# Letting maggots do the work of cleaning off a deer head



## ab2 (Jul 16, 2009)

I am wondering it I leave a deer head outside, will the maggots do the job of cleaning off the head so there is just skull? I am not in a rush for the skull, so if it takes a few months that is fine with me. Will this work for a european mount?


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## outdoorsman3 (Nov 15, 2010)

ive heard it works, but for sure give it plenty of time.. my dumb*** friend decided to bury it Nov-April and dig it up then.. well not much decaying went on while the ground was frozen solid.. and it smelled like absolute trash! leave it in the ground at least til september id say, I have one in my garden right now cause I am not that worried about mounting it ASAP, I want to see how this works!

ALSO, make sure you cover it with either some wire or a milk crate also works great, thats what I decided to use


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## smokecity (Jul 13, 2010)

I have been told that its hard to get the bone/skull white after leaving it outside... 

Yes they clean it out for ya which is awesome but I don't think you get that stark white look I think most people are after 


www.chasedeer365.com


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## Arobie120 (Aug 6, 2010)

I put them in poly feed sacks ang hang them in a tree. The come out stinky and yellowish. You can still simmer them and use the pyroxide after the maggots are done. Or paint them.


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## Msokol13 (Jul 24, 2005)

You can order beetles that supposedly do the work pretty quickly and do a very thorough job.

http://www.flesheatingbeetles.com/


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## bowman29092 (Oct 16, 2012)

I put it on a HUGE ant mound and put a bucket with a weight over it and let it sit for a few months. It worked well with getting all the meat off and after washing it, I put it back and let it sit for another month, I pulled it out, washed it again and it looks good. Unfortunately, it was my ex's deer and no longer speak to her so I don't have pictures of it..but ant mounds do work! (I had to put a bucket and weight over it to keep the coyotes from getting it.)


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## loomis77 (Jan 30, 2011)

bowman92290 said:


> I put it on a HUGE ant mound and put a bucket with a weight over it and let it sit for a few months. It worked well with getting all the meat off and after washing it, I put it back and let it sit for another month, I pulled it out, washed it again and it looks good. Unfortunately, it was my ex's deer and no longer speak to her so I don't have pictures of it..but ant mounds do work! (I had to put a bucket and weight over it to keep the coyotes from getting it.)


I agree with this...Ant mounds are very handy when cleaning skulls. I have a heavy gauge mesh cage we put the skull in and leave it on top of the ant mound. The cage stops predators dragging it away.


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## Quicksliver (Nov 22, 2006)

If you want that white color, after you've buried it for a year, unbury it and leave it out for another year.

Or you can simmer it in water mixed with baking soda and be done with it tomorrow.


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## iceman14 (Jan 25, 2011)

Msokol13 said:


> You can order beetles that supposedly do the work pretty quickly and do a very thorough job.
> 
> http://www.flesheatingbeetles.com/


That is what you need. Skulls come out amazing. Just dont let your beetles in the house. 
You could charge your friends to do theirs and have them paid for in no time.


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## HOYTINIT (Aug 28, 2012)

Quicksliver said:


> If you want that white color, after you've buried it for a year, unbury it and leave it out for another year.
> 
> Or you can simmer it in water mixed with baking soda and be done with it tomorrow.


or that


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## Captain Cully (Oct 4, 2009)

My buddy has a beetle operation. Stinks to high heaven. I'd be worried about the antlers fading out if I left it outside for a year. If you do peroxide, make sure you don't dunk the rack. Gives a nice contrast when the skull is stark white and the antlers are natural.


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## sampsta (Apr 3, 2011)

you can leave it in the ground...the bugs ants whatever will clean it off after a few months but you will also get like squirrels chewing on the rack...may not look so good afterwards


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## mshred (Jul 25, 2010)

my taxidermist uses beetles for euro mounts. they work good.


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## tackscall (Jul 26, 2004)

I read a Field and Stream article about a guy that did one in the ground and pricked his hand on it, he almost lost his hand from a horrible infection. Be careful


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## SplashOfPee (Aug 4, 2009)

Beetles. That is the way to go.


