Bear Skull....need help

[ShaneTyTrey]

Got the skull back from the taxidermist, probably should have paid him to bleach it but I didn't.  So, how do I go about doing it myself.  I would appreciate any direction, thanks much.

[92xj]

I just finished mine up.
Clean off all the big chunks for meat on the skull.
Once you have this done or get insanely bored and tired of it.
Bring a large pot of water to a very slow boil.
Place skull in pot.
pull out after 45 minutes or so and cut/pull any chunks of meat that you can.
Back to the pot, boil longer.
Pull out and cut away. 
Keep doing this till its clean of everything.
use a skinny knife or metal coat hanger to remove brain. 
Use small nails or needles to clean any of the holes in the skull.
Use water hose with a sprayer to clean more of the tough to remove stuff.
Dont boil to long or the bone gets weak.  Dont use a pressure washer, it can break small bones.
Once its cleaned fully. Place in a tub of hydro peroxide, if you dont have enough, add water and cover entire skull.
Leave in there till it reaches your desired whiteness.  I left mine in for 24 hours.
Pull out and rinse. 
I pulled all my teeth out before whitening.  I wanted them to stay natural looking. 
Make sure all the teeth cavities are removed of blood and muscle.
Display wherever.

[Heredoggydoggy]

There's an easier way--just put it out where the Yellow Jackets can get at it.  They'll clean it for you! 

[ShaneTyTrey]

I just finished mine up.
Clean off all the big chunks for meat on the skull.
Once you have this done or get insanely bored and tired of it.
Bring a large pot of water to a very slow boil.
Place skull in pot.
pull out after 45 minutes or so and cut/pull any chunks of meat that you can.
Back to the pot, boil longer.
Pull out and cut away. 
Keep doing this till its clean of everything.
use a skinny knife or metal coat hanger to remove brain. 
Use small nails or needles to clean any of the holes in the skull.
Use water hose with a sprayer to clean more of the tough to remove stuff.
Dont boil to long or the bone gets weak.  Dont use a pressure washer, it can break small bones.
Once its cleaned fully. Place in a tub of hydro peroxide, if you dont have enough, add water and cover entire skull.
Leave in there till it reaches your desired whiteness.  I left mine in for 24 hours.
Pull out and rinse. 
I pulled all my teeth out before whitening.  I wanted them to stay natural looking. 
Make sure all the teeth cavities are removed of blood and muscle.
Display wherever.

Thanks I will give it a go this weekend

[Michelle_Nelson]

Did the taxidermist degrease it?  If not you will have to do that first.  If you don't, after you whiten it the grease will leach through and you will have a yellow skull.

[Hunter Dug]

Bears are one of the hardest animals in my opinion to clean for display.  You can do as the guy above explained, and you will have a skull that looks exactly like the picture for about a weeks.  After that time it will start to turn a yellow color and begin to crack, and come apart at every seam.

Euro mounts are a very simple process. I mean process because it takes time.  There is no speedy results that look good enough to display in MY OPINION.  A bear can take anywhere from 3 month (rarely) to 6 month (most of the time) to do but its not a big deal. Its something you can just set in your garage and check on once a week AT A VERY MINIMAL PRICE.

Remember guys you spent a lot of time and money to harvest these trophy's, take the time to do them properly so you can remember them the rest of your life without them falling apart.

I guarantee that most of the Taxidermist on this site would give you a step by step if you gave them a call.
My advise is free.  Click on my card at the bottom, and shot me a call.

[jackmaster]

have it beatled, there is a thread on here from last week a guy in orting or graham has the beetles and he is pretty cheap if i remember the thread right....

[92xj]

Shay, Keep your skull in the freezer for a few weeks.
I did my skull 3 weeks ago and took that picture last night.  The color is not changing, it's not falling apart, no part on it is brittle, the seams are still super tight and nothing is coming apart.
This is about the 20th skull I've done, but first bear skull.  All my other skulls are still looking like they did the day I completed them.  I will take another picture in a few weeks for you for an update. 
Clean it good enough, get everything off of it good enough and display it however you want.  Speedy to someone might not mean the same as speedy to someone else.   

[bucklucky]

There is a reason I quit simmering skulls. Do it the right way first and you will be happier in the end. I dont know how many people have brought me in bear skulls they simmered only to have then slowly leach grease over the year because they did not degrease properlly.

[sirmissalot]

If its already cleaned it will need degreased, otherwise it will never turn white and will turn yellow and stink from the fat still left in the skull. I use a crockpot on the keep warm setting with some dawn dish soap, change out the water every couple days. Should be done in a couple months with a good and greasy bear skull

[Ballance1]

6 months from now it will be yellow in the back and along the jaw.  Bears are greasy and need to be done right.

[Hunter Dug]

Like I said everybody wants to help, shoot one of these guys a call, get the low down and do it in a fashion that makes it look good for years to come. 

[Michelle_Nelson]

92xj,

I would like you to seperate the bottom jaw from the skull and take pictures.  Take pictures of the back of the skull, both right and left side, and the underside.  Also take pictures of the bottom jow the same way. 

From the picture you posted I can already see a lot of grease in the bottom jaw.  When I skull is whitened a lot of the times the grease will come through almost clear.  It will look like wet spots.  Over time it will turn yellow. 

[92xj]

Call a pro.

[ellensburgpo]

Easy big fella. I think some if the pros are stepping in to offer their two cents. I didn't hear them trashing you, just saying there are better ways. Which seems pretty generous seeing how they make their living doing these things. And they are offering free expert advice trying to help a guy get the best results he can. For free.