Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Skull Bleaching

B

Bighole

Member
Just wondering if anybody had any good ideas, recipes or other advice on how to bleach(boil) a deer skull. Thanks
 
Bighole, I bleach around 6 heads a year for the hunting group and found it best just to boil the skulls off and leave the bleach out of the mix! If your setup allows any water or even the foam to get on the base of your antlers with bleach in your water you will loose color from my experience. Skin the head and stick it into the boiling water for 15-30 minutes at a time. Have a knife and a pair of pliers handy to keep pulling the meat and other junk away. Just use a large turkey pot cooking stand along with a large pot of water. Just be prepared for the stink!! Later T$
 
another good way is to find a big freaking anthill and bury the skulls in it for the summer. granted this isn't good if you have antlers sticking up out of the ground but it works wonders on smaller skulls whether it be birds to coyotes. like t-ridge said boiling works well but be prepared for the stink!
 
Hey I've done this a bunch of times and I, like the others mentioned boil it for about a half hour continually adding water because it evaporates so fast. Then go to the car wash and power wash it, just on rinse, no soap. Blows all of the nasal cavaties and everything out piece of cake.
Pupster
 
What is the best method for cleaning up a skull that has not been skinned and cleaned. I pulled a decent buck out of the river which I figured had been dead for at least two months. Smelled pretty bad, so I just cut the head off and hung it in a tree. I have some old hide attached (dried) and would like to clean the skull up. Buck is probably 130+ class.

Binoc74
 
My wife has done a couple, she put onions and garlic and it and not only was there no smell, but a guy could find himself getting hungry. Then if you have access to someone at a beauty shop you can buy 40 percent peroxide and a tub of powdered bleach. Mix the two together until they're about like shaving cream. Once that's painted on the skull you leave it dry overnight. By the next day you break off the dry chunks and rinse the rest away. The skull should be bleached white at that point. To seal it we diluted Elmer's glue and painted the skull with the diluted glue. This will not only seal the skull but also glue everything solid in place and have a semi-gloss finish.
 
boiling in water only is the best way. takes several hours though. pliers works OK to gets the scraps off, but your teeth work the best. I think I might try the onoin and garlic next time...........................
beerchug.gif
 
I seem to remember someone telling me about hydrogen peroxcid and getting it by the gallon.Anybody heard of that?I can check on it some more if ya want me to.
 
Check out skullsunlimited.com or taxidermy.net
All of the methods above have serious drawbacks. It's costly but if you could see the bear skulls and deer skulls I had done you would be impressed. Check out the web site. You can just freeze the head and mail it out! Returns A #1! (90 days)
 
If you look on cabelas website, there is a bleaching kit u can buy for about 18 bucks. I've never used it, but Im sure it has everything you need!
Good hunting
Jason
 
I use an canning pot put in the skull let it cook for 1-2 hrs. pull it out and start working. In the mean time when you aren't working on it, put in a bucket of water.

To bleach it I use 30% poroxide cream and clear. , hose it off.Take the cleaned skullThen spray the clear poroxide on the bare skull, then kind of "paint" on the cream poroxide, wrap it in alot of paper towles the dump clear poroxide until the towles are complely staturated. Put it in a black garbage bag for 4-6 days pull it out and let it sit in the sun for a few hours.
 
Here's the real deal. Remove as much meat and scrap from the skull, eyeballs, etc. Remove as much of the brain tissue as possible using a coat hanger or screwdriver. Fill a pot of water large enough to completely submerge the skull. (Try to keep the water level just below the antler bases.) Add a handful of washing soda to cut the grease and bring the water to boil before putting in the skull. After putting the skull into the water, immediately turn down the heat and simmer slowly. DO NOT BOIL !!! As the water evaporates add hot water NOT COLD! Rapid cooling can crack the teeth. Simmer for several hours adding HOT water as needed, then remove the large pieces of meat and start the process over using clean water and washing soda. After you have repeated this process to the point of having a clean skull. Remove it from the water and let it cool slowly. Be sure to check for teeth in the pot each time you change your water. Any loose teeth can be replaced with a dab of glue. After the cleaning comes the bleaching. Do NOT use laundry bleach. It will cause powdering of the bone. Use 40 volume Hydrogen Peroxide combined with a dry powdered bleach available at a Beauty supply or the exact same product is available through Cabela's as Jason previously stated. Mix the "whitener"in a non-metaic bowl to the consistency of whipped cream. WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!!! This stuff will burn your skin. Coat the entire skull with the whitener keeping it off the antlers. Place it into a clear or white plastic bag. ( The function of the bag is to keep the solution moist. The bleach will stop working when it drys out.) Place the skull that is now in the bag, on a WHITE towel or paper, etc. Anything other than a stark white surface may cause the skull to take on a darker color. Place it into direct sun light for a couple of days then rinse it off. Neutralize the bleaching process by rinsing the skull with a mild vinegar solution. When it comes to finishing your skull mount I like to mist it with a clear finish spray. McKenzie Taxidermy supply has some fantasic bases to mount your trophy on ranging up around $35.00 for a fantastic pedestal base. McKenzie Oak Skull Pedestal Good Luck!
smile.gif
 
No beatles they will eat every thing in sight rugs plaster and everything else. I haaave several skull in Centerville. web page should come up. http://www.brick.net/~snowgoose. it is old lot better job doing it now Jim ?? I just tried clicking on it you are right (broke) go to search and type it in jim
 
i got some ?'s i shot a doe first season this year, and i just want to skull it, just to remember my first deer with a shotgun! i cut the head off and everything and it still has all the fur on it and everything, can i just boil it, and start pulling stuff off, and stick it back in their for a few more minutes, and keep repeating it, will that work???
 
ok today i took all the fur off its head, and cut away like the ears and cut off some of like the meaty lookin stuff, and its soakin in water now, what next?????
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom