Hunting Washington Forum
Community => Taxidermy & Scoring => Topic started by: ghosthunter on August 11, 2019, 01:18:20 PM
-
Well finally remember my 2017 bear skull in freezer. Watched some videos on the process and tried with a spike bull skull some years ago with ok success.
Bucket and water nothing else. Here it goes for better or worse.
-
First day
-
Nothing but a bucket and water? How long does that take? It doesnt soften the bone and screw it up? I have a bobcat skull in the freezer, thinking of just burying it in the ground and letting bugs clean it for me.
-
Nothing but a bucket and water? How long does that take? It doesnt soften the bone and screw it up? I have a bobcat skull in the freezer, thinking of just burying it in the ground and letting bugs clean it for me.
According to the video four to six weeks, changing water every week and hosing off skull.
-
Ghosthunter.
I do all of my skulls every year and a handful of my buddies. By yourself a cheap fishtank heater. If you want to speed up the process, put a heat lamp next to it(but it's harder to regulate the temp and can get too hot). I've had skulls be fully clean in 7 days or less. When changing out the water, leave 1/3-1/4 of the existing water in the tub so that the bacteria growth/re-colonization is quicker.
Only issue I've ever had was degreasing and some minor antler discoloration on an extremely dark horned roasie. I was told to do the same process, but add borax to the water. You shouldn't have this issue as no antlers, but Kerosene also works.
Lastly, hope you've got a strong stomach and resistance to terrible smells. Process sure works great, but STANKY! Maybe a reason you should add heat to shorten the process and avoid the negatives of this process...smalls attract things you don't want messing with your skull or an angry wife/girlfriend.... good luck.
-
Ghosthunter.
I do all of my skulls every year and a handful of my buddies. By yourself a cheap fishtank heater. If you want to speed up the process, put a heat lamp next to it(but it's harder to regulate the temp and can get too hot). I've had skulls be fully clean in 7 days or less. When changing out the water, leave 1/3-1/4 of the existing water in the tub so that the bacteria growth/re-colonization is quicker.
Only issue I've ever had was degreasing and some minor antler discoloration on an extremely dark horned roasie. I was told to do the same process, but add borax to the water. You shouldn't have this issue as no antlers, but Kerosene also works.
Lastly, hope you've got a strong stomach and resistance to terrible smells. Process sure works great, but STANKY! Maybe a reason you should add heat to shorten the process and avoid the negatives of this process...smalls attract things you don't want messing with your skull or an angry wife/girlfriend.... good luck.
:yeah: I started one and had to bail because it was so bad. Busted out the crab cooker, cooked it down over a few hours with a bunch of oxi clean, good to go. I do think the maceration technique is the next best for the bone after beetles, but I just can't have that thing stewing in my backyard that long.
-
....I can smell that thing from here :chuckle:
Goodluck :tup:
-
Tough to beat putting in the ground, as far as effort goes
-
Did a deer and a bear this way a few years ago. Went through two fish tank heaters. Process took almost two months (because of the burnt out tank heater, it was Nov/Dec and the thing froze over and I lost a week). My shed was un-enter-able most of the time.
Bone came out beautifully clean, but wasn't worth it.
I went back to boiling. Done and clean in a day and ready for degreasing. If I were doing it as a business, this turns out the best museum-quality bone (as good as beetles). I don't need museum quality. Not bad enough to put up with the smell for a month... :twocents:
Good luck :tup:
-
I read a couple things about the heat. Seemed they said it caused the nasal passages to crack or split. :dunno:
For me and my busy life. This method fits. The stink wont bother me too much. I have cleaned a few grease traps at work in my life.
My biggest issue is finding a place to dump the water in a hole where the dogs wont dig it up.
-
I read a couple things about the heat. Seemed they said it caused the nasal passages to crack or split. :dunno:
For me and my busy life. This method fits. The stink wont bother me too much. I have cleaned a few grease traps at work in my life.
