Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game How do you get the brain out of a deer skull?

I am doing a skull mount, and need to get the brain matter out of a mule deer skull. Any tips?

Ask it to read one of VarmintGuy's posts..

After boiling the skull I use a hot water pressure washer with a 0 degree tip. Most of the matter blasts out (wear safety glasses!) What is left is some rubbery stuff that can be pulled out with a pair of needle nose pliers and piece of bar stock bent into a hook on the end.

I always take a 6-8 inch piece of hangar wire with a hook bent in the end. Put it in a drill chuck and scramble the brains that way. An airhose is then inserted through the nose opening and it is blown out. It will usually all come out but you may have to use the wire hook a little by hand too. Wear your grungies when doing this and don't let the wife anywhere near.

Had a BJ expert in Bankock that could do it baCK IN THE LATE 60,S ON MY WAY HOMe FROM nAHM

i used a .357 this year. it worked well... most of the brain went out of the three inch exit wound where the eye used to be...

Scrambling the brains with a wire is helpful,,,,but not really nessisary. Just stake the skull down on a fire ant bed, stir the bed a bit, and wait for a week or so.

Yup but just a hint atleast a rain coat.

I dig it out with a screwdriver after boiing for 10 or 15 minutes.

Im convinced there is not an easy way short of doing some cutting.

Joseph

I always cut the back of the skull flat anyway, so it rides the panel better. This also makes the hole larger at the back of the skull. After boiling for awhile, you can usually bang the back of the skull on the edge of a trashcan, and the brains will plop out for the most part.

After freezing / thaw, and before boiling / simmer, I take an old hack saw blade, break it in half... makes a pretty good scoup, through the spinal hole...the rest is easy pickens after boiling...

How long do you guys boil for, and do you add anything to the water? Like baking soda or salt?

Boil 30 minutes in Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and then remove. Set the skull on the ground and power wash all of the now rubbery/gelatinous meat and other materials right off. You can blow all of the brains right out of it from the nasal cavity and the spinal hole. It is a mess, however, wear a rubber apron or something similar.

Watch the Discovery Channel. Egyptians perfected it 5000 years ago.

Use a straw?

boiling can create a disaster. Simmering not so much. But i'd never boil a skull. Either rot it off by sitting in water and trust me after a week in the heat or a few weeks in non heat, the brain pours out.... Or send it to a beetle man.

I was gonna say that

Simmer in washing soda. It takes hours though, and I hate doing it. Beetles are the way to go, but the skull stinks afterwards, so you have to simmer it anyway to remove the smell.

I wouldn't call their technique perfect. Look at some mummies. They're nothing you'd want on the wall. Well, MOST of us wouldn't, anyway.

What are the problems you refer to with boiling? I boil 30-45 min and blast them off. No problems - I do try to remove a lot of the big chunks of meat and the eyes before starting and occasionally I'll put one back in to boil for a while if it's being stubborn. I can see where boiling too long might soften bones or scorch the skull, but if the time is kept to a minimum I have no issues. I will agree that beetle cleaned skulls produce a nicer finished product, I just don't want to deal with the bugs.