great job of breaking everything down, and you can easily remove the lower jaw and any hide that might be remaining and put it back in. Next time I pull it out I will pressure wash it making sure I get the remainder of the brain out and tap around the horns to get the outer shell off the horns so I can pressure wash the inner horns. Then I let it sit in the sun and occasionally spray it with hydrogen peroxide for a week or more until it's nice and white. I sand the outer horn and it really makes them look nice before I slide them back on the skull. I just brought a big one to a Christmas party that had a white elephant gift exchange last weekend and you wouldn't believe the people fighting over it.

 

[ohiosteve]

I would leave it somewhere you can keep an eye on it this winter to make sure nothing gets to chewing on it too bad then deal with it when it warms up in the spring. Hanging from a tree might be a good idea.

 

[bird dog]

<<I just brought a big one to a Christmas party that had a white elephant gift exchange last weekend and you wouldn't believe the people fighting over it.>>

I would have been fighting over too. I was thinking as you were describing it, what a great item for a charity auction. It sounds like you have done a few.

 

[greybeard]

I wonder what it would do if you drop the whole head (wouldn't work for longhorn) into a septic tank for about a month?
Would you ever get the smell out of it?

 

[Bestoutwest]

I've buried them. Took about 8 months.

 

[ohiosteve]

I'm working on this one right now.

 

[HDRider]

$235 on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STEER-SKULL-LONG-HORNS-MOUNTED-3-9-COW-BULL-TAXIDERMY-LONGHORN-H4744/383304981268?hash=item593ec1db14:g:ITgAAOSwhvRd6n0U

 

[ohiosteve]

This one tried to kill me several years ago, now she watches TV with us.

 

[Bigfoot]

$235 on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STEER-SKULL-LONG-HORNS-MOUNTED-3-9-COW-BULL-TAXIDERMY-LONGHORN-H4744/383304981268?hash=item593ec1db14:g:ITgAAOSwhvRd6n0U

I've always said the head was worth more than the cow.

 

[Brute 23]

Search online for how to make a european mount. There are how to s all over. Basically cut all the hide off. Put it in a pot and cook it really slow... may take like 7 hours. Put a pressure washer to it after to clean off any meat that wont shake off. Look up how to whiten it after. There are multiple ways. Just dont let the water boil and dont get any water or chemicals on the horns.

My grandfather use to keep a cow skull in his shop with two bullet holes between its eyes. I may be mounting a Brahman cow on the wall real soon also.

 

[ohiosteve]

I wanted to clarify, I said warm water mastication but I should have said Maceration. Warm, or cold water is what I've been doing, but like Brute said if you heat the water it is much faster but still takes a couple days, I've never been in a hurry so I put it in my barrel and wait a month or so. The horns sit on the edge of the barrel so they stay dry. The very back of the skull is usually above the water but if you set rags on top it will wick water up and allow the bacteria to clean that part. A friend of mine told me you can get hydrogen peroxide paste at beauty supply places now and it is great to paint on the skull and leave for a couple days to bleach it. I've always used liquid but am going to try the paste on the one I'm doing now.

 

[alisonb]

How about something like alkaline hydrolysis.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I just wrap in hardware cloth and hang in a tree down the road. takes a year or so. the carcass beetles work good but it is a big operation. if you have a big container you can simmer with biz or any enzyme type detergent. using water methods will soften the bone and you will need to keep it out of weather. I have never polished horns, I don't like that look. they will slip off the bone at some point and you can keep them separate until the skull is clean (and polish them in the meantime - anything for use on horn or tortoise shell, not sure what but not very abrasive for sure)

here is a video (of course!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMEEacJ-ICY

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

I did a horned Hereford bull by driving a t-post beside an ant pile, laying the head on top of the mound and wiring the head to the t-post. That keeps coyotes and/or dogs from dragging the head away. Ants do a good job of cleaning it up. Probably works better in the summer time.

 

[Redgully]

Ants is the way my brother used to do it but they need to be the right ants. And you need to skin it first.

 

[Fred]

I spent $200 to have one done by a taxidermist. I had her butchered and they skinned the head. I took it to the taxidermist and it turned out beautiful. She was a 14 yo cow I had raised.

 

[Fred]

All the heifers I keep get dehorned and branded. She had little nubs that I tried burning with an electric dehorner but they grew back. She was special to me because I can trace her back many years to one of my original cows my Grandfather branded for me.