just a odd question!

[VAnewhunter]

hello fellow hunting enthusiasts! i just have a quick question. i shot my first deer ever this year , and it was a buck with only tines on one side (other horns were broken off ). I call him 50 cent (half a buck, get it lol)
anyways, it is not worth getting it mounted, but i skinned his head and want to keep the skull with his "half rack". is there any way to get the fleshy parts off of the skull and clean it up so i can keep it inside without stinking out the wife and kids ? any help would be appreciated. Oh, and by the way , i shot 2 more deer within 2 weeks after. i guess i broke the ice !
thanks, and happy hunting!

[Chris Stadnyk]

Hello VAnewhunter. I think the fastest way to clean the skull,is to boil it in a big pot then the left over tissues will easily be cleaned up and won't smell

[DocHolladay]

This is from a Wisconsin taxi. friend of mine. She does some great mounts, by the way.

"Boiling" Method


Everyone (including me) calls this the boiling method but there should be NO boiling involved. If the water gets too hot the teeth will crack. Cooking for too long will cause the teeth to fall out and the bones may come apart. Simmering would be a better way to describe it…slowly heat the water only till it starts to simmer. Never a roiling boil.



-Remove hide, eyes, and as much meat as possible. Make sure to remove all fat. Take a stiff wire and bend a hook at the end, small enough to insert into the brain cavity. ‘Scramble’ the brains and remove as much as possible…rinse under running water.

At this point I put the skull in a dishpan or bucket and fill with COLD water. Let it sit till the water looks bloody and then change the water….I may keep doing this for a couple days. Eventually the water will stay fairly clear…then it’s time to ‘boil’.

Solution can be
-plain water OR
-salt water, 1c.salt/gallon OR
-salt and soda ash, 1c. Salt and 1/2c. soda ash (sal soda) per gallon.

To any of the solutions you should add a degreaser. For a home recipe Dawn dish soap will work, 1Tbsp./gal.

Place skull in solution and SLOWLY raise the temperature until the water is ABOUT to boil. Simmer until the meat can easily be removed. Check often, remove as much meat as possible then put back in the solution again. Keep checking until all soft tissue is removed.


Once all the soft tissue is removed, rinse well. Mix a new solution of hot (not boiling) water and Dawn dish soap. 1/2c. Dawn/gal water. Soak skull for 24 hrs. The more grease you can remove from the bone the whiter your skull will be. For bears and boars a commercial degreaser should be used. Check after 24 hrs---if there is grease floating on top of the solution mix a new batch and soak again.

After degreasing rinse and let dry 12hrs.

Soak in hydrogen peroxide--3% is available in any pharmacy. Stronger concentrations can be found in beauty supply stores or from your hair dresser.

Soak only as long as it takes to whiten the bone. Drying in the sun will also help make the skull white.

There are a lot of different ways to clean skulls but this is the method I’ve been using for the last few years. By soaking in plain, cold water for a few days before you ‘cook’ the skull it draws out the blood. I believe that the blood and grease are what causes yellow looking skulls because they get cooked into the bone.

Some 'don'ts' when cleaning skulls.
-Don't heat a frozen skull rapidly...the teeth WILL crack.
-Don't rush it....change the water several times if need be, picking meat off each time.
-Don't use bleach....it causes the bone to get chalky/flakey.

[amteurhntr]

i know this sounds odd but what my grandpa does is he skins the skull and removes as much meat as possible brains eyes ect. then he gets a container of battery acid and leaves the skull in there it eats evrything offf the bones then he removes the skull (wearing gloves) andd rinses it then it is pretty much good to go sounds wierd but it works

[VAnewhunter]

thanks for all the fast responses! i am gonna work on it, i'll let ya know how things turn out!
thanks again!

[KwackWacker]

Welcome to the forum and caongrats on 50 cent. How about a photo?

[taxidermist44]

After you get the meat off of the skull, go to a hair salon supply store and get some 40% peroxide. Brush it on all over the skull and leave it out in the sun. This will whiten the skull up alot.