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European Mount Prep

I see on several photo's the skulls are wrapped in what looks like cheese cloth, but I'm not sure. I was wondering if anything is done prior to wrapping. Thanks.

Cut off everything you possibly can like the jaw, eyes, all meat, the vertebrae and extract the brain. I'm not sure about the cheese cloth method, but most people boil, bury their skull, or beetles. Cheese cloth would be a good idea for transporting to keep the flies out if you plan to boil or beetle.

I regularly boil our deer skulls, however, my pots I use aren't large enough for an elk! When hunting in CO, my son found a taxidermist that boiled out his 6x6 skull for $100. The guy also cut off the back of the skull so it would fit better towards a wall. Came out really nice.

Another issue with boiling it yourself is getting a large enough heat source.

I have never used the burying or the "immersion in a pot of water and let it rot" methods. Nor do I intend to try them! :)

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As mentioned The cheese cloth is to keep bugs out in transport. There is no other reason. C

Thanks for the replies, that makes sense.

I use a double cook top burner and a small wash tub to boil our elk skulls at camp while we process meat tub is a soldered style. Tinfoil for a lid and to seal around antlers. More of a "cook a while scrape the crud off" and repeat. After a while they come out clean and it doesn't loosen all the bones and teeth as much as a huge boil. Always get off as much prior to cooking

I did a little research last year when I boiled my elk skull and found out that if you put baking soda in the water it helps take the meat off the bone quicker. The cheese cloth you are talking about might be for the whitening after boiling or beetles eat the flesh off. I used paper towel. The whitening agent was a mixture of baby powder and hydrogen peroxide. The stuff from the drug store is not concentrated enough. You have to get it from the beauty salon or supply store. It is called Developer and is used for color treating hair. The baby powder is just used to make a paste out of the peroxide and then the paper towel or you could use cheesecloth is used to keep it tight up against the bone and from drying out too quickly. I also wrap the whole skull with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out during the bleaching process. Do not use bleach as it will make the bone brittle and crack. DO NOT GET ANY PEROXIDE ON THE ANTLERS unless you want bone white antlers. The mixture will also bleach out your fingers if you get any on them.

whiter16,

sometimes the theeth fall off. By using cheese cloth, you don't have to go fishing for them or throw them out.

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