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## stork64 (Sep 11, 2010)

I havent tried it, but my brother-in-law buries his and says it works awesome. It takes a long time (over half a year), and you have to make sure you protect the antlers from squirrels chewing on them, but he says they come out perfectly clean inside and out after you spray them off. I don't know about the coloring issue, though. Don't a lot of guys paint some white stuff one the skulls to do a Euro mount?


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## Sluggersetta901 (Dec 12, 2009)

i have a simmering process that takes 2 days from start to finish,. it is a little time consuming but it works well.

beetles are the way to go but like others said, they stink to high hell.


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## TailChaser (Aug 13, 2005)

You still need to remove the hide. Then if it's warm out, it will only take a few weeks, and it will stink. You can just hang it somewhere.

I have boiled it to get a lot of it, then let maggots help clean out the insides a few weeks, then boiled again (I just didn't have time the first time, boiling is a 8-10 hour ordeal). Or you could just let them go from the start. 

I also just left a head out and never had time to cut the horns off (busy year). That was in october and it was pretty much cleaned up in a few weeks except the hide I didn't ever cut off. I just left it out on the foot platform of a ladder stand so the dog couldn't get it. Still up there 

Be careful leaving it out a long time, it's going to bleach the horns from the sun/exposure, FYI.


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## whack&stack (Oct 15, 2007)

I bury mine and yes they are a muddy color when done I boil it with dawn dish soap to clean then either paint white or black. I personally like black


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## archer1914 (Oct 13, 2007)

Tagged


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## KraQr (Aug 11, 2009)

Or you could pay the $100 and get it cleaned, degreased, whitened and on your wall and enjoying it in about 5 weeks time from http://ultimateskulls.com/

I did leave one in a 5 gallon bucket full of water once with some DAWN soap and with the hide still on it for about 3-4 months. When I pulled it out to check, it was completely cleaned, No skin, no meat, no brains, no nothing was left on the skull.


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## trapperjl (Aug 29, 2006)

Check out the "On-Time Buck Boiler" at Cabela's. It does an awsome job!


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## tackscall (Jul 26, 2004)

trapperjl said:


> Check out the "On-Time Buck Boiler" at Cabela's. It does an awsome job!


I like the idea but the reviews are 50/50 between awesome and terrible. It worked well for you?


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## trapperjl (Aug 29, 2006)

It worked great. Just let it do it's thing for 8-10 hours. You have to keep adding water as it will evaporate.


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## capone (Jan 12, 2006)

I havent tried it yet because I don't have access to a safe place to do it but he said to tie a rope to it and throw it in the creed and let the fish, crawfish ect take care of it.


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## dblungem (Dec 2, 2008)

A couple of years ago I had 2 small heads sitting by the wood pile. I was going to boil them in the spring but got busy and didnt get to it for a while. Needless to say, they started to stink...bad. I put them in a black garbage bag until I could boil them. When I went to boil them, I was not very excited to open the bag. To my surprise, the heads were clean! I'm mean very clean, to the point I didn't boil the heads but for 5 minutes to dissinfect them before the bleaching process. There were Beatles, grubs, etc inside the bag when I got them out. Keep in mind dermestid beatles (the kind used by the pros to clean skulls) occur in the wild and will show up on almost every kill, it just takes a while.


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## stanlh (Jul 23, 2010)

KraQr said:


> Or you could pay the $100 and get it cleaned, degreased, whitened and on your wall and enjoying it in about 5 weeks time from http://ultimateskulls.com/
> 
> I did leave one in a 5 gallon bucket full of water once with some DAWN soap and with the hide still on it for about 3-4 months. When I pulled it out to check, it was completely cleaned, No skin, no meat, no brains, no nothing was left on the skull.


So you are saying that you just left the skull in plain water and dish soap, not heated or boiled, for a few months and the skull was clean afterwards? Did the bones soften or separate?


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## Eric W (Jan 16, 2007)

stanlh said:


> So you are saying that you just left the skull in plain water and dish soap, not heated or boiled, for a few months and the skull was clean afterwards? Did the bones soften or separate?


And were the antlers under or above the water?