My biggest issue is finding a place to dump the water in a hole where the dogs wont dig it up.
Do you have a footing drain for your house that leads to the storm drain? That's where mine go.
-
I did a whitetail a few years back and don't remember it being too stinky. Just get everything off that you can, when you can. Any meat, eyes, brains, cartlidge, etc. I used a dental pick to remove a lot and that really helped. Turned out fantastic :tup:
-
I read a couple things about the heat. Seemed they said it caused the nasal passages to crack or split. :dunno:
For me and my busy life. This method fits. The stink wont bother me too much. I have cleaned a few grease traps at work in my life.
My biggest issue is finding a place to dump the water in a hole where the dogs wont dig it up.
Do you have a footing drain for your house that leads to the storm drain? That's where mine go.
No ,But I do have a city sewer lid in the ally ;)
-
I read a couple things about the heat. Seemed they said it caused the nasal passages to crack or split. :dunno:
For me and my busy life. This method fits. The stink wont bother me too much. I have cleaned a few grease traps at work in my life.
My biggest issue is finding a place to dump the water in a hole where the dogs wont dig it up.
Do you have a footing drain for your house that leads to the storm drain? That's where mine go.
No ,But I do have a city sewer lid in the ally ;)
:tup:
-
I’ve done a half dozen of these now using this method. If you are patient, it really works well! Good luck with the neighbors though.
-
I will be very surprised if it works for you, just in water alone probably won't work very well . With consistent 95 to 100° water that thing would be Clean in one week. The smell is terrible and make sure you wear rubber gloves when handling the water .
-
One more note it's best to use water from a well or a creek, rainwater etc. rather than treated water from a faucet. Chlorinated and other water treatments will actually kill bacteria which is needed for the maceration process.
-
You need to get a fish tank heater :tup: I’ve macerated over 100 skulls and it is my absolute favorite way. Most of them are clean within a week. As for the water, my raised garden beds have never grown vegetables so good lol. It’s fenced off and the dogs can’t get in. Great fertilizer. After that bear is clean you’ll need to degreased it, it’s going to take a very long time. I recommend buying a few gallons of acetone and an appropriate plastic bucket with lid. Put the skull in completely submerged and leave it for 4 months. Rinse off, let dry for a few days to see if there is anymore grease then whiten.
-
Fish tank heater, or a stock tank heater is what I have. Works very well.
-
Well two more days and I crack the lid to change water and rinse off than back it goes. Been in the 70s here all week.
-
-
That guy is an idiot. His skulls don’t get degreased at all. Peroxide itself is not a degreased whatsoever.
-
I read a couple things about the heat. Seemed they said it caused the nasal passages to crack or split. :dunno:
For me and my busy life. This method fits. The stink wont bother me too much. I have cleaned a few grease traps at work in my life.
My biggest issue is finding a place to dump the water in a hole where the dogs wont dig it up.
Do you have a footing drain for your house that leads to the storm drain? That's where mine go.
No ,But I do have a city sewer lid in the ally ;)
You want to talk about bad smells lol just make sure you do your best cousin Eddie impression should a neighbor or family member see you. :chuckle:
Cool thread
-
I've done a few. Fish tank heaters works great for me. Covering the top with aluminum foil (seals around antlers) reduces or eliminates the need to add water. Make sure you can dispose of the water where the smell doesn't bother wife, neighbors, etc. Then the Salon Care 40 volume. :tup:
-
Acetone for degreaser and soft swim clarifier from your pool store to whiten. It is 27% pure peroxide which is much stronger and gets things WHITE! Your salon 40 volumes peroxide is only 12% and it’s more expensive. My trick is to submerge in a bucket and set in the sunlight for roughly 8hrs. Take skull out, rinse, and leave to dry in the sun. Talk about white if it’s properly degreased!
