Basically just put the skull in water that stays between 75-90 degrees with the help of a fish water tank heater. Bacteria will break down the meat off the bone. It can take up to 14 days and stinks like crazy already, but I won't have to babysit a boiling pot or burn propane.
I'm giving it a shot and wondering if anyone else has tried it before.
I've got one soaking now, let's share pics of the procession.
I thought your goatalope was already done? (You did tag a pronghorn this year, right?)
For some reason, I'm having a hard time getting the temp up to 70 degrees even with a fish tank heater and with the day time temp hitting almost 60 today. I'm using 2 mineral tubs as the pots... one smaller than the other. I've got enough room between the two pots to put some blankets to help insulate. I also cover them with a heavy tarp. I'm not sure why I can't get the temp up past 63 unless I received a faulty heater, but it seems to be working as it's hot to the touch. My temp gauge may be giving me a false reading. I think I may put a small space heater next to the pots to help out.
Both of the heads I'm trying are "dead heads". They were harvested a couple years back and I'm just now getting to them... they've been hanging in a tree for a long while so the skin and meat is like leather. If what I read is correct, dead heads will clean off much faster than fresh kills... hope this is right.
One of the benefits of maceration over boiling is the bone won't become brittle as it does when you boil.
I do think it's beginning to work as I'm seeing some of the flesh lifting off the bone and there's chunks of stuff floating.
Since you brought it up Kyle could you put your own tag on it if you didn't harvest a buck this year? I know a local game warden that said that was fine for a neighbor who put his wife's tag on a dead buck they found, or so I was told.
1st pic is how we found him: Nov 25th
2nd pic after freezing up in the pot: Dec 11th
I'll take another pic tomorrow and show the "progress".
I've "read" that if you can keep the temp above 70 that it will take somewhere around 14 days total.... going to work hard tomorrow to get that temp up.
I know it seems like a lot of work (why not just boil?!), but if I can get all this worked out I think it will be easy from this point forward. I've got a couple more from years past I need to do and I have a buddy that needs to do 3 and I think I can do up to 4 at one time with the set up I have now.
I have an old chest freezer that I might use in the future to house the pots and heaters as another insulator from the cold during the winter months.
I received my Volume 40 and Basic White in the mail today for the bleaching process.
If this whole process works I am going to use an old freezer, with pots inside, instead of a tarp to keep the temp consistent during the winter months.
As stated earlier, I received my Basic White and Volume 40 in the mail yesterday... I will make a paste with these products and apply it to the skulls for 24 hours... I've done this in the past when I boiled heads and had excellent results (I believe comparable to what I've received from an experienced taxidermist). I'm hoping that by next weekend I will be ready to bleach the skulls, but I'm having some doubts after looking at the heads today. I did have trouble getting the water above 70 this week so that may be a big part of the problem. If that's the case I should see some significant progress this week, since the temp seems to be holding well above 70.
Go see Matt at Stroots in Mulvane. He'll boil it clean for $50 or $75.
Soak it in peroxide for a day and put it in the sun and it'll be whiter than white.
Skulls Unlimited in Oklahoma uses Beatles and their work looks good from what I've seen from a buddy's deer. Not sure of price.
I found an older mineral tub, cut a hole in the side of it, and placed the small tub inside (Pic #1). To my surprise the inner tub did not fit all the way inside the outer tub, but I believe that is a good thing. It's kind of suspended in air which I think will better allow the heat to circulate around the tub and since it's sealed pretty tight that should help keep the heat in as well (Pic#2). I just simply placed another mineral tub over the top of the racks (Pic #3).
Side note: Since someone asked earlier, I have not seen any indication that the teeth are going to fall out.
I just went and checked it a few minutes ago and it's already up over 80 degrees so I'm hoping to see some major changes this week.
I did see quite a bit of change in the heads this past week as the meat was slimy and a lot of it was sliding off the bone on one of the heads. The one with all the hide left on it is better than last week, but still a long ways to go.
I realize this would be easier in the summer and I'm sure over time the heads will clean just fine over time, but I want to see if this whole process can really take 14 days if you keep the temps between 70 and 90 degrees. Yes, I could pay someone to do this for less than $100, but I'd just rather do the heads myself and save a few bucks... I know I can do it just as good as a professional with patience (so can anyone). Heck, I build my own tree stands and blinds too... got too much money wrapped up in this sport to pay someone else to do it for me and like most things I can do it myself for less than half the cost (You can too!).
So far he has done 2 KS Whitey's, 1 High Country CO Miley and 1 KS Pronghorn. No complaints.
My buck from early Nov. 2016 pictured.
What I am most impressed with is the fact that all of the meat on the backside of the skull has completely fallen off or is loose from the skull.... to me that has always been the hardest part when boiling. I'll usually have to spend 30 minutes with a pick cleaning the meat off the back no matter how long I boil it.
I'll try and get it cleaned off this week, whiten it, and show the final result of this project. Final thoughts on the whole process.... temperature is key, it stinks, and you have to be patient. However, it beats babysitting a pot of boiling water. I might tweak it a little, but I will definitely be doing this again in the future.
I will do this again because it is so easy, but again, only for those heads that will be nailed to the barn wall. I might have to find a new residence otherwise; )
