Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Cleaning a large skull cap ???

Would appreciate any input from the professional crowd as to cleaning a large skull cap .

I had a successful moose hunt in maine .... 53" spread with big paddles and front tines ... this thing is too big to boil .

Short of whittling with a flessing knife does anybody have any other methods .

I am looking to mount only the horns and skull plate .

beetles or bacterial maceration are the choices - with the bacterial maceration being much more practical.

You'll want to get a large enough container to submerge the skull plate in water, preferably with a minimum of the antlers submerged.

I've done moose, elk, even bison in a 65 gal tupperware container.

you will then want to boil for a (very) short time to kill the smell >>> I then wrap in paper towels soaked in 40% hydrogen peroxide and let dry.

This is what I do..........

I found that a 3000 PSI pressure washer works great and it will take you about 10 to 20 minutes to completely remove all the tissue from a skull cap. I use the most aggressive tip which produces a steady pinpoint stream of high pressure water. Be very careful not to spray yourself with this tip as it will remove human flesh to the bone in a second!



It does a great job in very little time. My clients are impressed when I hand them a bone white, tissue free skull cap that was flesh and tissue laden only minutes before.





I would advise that you wear a rain suit when you do this as there will be tissue in the air!

I have done complete skulls with the pressure washer and they come out looking bone white as well. The results are a nice looking European mount in about an hour.

A second on the pressure washer if you can beg, borrow or steal one. Messy as the dickens but work like a charm removing stuff from the bone.

BCR

And a face mask to avoid breathing the mist!

I'll second the pressure washer BUT, do what UTLefty suggested first. For a month or two if you can.

The local car wash, on Sunday mornings, is usually pretty empty. That's when I go

Brent

temperature is the key to the time it takes.

I'm fond of those little tubular aquarium heaters ($30 or so for a big one).

This past month at 84* it took 24 hours to slip the horn sheaths on my antelope and 4 days total to completely macerate the skull.

For something large, like a Bison, it took more like 2.5 weeks.

IIRC, my last elk and moose skull caps took about 9-10 days at that temp.

Thanks for the feedback .

Utahlefty can you give me an explanation on the full method ... have done a little googling on the subject but have not found anything with a specific procedure .

Hindsite is there any issue with damage to the bone or even surface color of the horns themselves ?

Don't mean to be overcautious but being local you might understand it took me 25 years in the drawing to draw a permit and I didn't score until the last day of the hunt ... this bull is not a record but he's my best and only .

Thanks

My experience has been great with the pressure washer, however when using the PW you should take care not to spray the antlers them self as it will remove any staining that naturally occurs when the bull rubs his velvet off and polish's his antlers on trees. It will not deface or gouge the skull cap or antlers but it will remove the tissue quite nicely.

Where in Maine do you live?

If you are close by you can use my PW......................Let me know.

Yes. Here's what I do for a skull/skull cap.

Skin it, remove the eyes, nose, tongue, and lower jaw if it's not wanted. For a cap, saw where desired.

Place in a container with water. I prefer warm water (about 85* seems to be the ideal) as everything goes more quickly. Some people talk about putting a horse fecal ball or something similar but I don't find it necessary -- there is enough bacteria in the nasal cavity to repopulate the planet.

If it's a horned animal, the horns need to be submerged. Check them at least every other day. For small animals like antelope the sheaths will slip in 2-3 days. Larger animals like Bison will take a week or more.

When the horn sheaths slip, remove them, rinse, wash in Dawn dishwashing liquid and let dry (they'll still stink a little).

For antlered animals, try to keep the antlers above the waterline as much as possible but have all the bone underwater.

Then you just watch it until everything rots off (it really reeks). The general rule is let it rot off -- if you're picking it's not ready to come off yet. The soft tissue will literally liquify and not require any elbow grease.

Once all the soft tissue is gone, the skull will really stink, will be a little yellow/off white, and will be a little "loose" at the skull sutures. If you soak it too long, the skull will start to fall apart, lose teeth, etc.

Rinse well in water and place in clean water (don't let it dry out).

Next I boil for just a few minutes (to kill the smell primarily). I'm talking 10-30 max.