-
These were done with the acetone method and 27% clarifier from pool store (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190816/26fd53ba95989939e41a277942bbb7c3.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190816/4ccb9d7de0382819aa0398b7f4c2f0f0.jpg)
-
I used clear dawn to degrease, and didn't care the whiten. I prefer the natural bone look :tup:
-
Well day six, I cracked the lid. Whew, not as bad as expected.
I dug a hole in a dirt area we had and figured to bury the water. Didn’t notice my wife had opened the upstairs window because the grand daughters had just come over.
Ages 3 and Six.
I heard grandma ask who dirtied their pants. Both girl taking the 5 th. Before grand sticks her head out the window and gives me “well talk later scow”
Not much change with the head. But it was frozen when I put it in there.
Rinse, clean water and a brick to hold it down.
-
Nice teeth on that bugger
-
Now those kids have an awesome story with their grandpa for the rest of their life, nothing wrong with that.
-
Why are you putting clean water in there? I macerate a bunch of skulls and the point is to have the bacteria in the water. Clean water is counteracting what your trying to do and making it take longer. Treat that think like your Ron co rotisserie . Set it and forget it
-
Why are you putting clean water in there? I macerate a bunch of skulls and the point is to have the bacteria in the water. Clean water is counteracting what your trying to do and making it take longer. Treat that think like your Ron co rotisserie . Set it and forget it
I agree, without heat the bacteria hasn’t even began to grow yet so changing the water out is pointless
-
those are some nice looking skulls buglebuster... :tup:
-
Why are you putting clean water in there? I macerate a bunch of skulls and the point is to have the bacteria in the water. Clean water is counteracting what your trying to do and making it take longer. Treat that think like your Ron co rotisserie . Set it and forget it
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=maceration+skull+cleaning&view=detail&mid=D03CEF2F06C5139B6E56D03CEF2F06C5139B6E56&FORM=VIRE
-
Too bad you started so early. This would have been perfect for Halloween. Maybe you should stick it in the fridge to delay it for a few months. Park that bucket by the door and let the fun begin.
-
Why are you putting clean water in there? I macerate a bunch of skulls and the point is to have the bacteria in the water. Clean water is counteracting what your trying to do and making it take longer. Treat that think like your Ron co rotisserie . Set it and forget it
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=maceration+skull+cleaning&view=detail&mid=D03CEF2F06C5139B6E56D03CEF2F06C5139B6E56&FORM=VIRE
Yeah I know what you’ll find online. But you’ll also find the opposite. I do a lot of these, think about what your trying to accomplish. Bacteria, every time you add new water and likely water from your tsp with chlorine in it your going backwards. Use water from an irrigation ditch or pond and put an aquarium heater in there. You’ll see results a lot faster
-
Too bad you started so early. This would have been perfect for Halloween. Maybe you should stick it in the fridge to delay it for a few months. Park that bucket by the door and let the fun begin.
Hoping to be finished by Oct. with the maceration part.
-
Letting it perk another week before checking. No water change this week. Dog can smell it with lid on. :chuckle:
-
Should simmer good in this temp.
-
Too bad you started so early. This would have been perfect for Halloween. Maybe you should stick it in the fridge to delay it for a few months. Park that bucket by the door and let the fun begin.
That would be great. When I was growing up there were many years that our trick-or-treaters were greeted by a fresh Buckhead or two sitting on the front porch. My brother and I always hoped we would get one that last day or two of the regular season just so we could gross/scare some little kids. But if I think back on it I think we got more compliments than anything else. Probably not too many compliments coming from the smell of that maceration bucket though.
-
Oooh going to pop the lid today ,change water and check it out.
-
Three weeks whew.
Tissue coming off front. Eyes gone now.
-
Yum. Looks good.
-
Keep an eye out for stray teeth, you may get a few falling out in the next couple water changes. Easy to glue back in at the end. Unless you pour them down the drain.
