So last December and January i killed 2 deer with jacked up racks. Nothing to me worth spending money on at the taxidermist. But they sure ate good. Never the less i do like skull mounts and i threw them both in an old cooler to rot and now they are near complete skulls. Question is how to i get rid of the bad bad horrible smell I plan on getting some peroxide at the beauty supply place to whiten them. But dang they stink. Thought about preasure washing them Anyone have any tips as to getting rid of the smell during this would be most appreciated

Toss 'em outside, and let them air out till they quit stinking....

Thought about that. I just figured a critter or dog would get them. Thought about pulling them up in a tree. Don’t want squirrel to nibble on them.

I cleaned the skull as best I could with sharp metal objects, including poking into holes with long screwdrivers, that took maybe an hour before i gave up. Then I boiled the skull in one of those big propane fired clam/corn pots, ($60 at Tractor supply). It took a couple hours at a full boil for everything to loosen up enough to fall off, but final cleanup after that was about ten minutes.

Caution: do it outdoors where the steam won't soak into anything you have to live with, it used a lot of fuel and I kept replenishing the water, AND it darkened the antlers some, (I suspect the boiling brain blood was looking for some place to go up and out)

I boiled mine after I butchered mine used oxiclean worked awesome, just tape off the antlers to protect the color

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...s/12294124/skull-maceration#Post12294124

At the point you are now at, I would hose off and pick off any remaining meat scraps and then put in a 5 gallon bucket of water and dawn soap. You can use a tank heater in there per the thread above. That will help degrease as well as take some odor off. Then I'd go peroxide. The degreasing can take a few weeks and a few water changes. All of that is covered in the above thread pretty well.

Hang in a tree if you don’t have squirrels.

A good soak in warm Dawn water takes away almost all of the smell, IF you have them clean of all tissue. I have a couple sitting in my house right now and they have no discernible smell.

outside with a good screen cover, boiling will soften the skull

I just clean as much meat etc. off as I can and then boil for maybe 30 minutes.

Clean up the rest of the stuff that 's been loosened by the boiling.

Then two days soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide (about a 500 mls of 50% solution in 8 litres of warm water), stirring occasionally. Keep the solution off the antlers themselves.

Hose off, let it dry and apply two or three coats of clear varnish.

Easy...

We’ve done different things. Boiled em, hung em on a fence, and even put in a pond. Best option was boiling and not getting the antlers in the water. Pick as much meat and skin off and then power wash. Make sure you get the stuff up in the nasal cavity cleaned out good. Hard to reach place like that can hold a lot of stink. Then like Mike said let it dry and apply a varnish.

We’ve been using the rattle cans and dipping the skulls. Weather is good for that right now. You can YouTube it to find someone who can show you how.

Don't boil them any longer than necessary to get the remaining tissue to come off.

Too much boiling can cause the bones to separate.

Peroxide or clorox will whiten the skull.

Just keep it off the antlers.

outbackman,

I agree with the Dawn dishwasher liquid/warm water bath at this point BUT in future tape aluminum foil over the antlers & plop the head on any convenient fireant-hill. = Then the peroxide bath & enjoy.
(Let the ants do all the messy/smelly work.)

yours, tex

Update. Pulled the heads from the cooler yesterday. Very few living maggots remained. Most had drowned in the sludge. Jaw bones fell right off. No tissue rained at all. Hosed them down and they are sitting in dawn water now. Really the smell had almost gone away compared to a week or so ago. Next time i am gonna use ants Think I’ll stake a cage down where animals can’t carry it off

Outbackman,

GOOD PLAN, imo.

yours, tex

I just skull cap and scrape.
Way less hassle.
No smell.
No bleaching or soaking either.

Outbackman,

I forgot to say that a piece of hail-screen, rolled into a suitable sized tube (with ends) & weighted down with a suitable rock works well as a "critter-resistant container" for your trophy head.
(The ants won't be bothered by the hail-screen.)

Dermestid beetles work well too, if available.

yours, tex