# Finished Product



## IClark (Feb 12, 2013)

Looks good! What you gonna whiten it with?


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## Leviw96 (Nov 7, 2020)

Wow nice job.


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## Kevind62 (10 mo ago)

IClark said:


> Looks good! What you gonna whiten it with?


I'm not. I never bleach mine. I like the natural bone color. I just do a final rinse in cold fresh water overnight to remove all of the chemical so it doesn't bleach out. I dry it on my concrete patio in the sun so it dries quick and doesn't get any sun bleach either.


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## rockrollnload (Apr 30, 2011)

Wow that looks great! I like the natural look over it being bleached white. Nice job.


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## redrocket288 (11 mo ago)

Nice work! Those are a ton of effort to do but it’s well worth it.


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## Suncrest08 (Dec 10, 2015)

Nice, Love me a skull mount!


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## sierrahunter413 (8 mo ago)

Nicely done.


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## Bullzeyetony (9 mo ago)

I’ve done a few hundred of these. Nice job. Make sure you get the brain out of the cavity or it’ll start stinking. A little tip is to put a half cup of borax in the boil water. Makes a big difference.


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## Suncrest08 (Dec 10, 2015)

Borax does do wonders!


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## Bullzeyetony (9 mo ago)

Helps with the odor too. 


Suncrest08 said:


> Borax does do wonders!


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## Kevind62 (10 mo ago)

Bullzeyetony said:


> I’ve done a few hundred of these. Nice job. Make sure you get the brain out of the cavity or it’ll start stinking. A little tip is to put a half cup of borax in the boil water. Makes a big difference.


I used to use borax many years ago when I first started doing this. I haven't in years. Borax has a mild caustic (soda ash) for bleaching. Most all bleaching agents actually eat away at the bone material in the skull and around the antler base where it's under the water during the boil. You'll see small flakes forming on the skull after boiling for a while and your antler base will start to turn white if you have to boil a long time on a skull with lots of meat on it. I don 't use any caustics or bleaching agents anymore because I don't care for the bleached white look. Haven't in probably the last 10 - 12 years. I just use a little salt and a blood dissolving agent to remove the blood from the seams, nasal cavity, and crevices. Blood can be stubborn sometimes. One thing I also do is soak the skull in a solution of water and Lysol Disinfectant Concentrate for 24 hours before boiling (the brown stuff that makes you smell like you spent the night at your grandmother's - for those like me who's grandmother's were born in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Mine was born in 1896 and has long passed. She was 99 and a pure gem of a woman.). Not sure what's in it that does it, but it seems to help get all of the blood out. When you take it out of this after the soak, all of the meat and blood is a nice light pink color instead of a dark crimson red. After the boil, the skull comes out clean with a nice smooth, natural texture. Kept indoors and away from direct sunlight coming through a window, it will have just a slight gloss to it like a fresh bone once dried and will keep this for years to come. I tried using an automotive clear coat several years ago for a little added shine, but it made it too shiny for my liking. I prefer the more natural look.

One way I eliminate the brain matter is to open the bottom of the brain cavity with my Dremel before boiling and just remove it. It comes out pretty easy in one piece. And, it shortens the boil time tremendously. I also remove the eyes and as much of the fat inside the eye sockets as possible. And cut away as much meat as possible. This takes a little more time on the front end but is well worth it for the finished product. And saves a lot of propane. The more meat, fat, and gristle you can get off before boiling, the better your skull is going to look when finished. Boiling a skull is like cooking ribs on the smoker. Low and slow.  At times, like on this one, I'll leave the bottom of the skull in tact. Sometimes just because I like the look of a fully intact skull. This time was because my brother-in-law borrowed my Dremel that I use to open the bottom of the brain cavity and is still using it. When I leave the skull in tact, as soon as the brain matter starts to soften I use a homemade tool to grind it up and wash it out. You want to remove the brain matter as soon as possible if leaving it in when boiling. This allows the dissolved nasal cavity material to flow through here as it softens. Makes it a lot easier to remove. Brain matter is easy to get out. The nasal cavity is the worse. Some folks will just dig out all of the bone and cartilage from the nasal cavity and hollow the whole thing out. I like to leave as much as possible for a more natural look. I use a high pressure water jet to shoot through the back of the nasal cavity from the inside of the brain cavity and it washes it out pretty good. If you hold the skull up to the sun and look through the back of the brain cavity you'll see the honeycomb nasal cavity holes. If you can see daylight through all of the holes and no black you're in good shape.


