Hey fellas , here's a Taxidermist trick , take a large standard screwdriver and put a bevel on the tip . Be careful using it because you want it sharp . This will be a great tool for removing the skin from skull , make a cut across scalp between antlers to the skull , then push the screwdriver down to the skull and you can remove the skin cleanly off the entire skull ...down to the bone . Boil it in water with just 1 spoonful of backing soda , and then it is simple to use a knife to remove the rest , even in brain cavity . If needed , empty and clean the boiling pot , add clean water /soda in and boil again to lighten bone . Some guys powerwash it after first boil , if done carefully , that can save time .I prefer to re-boil . I was a Taxidermist for 22 years and did hundreds of skull / Euro mounts ...excellent money making side job . Good Hunting !!
One more thing ... I use an old butter knife , sharpened lengthwise from tip to handle , makes a long sharp utensil to reach tiny , hard to reach areas ... Be careful , putting excess pressure on a sharp pointed knife , can easily slip , all of a sudden , and you might be going to the E.R. I always kept new tubes of superglue on hand . Never reuse an open tube on a cut , and pinch the cut together , after cleansing and drying , and use glue only on the surface , never internally ... Good Hunting !!
GREAT simple idea for the bracket man, thank you!!! I just cleaned my buck skull from this year, honestly I think it's just so much easier and faster to clean the skull yourself - 1/2 borax mix with water, simmer the skull in a big pot for an hour and almost all meat and tissue will just come right off. My method is grosser though I guess :) But I went from fresh meaty skull to completely clean skull in 2 hours (1 hour simmer, 1 hour picking meat off). Anyway I really appreciate how you explained everything ! Hell of a buck you got there!
Very good video.For years, I have wanted to get my husband’s skulls mounted. I thought I would have to hire a taxidermist. Your video is easy to understand and very helpful. Thanks!
only thing left is to fill the cavity with plaster of paris to keep the mount from shifting. It may help to make all bolt adjustment before filling cavity as you'll also be inserting to bolt into the plaster as it hardens. Maybe add a small washer at the bolt head to help the plaster holding. great idea
Carl Zluticky glad you found it informative! Hopefully it works out great for you. Main thing is to let it sit around 3 months in the ground when it is unthawed. That’ll ensure most of the head tissue is gone. But forewarning it may stink so be prepared. This head had to be uncovered early so it had a pretty strong stench, but after a couple coats of spray paint it completely took care of the smell so just wanted to give another heads up.
Allowing the head to decompose can discolor the skull , but , if you boil it after removing the skin and other meats on skull , you can remove much of the smell . Adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda will help whiten stained areas too . Let air dry , then spray disinfectant lightly a couple times removes odor as well .
"1 dollars" lol Great idea, I have one in my garden as we speak. I'll be doing a camo dip with spray paint though. I have a couple mule deer, one whitetail, and a couple antelope I need to do. Neat video.
use aluminum foil to cover antlers when painting works great been doing it for years that is a nice buck we don't get many like that in sc looks 22 wide or better
I've got a cousin that puts the head in a barrel of water says it work's great just power wash it off when u pull it out that looks like a good idea for a hanger nice video
@@BrunkOutdoors The water in a barrel or tote will work but if you dont every couple days clean the water the skull will come out brown and then will not whiten very well, but painting the skulls the water method will work, its just very strong smell LOL.
Nice video! Wood it be possible to stick the jaw to the main skull and glue the original hyde back on instead of gluing the hyde to a plastic head for taxidermy?
truebuckhunters so it is all depending on the area you are in. Where we are it freezes hard in the winter. So it’ll only really start decaying for a month at the most before winter hits. Then once the ground starts to thaw again it’ll start working again. So I’d say somewhere between 2-3 good weather months where the ground is thawed out and the insects and bacteria can do their work.
Love the mounting bracket, I apologize in advance, but the spray paint looks like ass, if you go through the effort to clean the meat off it and skin it.... do it rite the rest of the way.... it’s 20$ to do it the rite way... a can of rattle paint is 3-4$
I will never bury another skull so long as I live. The bones separate. Your better off scraping and boiling the skull. My skulls come out almost white without the peroxide bleaching process. Plus I like the natural look better than the pure white look. Just my preference on the look of the skull.
Tim Christenson we put a bunch of heavy rocks on it to keep it down. But Good point! could happen but we never have had it happen. Not much meat value on the skull so I’d be surprised if they dug it up.