-
Keep an eye out for stray teeth, you may get a few falling out in the next couple water changes. Easy to glue back in at the end. Unless you pour them down the drain.
i put all my skulls in a mesh bag for maceration. its pretty nasty washing the teeth out of the death goo but i don't lose any. that bottom jaw and teeth will all fall apart before its done. nylons work good too.
-
Should yield an interesting result. :tup:
-
45 days
-
Getting there, Better throw a aquarium heater in there that you can crank to 95 to 100°
-
Looking good. You could have saved yourself a few weeks by cutting out the eyes and trimming the big chunks of meat from the skull. Your probably half way there by the looks of it now.
-
That storm drain makes me think there me a Cousin Eddy moment coming here before to long. :yike:
-
Seems like a long time and a lot of screwing around -no offense.
-
Seems like a long time and a lot of screwing around -no offense.
:yeah: no offense but an aquarium heater you’d have been done in a week
-
Seems like a long time and a lot of screwing around -no offense.
Yeah
But I have never been in a rush. I like piddling around with little projects.
One of my big complaints about life these days is a lot of folks are in a big hurry.
I am just not one of them. I like trying different things for myself.
-
Well stared Aug 11, with a frozen skull. Here we are today.
Little bit left on the underside but otherwise coming along.
It’s back in the water again as I have some waterfowl hunting projects I am working on with dog ramps,dingy,kayaks and such. Not planing on the decreasing till Feb.
Nothing done but hosing off and changing water , what four times now?
-
I buried mine from last year in the compost pile and it came out looking just like that. I hosed it off, scraped the remaining fat off, dried it in the greenhouse which also bleached it quite a bit. I didn't have any further plans for it so I just hung it up in the barn on a nail with the deer and elk skulls.
-
What’s the advantage of doing it this way instead of boiling? We do all our own skulls and from start of skinning the head to having a bleached skull is a matter of about 4 hours of work and you don’t have anything rotten to deal with.
-
It's a cool experiment, Ghosthunter.
Thanks for documenting it.
-
What’s the advantage of doing it this way instead of boiling? We do all our own skulls and from start of skinning the head to having a bleached skull is a matter of about 4 hours of work and you don’t have anything rotten to deal with.
I've done it both ways. Maceration yields a cleaner result and you preserve all the little feather-thin bones (like the ones in the nasal cavity) that you sometimes lose when boiling and picking. If I were looking for museum-quality skulls (like you would pay a taxidermist for) and didn't want to deal with beetles, I would go through the trouble of maceration. The one I macerated was one a guy paid me to do for him (I'm not a taxidermist, he just threw me a few bucks to euro out a decent buck he killed). It took a couple of months and the smell was horrible. I had a fish tank heater die on me and I didn't realize it for a few days and the water froze. Had to start over. PITA. The skull (along with a bear of my own) turned out really nice and the guy was happy. I was pleased with the end result.
BUT... I went back to boiling and picking the next season. The deer I do are generally for myself and my boys. I don't need museum quality. They hang up on the wall and you can't see those little feather-size bones anyway. It just wasn't worth the smell or the time to macerate. If I were a taxidermist, had a dozen tubs and fish tank heaters and customers that were expecting top quality and it was my job (meaning that I would be checking water temps and progress each day, and I were nose-blind), then I would macerate (maybe... more likely I'd probably have a beetle colony).
Just my :twocents:
-
What’s the advantage of doing it this way instead of boiling? We do all our own skulls and from start of skinning the head to having a bleached skull is a matter of about 4 hours of work and you don’t have anything rotten to deal with.
I've done it both ways. Maceration yields a cleaner result and you preserve all the little feather-thin bones (like the ones in the nasal cavity) that you sometimes lose when boiling and picking. If I were looking for museum-quality skulls (like you would pay a taxidermist for) and didn't want to deal with beetles, I would go through the trouble of maceration. The one I macerated was one a guy paid me to do for him (I'm not a taxidermist, he just threw me a few bucks to euro out a decent buck he killed). It took a couple of months and the smell was horrible. I had a fish tank heater die on me and I didn't realize it for a few days and the water froze. Had to start over. PITA. The skull (along with a bear of my own) turned out really nice and the guy was happy. I was pleased with the end result.