I boil the horn sheaths for about 5 min in plain water.

I boil the skull itself in water plus Calcium Carbonate (NOT bicarbonate) at a ratio of 1 cup per 20 gallons.

Again rinse in water but don't let it dry.

Finally I wrap it in white paper towel (wad some up and stick it in the eye sockets, etc). Cover the paper towel with 40% hydrogen peroxide and put the whole she-bang in a white trash bag. I'll slosh it around in this for 2-3 days. Don't get any peroxide on the antlers-it'll bleach everything it touches.

It'll look pretty white at this point.

Rinse again in clear water - be sure you're wearing latex gloves at this point because the bone is very porous and will soak up oils from your hands that you'll never get out.

Let dry. It'll continue to whiten as it dries.

I usually apply a thin coat of Krylon Crystal Clear to protect from fingerprint smudges (this is the only "artist-type" coating I've ever found that does not yellow over time.

I get the CaCo3 and H2O2 from Van Dyke's taxidermy supply.
The Krylon you should find at a hardware or art supply store.

here's a bear done about 5 years ago:


these two were done about 2 & 6 years respectively



not the best pic but this was done about 3 years ago

Those sound like good directions.

If you want horns and want to do w/o the bucket, put the skull in a black garbage bag. Close and set in sun for a week or so. You can test the horns for looseness through the bag. Eventually, they will slide right off.

I filled my with Borax and let them sit a while and there was no smell. While that was going on, I put the skull in a bucket of water. I don't get mine warm because I'm in no hurry. Just set it in the sun for a month or two.

Utah, I have one big problem ... its fall in Maine and if I understand this correctly temp will have a great effect on the speed of this reaction . We're basically in the 50's and not going back the other way for the next six months .. garage is heated but don't believe that would work with the smell I expect .

I believe I am going to need to combine the two methods you both subscribe ..... bulk work with the pressure washer and the finishing touches with the chemicals and clear coat .

Hindsite I am about 25 miles north in D-F , but I have a pressure washer and thanks for the offer .

Appreciate the feed back , will post before and after pics if I can figure out how .

you can buy one of those electric aquarium heaters (the tubular kind) for about $30 for the 50 gal size.

That's what I do - and I do most of the skulls over the winter in an unheated garage that way.

Three words of wisdom............


Wear rain suit!

Hindsite,
Do you need to use anything to degrease the skull before applying a clearcoat or will the PW leave bone clean enough? I was telling my buddy about this and we might try to go a large pig head.

That is a good question. I have never applied a clearcoat to the skulls I have cleaned. After they dry they seem to be greese free and if cleaned soon after harvested the skull comes out bone white. I think you have more of a grese problem when you boil them.

Let me know how your pig head turns out.

Hindsite ..... think 400 psi makes a difference or are moose just66 plain tough ?

Worked on my set of horns and skull cap with my pressure washer this weekend .... basically 45 min to an hour ..... I was hoping this would be an easier alternative than a fleshing tool but it is plenty nasty .

Basically in that amount of time I was able to peel back a 6" area between the horns ...... really did not remove things to the bone like I imagined and like you did say there is plenty of stuff in the air .

I use a big garbage bag suit .. safety glasses ... face mask and I was still covered .

Am I doing something wrong ?

I have found that it takes at least a 3000 PSI unit to do the job. You also need the most aggressive tip with a steady stream of water. The right tip would take the paint off your car!


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Did you allow the tissue to dry before you used the PW?


I pressure washed a big red skull yesterday and it took only 15 min...........I think fresh is also the key. Maybe if you soaked the skull cap first if the tissue has dried,that might make it easier.

My 3000 PSI PW is still an option!

Hindsite ,

yes ... this bull was shot the last saturday of the first season ... things have dried and also is pretty rank ... have also salted thing to try to keep the smell down .

I did use the tightest tip but maybe the pressure is the real issue .... can I hire you and your equipment ?

Contact a local Taxidermist, they have a bug/larvae that eats the meat, and tissue off and leaves the skull nice and white and clean, for doing European mounts, etc.....