Last Fall's Bear Skull

[Rufous]

I finally got my bear skull cleaned up from the bear I shot last fall. For those interested here is a link to the hunt story and photos of the bear before skinning:

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,33667.0.html

And here are some photos of the skull. Notice his busted up teeth, particularly on his left side. His skull measured 18 10/16" green.

[carpsniperg2]

thats one fugly mouth

[Gutpile]

You did that nasty thing a favor. Nice bear.

[ponyboy156]

Wow, looks like you shot him with your truck! Makes for a cool mount though, lots of character.

[saylean]

Cool skull man. Fugly for sure.

[BLUEBULLS]

If I was going to be attacked by a bear I'd want it to be that one

He must have been raiding camps and eating all the candy.

Awesome bear

[let.it.fly]

he's got meth mouth

[rasbo]

damn that's a mug even a mother couldn't love..Would have been nice to have some tests ran on it,,,It looks like the jaw had something eating away at it..Dang we need an ugly gritter contest or just a thread on unusual oddities

[gramps]

Cool...glad it cleaned up well.

[Moose Eyes]

That's awesome.  Did you get an age on him? 

[Skyvalhunter]

Good thing you shot that ol feller before he starved to death!!

[Michelle_Nelson]

How did you go about cleaning it ad what chemicals did you use?

[Rufous]

Michelle, I ended up sending it along with another member to a fellow in Montana who uses beetles. Now I am soaking it in soapy water (Dawn is the soap). Once it is degreased I will bleach it with peroxide. I have never done this before but my friend who took it to Montana has and I will follow his instructions.

[robb92]

Nice skull!!!

[saylean]

I keep looking at this skull and wonder what the hell was wrong with it...just age or what...the jawbone looks pitted...damaged.


What a cool skull!

[Machias]

That's one of them hillbilly bears from West Virgina (dueling banjo music in the background)   

[Michelle_Nelson]

Michelle, I ended up sending it along with another member to a fellow in Montana who uses beetles. Now I am soaking it in soapy water (Dawn is the soap). Once it is degreased I will bleach it with peroxide. I have never done this before but my friend who took it to Montana has and I will follow his instructions.

I use Dawn as the first stage in my degreasing.  They go in for about 3 weeks or so.  changing the water every other day with a fish tank heater set at 90 degrees.

Bears are not like deer when it comes to degreasing.   If you are using Dawn as your primary degreaser it is going to take a VERY log time to degrease that bear skull.  Especially if you are not heating the water.  Cold water is going to solidify the grease and fat in the skull and dawn will not penetrate neerly as fast.  My Bear Skulls are macerated.  It takes longer to degrease a beetled skull than a macerated one.  From the begining of my degreasing process til the end takes me atleast 2 months and as much as 4 months to properly degrease a Bear skull.

[Whitelightning]

Michelles scull's look AWESOME, what ever she does works very good!

[Rufous]

Michelle, thanks for the tips. Is there a downside if I do not get all of the grease out other than some discoloration? Brian.

[Ray]

It has a lot of character that is for certain.

[bucklucky]

There is a down fall, it will look like crap. It will continue to leach grease and spread if it isnt properly degreaased. Just dont be in a hurry to get it done. Trust me you will be happier with the finished product. I used to beetle my skull, had a colony for a year and a half, then I started sending them out but wasnt getting great results so Im back to doing them myself. I now macerate my skulls. It is a better process all the way around. Easier to degrease.

[Rufous]

I had a previous bear skull bronzed and I really like it. I may end up having this one metalized, possibly in nickel. Do any of you taxidermists know whether or not it is vital to have the skull totally degreased before metalizing or would it be okay to have it metalized if there is still some grease left in the skull?

[Michelle_Nelson]

Yes it needs to be degreased.  The down fall is it will leave spots.  In your pictures I have see a LOT of grease left in that bear skull.  More often the worst spots are in the jaw joint area of the skull and in the back of the bottom jaw.  Also along the back of the skull.

You need to get the grease out.  Doing it right is time consuming but easy.

[scout88]

thats a cool looking skull, curious to what was causing all the corrosion in there

[Michelle_Nelson]

age

[scout88]

oh ok, thought there might have been something else as well

[Michelle_Nelson]

Nope just age.  I've got a Bear Skull sitting done on my rack that the AK F&G figgured was in it's 20's.  Most of the teeth are wore down to roots.  You can see the bone is degraded through out the skull along with inside the nasal cavity.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,44009.0.html

[scout88]

whoa thats pretty cool, i have never been bear hunting and dont know much about them

[hunterheinz]

Boil the bear skulls in water with Sal-Soda. It can be purchased via McKenzie online. Remove meat and tissues periodically while boiling until completely removed. Let bear skull dry- wipe down with degreaser(dawn or degreaser from mckenzies) and rinse -let dry. Completely cover and soak in 3% peroxide solution(buy at any grocery store) for 4-6 days. Rinse thoroughly-Let dry. After dry spray with a light coat of crystal clear laquer.   

[Rufous]

I called WA Fish and Game and asked if they had aged the bear that I shot last fall, pictured at the start of this thread. The guy said it was 17 years old. That is my oldest so far. My biggest bear, shot in May of 2001 was 13 and I have taken a 12 year old as well as two 10 year olds and a 7 year old. These were all boars. Took an 8 year old sow and a couple younger sows as well. I was thinking this latest one might be in his 20s but even so he ran around the hills for quite a few years, that is until I called him in and settled his hash.

It is great to see some bears hitting the ground already this fall. I hope to be able to get out in early September but I am kind of working two jobs right now and as a winemaker harvest will too soon be upon me. Yikes.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Rufus what designation did they give you.  Sometimes they will put a + or - so many years.  I am not quite sure how it works.  PM Billythekidrock if you have questions about the scale they have for age.

[Rufous]

He just said it was 17. I had no idea they sometimes give a +/-. I thought they counted rings and that was that.

[Michelle_Nelson]

But if the teeth are beat up I would imagine that some of the rings may not be intact or that they are able to count them.

I would call back and ask just to see what they tell you about the + or -.

[Rufous]

They sent me a form that gave the bears age as 17 in one area and 17 to 18 in another area.

[billythekidrock]

Rufus what designation did they give you.  Sometimes they will put a + or - so many years.  I am not quite sure how it works.  PM Billythekidrock if you have questions about the scale they have for age.

He just said it was 17. I had no idea they sometimes give a +/-. I thought they counted rings and that was that.

Counting the rings is not always as accurate as they would like so they leave a little wiggle room.

Donny M. and I were discussing an old bear that I killed and he explained that they give a +/- designation to reflect the amount of years that an age could vary by. I think one of my ten year old bears had an "A" designator which indicated +/- 1-2 years. He remembered my 23.5 year old boar and told me he thought it had a "C" indicating +/- 5 years or something like that.