BUT... I went back to boiling and picking the next season. The deer I do are generally for myself and my boys. I don't need museum quality. They hang up on the wall and you can't see those little feather-size bones anyway. It just wasn't worth the smell or the time to macerate. If I were a taxidermist, had a dozen tubs and fish tank heaters and customers that were expecting top quality and it was my job (meaning that I would be checking water temps and progress each day, and I were nose-blind), then I would macerate (maybe... more likely I'd probably have a beetle colony).
Just my :twocents:
That makes sense. Thanks
-
I'm on week 4 of a modified masceration process of my bear and deer skull from this year. I change the water every week and add more soap and keep the stock tank heater going. The skulls are both 100% clean of any meat or brain matter as I pressure washed them both 2 times in the process. The grease, oil , and brown "stuff" that continues to come off those things is unbelievable. I'm sure most of it is the bear but still. I guess the point is I dont see how it's possible to be done start to finish in hours if hot water and soap continues to pull grease almost a month later. I'm convinced this will yield a better product than a one day job.
-
Doesn't pressure washing damage the little bones you try to save by doing maceration?
-
I don't pressure wash the nasal cavity. Primarily the back and bottom of the skull where the ear canals are and such. Also the brain cavity.
-
I'm on week 4 of a modified masceration process of my bear and deer skull from this year. I change the water every week and add more soap and keep the stock tank heater going. The skulls are both 100% clean of any meat or brain matter as I pressure washed them both 2 times in the process. The grease, oil , and brown "stuff" that continues to come off those things is unbelievable. I'm sure most of it is the bear but still. I guess the point is I dont see how it's possible to be done start to finish in hours if hot water and soap continues to pull grease almost a month later. I'm convinced this will yield a better product than a one day job.
The boiling and picking takes a few hours, but you still need to degrease. I do all the boiling and picking in a day, then put the "clean" skull in a bucket of warm water with Dawn for a few weeks (changing the water every few days when I notice a greasy film on top). Whatever process you use (maceration, beetles or boiling and picking) you have to degrease. Twice as long for a bear.
-
:yeah:
And when you think you have it all degreased, go another week otherwise once it is in your house all nice and warm the grease that is left will leech out and turn it yellow. Today I went to start the maceration on my daughter's buck, bobcat and a few of her coyotes. I wound up having to put them in the freezer until I get the new tank heated I had to order. My other 2 have been loaned out and never returned. :chuckle:
-
When it comes to degreasing bears just throw them in a sealed bucket of acetone completely submerged and forget about them for 4-5 months. You can’t get a better degrease :tup:
-
Well
I put the bear skull in a bucket of dawn and water 2 months ago. Up till then was only in water.
One month later rinsed off and put in milk crate on top of my carport. Lots hot weather really turned it white.
Checked it today almost there. Turned over to let sun work on other side.
Guessing will be good enough end of month.
-
So a year ago I started this by placing a bucket of warm water.
Checked it from time to time and changed water.
Trimmed off some extra stuff along the way. And back in the bucket.
End of May put in Dawn soap and water.
Around end July took out of water put in milk crate in sun.
Forgot about till today.
Turned over in sun for three more weeks.
-
Cool, fun little experiment. If you do it again is there anything you'd do different?
-
Cool, fun little experiment. If you do it again is there anything you'd do different?
I would clean it up a little better in the beginning.
I am sure there are faster methods. But I really wasn’t in a hurry. And really did not have to do much after things got rolling. Some said change the water often. I left it all winter and changed in spring. I moved inside during freezing weather.
I am happy with the process. Hot sunlight really made a huge difference.
-
Calling this good enough for this guy.
-
Looks good.
You are a very patient man.