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European Mount- Burying?

I've boiled skulls before but I would like to try to bury one to get it cleaned. I plan to bury it up to the antlers and put a plastic tub over it to keep the critters and weather from getting to it. Will the antlers be discolored in anyway?

How do you keep mice from chewing on the antlers?

Can I bury it now (Minnesota) or should I wait until spring?

Any other suggestions that you might have?

Thanks for your help!

I put a head under a tub one time and those little black bugs were soon all over it and it ended up pretty darn clean. Another time I just hung a head in a tree, exposed the the weather and it came out pretty good. My neighbor is a taxidermist and does a great job and they look great. A lot cheaper than a normal mount. I have killed over 200 deer and never had one mounted. Got one this morning. For an old man, getting a buck in the Gator ain't easy but I got it done. Next time I will drive my front end loader back in the woods, the bucket will go right down to the ground.

Yes, if you bury they will be discolored, no way around it underground... It'll require paint...

A word of advice......make sure you put something heavy on top of the tub. And I mean heavy. Our coyotes here do weight training!

I made a rough box with gaps for the bugs but too small for rodents and buried the whole thing for about 2 months, came out pretty clean.

See my post on your BGF thread! Good luck! C

I've tried it all and here is the best way that I have found. Get a heavy plastic bag and put the skull in the bag, then poke a hole in the bag with your finger. Leave it alone for about a month in the spring, summer or early fall. The flies will get in and lay eggs on the exposed meat, maggots will hatch and eat everything and the bag will keep everything moist. After a month the skull will be clean, even the brain matter gone and you will be left with a soup in the bag. It stinks really bad for a couple of weeks though but it works amazing. Where heavy rubber gloves though while cleaning because I'm sure there is some nasty bacteria brewing in there.

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