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## strummer (Jul 25, 2004)

But it n a 5 gallon bucket of water and add a pack of bread maker yeast .thats how I do mine


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## stanlh (Jul 23, 2010)

strummer said:


> But it n a 5 gallon bucket of water and add a pack of bread maker yeast .thats how I do mine


How long does it take with yeast, is the skull white afterwards, do you keep the antlers out of the water, do the skull bones soften or separate doing it this way?


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## KSHammers1 (Oct 9, 2009)

I have a bear skull burried in a huge ant mount since September....will dig it up this spring/early summer and it should be done...


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## Bowtech n ROSS (Aug 30, 2007)

I had good luck throwing mine in my pond tied off to a nearby tree. Around 6 months later it was picked clean.


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## mez (Feb 22, 2010)

stanlh said:


> How long does it take with yeast, is the skull white afterwards, do you keep the antlers out of the water, do the skull bones soften or separate doing it this way?



If it is warm out/summer it takes about a week and you don't need yeast or dish soap, just remove the skin and put it in water. I did a bunch of hogs like this in texas. When you take them out of the water then soak them in Coleman lantern fuel or white gas for three days. This degreases the skull. Skulls will come out white and dry.


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## TSavvy88 (Jun 5, 2012)

I tried to do a Euro mount last year for my first archery buck. I hunt outside of the same town my girlfriend lives in so I get free lodging from her parents and I can go to my hunting property and hunt all day. Well her parents have a decent size lot so they let me put the skull out on the corner of the property where they wouldn't see or smell it. I made two costly mistakes. A: I left the hide on and so when I came back in a couple weeks the hide was a pain to get completely off. B: I didn't tie it down so one day my girlfriend calls me to ask if I came by to pick up the skull. Apparently something must of knocked it from the tree and the coyotes/foxes took it away. I thought maybe her parents got tired of it, but they like me too much just to get rid of it. Now I wasted all that time trying to get it done and I have nothing to show for it and no antlers from my first archery buck. It was sure coming along nicely though once the hide was removed. Maggots and bees really did a number on it. Only upside is it was such a little forkie that it was kind of embarrassing. Sure tasted great though!


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## VA_Ambusher (Feb 27, 2011)

Why not just boil it for a few hours, scrape off most of the meat, and spray it off with a pressure washer. Thats how I did mine this year and had it skinned, boiled, and clean in about 5 hours.


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## CarpCommander (Feb 5, 2003)

VA_Ambusher said:


> Why not just boil it for a few hours, scrape off most of the meat, and spray it off with a pressure washer. Thats how I did mine this year and had it skinned, boiled, and clean in about 5 hours.


This is EXACTLY what I was about to say. Yall are making this into way more of a project than it has to be!

Spend 30mins with a knife stripping the hide and eyes when you first kill it, then boil it for 5-7hrs, addng water and scraping off pieces with a screwdriver and pliers, and then your 95% DONE. All thats left is to bleach it if ya want, but its actually fairly white at this point.

Id rather do the short method vs burying it, beetles, worrying about predators, squirrels, stink, ants....yada yadda....


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## WildBill37 (Aug 1, 2011)

boiled mine yesterday let it dry today then apply whitening mixture tomorrow,let sit coupled days rinse,finished


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## Pittstate23 (Dec 27, 2010)

Ive buried heads but there's still some cleaning and the skull doesn't come out very bright. I have painted them afterwards and they look pretty cool


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## Sluggersetta901 (Dec 12, 2009)

never BOIL a deer head... you'll destroy the thin bones in the nose and sinuses pretty quickly. just let it simmer.

if you do accidentally break them, you can always hot glue the peices back together. if you get the bases of antler in the water, use furniture stain to touch up where they have been discolored.


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## TailChaser (Aug 13, 2005)

I've boiled 3, and those nose never broke, teeth never fell out, and the antlers never discolored one bit at the bases. There's still bark on them even. I just added baking soda while boiling.

I did break some of the stuff inside the nasal cavity on the last one, but on purpose cleaning it out, not from the boiling and I just didn't really care and was pressed for time. The first 2 they came out just from shaking it really hard.

I paint them with blackened bronze metallizer and looks awesome, with a picture of the deer below. I hate white, looks like you just found it laying in the woods and stuck it on the wall. Just bought some skull hookers, excited to get them erected right.


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