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## deadquiet (Jan 25, 2005)

I'd put in in the hunting section.......get more looks.


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## Benjamin59 (Jan 19, 2014)

What a cool character whitetail! That’s awesome!!!!


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## mod-it (Apr 19, 2016)

I also dislike the look of a bleached skull. That one is perfect, you did a nice job on it.


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## Kauffy (May 14, 2019)

Nice!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


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## Sneaky bear (8 mo ago)

I like the looks of a whitened skull, but to each their own.
If you want a slight sheen, brush on a thin coat of Mop and Glow.
It’ll also keep dust from sticking.
If you want more glossy, two coats of Mop and Glow.


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## Kevind62 (10 mo ago)

Benjamin59 said:


> What a cool character whitetail! That’s awesome!!!!


He's a bit of an oddity for a gulf coast buck. He was aged at 7 1/2 years old. They normally don't make it that old down here due to the amount of night hunters, poachers, and "_late season_" hunters. If they do it's because they stay deep in the inaccessible swamps below our property and never come out. Every so often you'll have one slip up like this one and someone (like me) happens to be in the right place at the right time and gets lucky. We've shot a lot of 4 year olds and a few 5 year olds. This is only the second buck over 5 years old we've ever shot on our land. It takes a Deep South swamp donkey this long to develop this much mass and retain it all the way out to the tip of the mains. Most all of our 3, 4, and 5 year olds will have really nice bases and between the brows and the G2's they'll lose about half of it from there out. Still good looking racks but just not as meaty as a Midwest buck of the same age. I've got a 4 year old Iowa buck that has just as much mass as this one all the way out. I've got a 6 year old KS buck that looks like someone bent a couple of Louisville Sluggers and attached tines to them. Not knocking our own deer down here. I love shooting our swamp donkeys, and getting one like this every so often is a nice bonus. My idea of a "trophy buck" is always relative to the area I hunt. Here's a 4 1/2 year old 8 point I shot a couple years ago down here. I'll shoot these all day long any time one gets within range down here. In IA or KS I'd pass on this one. Notice his decent base then see how it thins towards the G2's. Typical of our gulf coast deer, but still a trophy in my book. When judging the age of a deer in the field, I just look for a deer that looks something like me. Full grown, a bit of grey, thick shoulders, and a little sag in the gut.


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## Benjamin59 (Jan 19, 2014)

Kevind62 said:


> He's a bit of an oddity for a gulf coast buck. He was aged at 7 1/2 years old. They normally don't make it that old down here due to the amount of night hunters, poachers, and "_late season_" hunters. If they do it's because they stay deep in the inaccessible swamps below our property and never come out. Every so often you'll have one slip up like this one and someone (like me) happens to be in the right place at the right time and gets lucky. We've shot a lot of 4 year olds and a few 5 year olds. This is only the second buck over 5 years old we've ever shot on our land. It takes a Deep South swamp donkey this long to develop this much mass and retain it all the way out to the tip of the mains. Most all of our 3, 4, and 5 year olds will have really nice bases and between the brows and the G2's they'll lose about half of it from there out. Still good looking racks but just not as meaty as a Midwest buck of the same age. I've got a 4 year old Iowa buck that has just as much mass as this one all the way out. I've got a 6 year old KS buck that looks like someone bent a couple of Louisville Sluggers and attached tines to them. Not knocking our own deer down here. I love shooting our swamp donkeys, and getting one like this every so often is a nice bonus. My idea of a "trophy buck" is always relative to the area I hunt. Here's a 4 1/2 year old 8 point I shot a couple years ago down here. I'll shoot these all day long any time one gets within range down here. In IA or KS I'd pass on this one. Notice his decent base then see how it thins towards the G2's. Typical of our gulf coast deer, but still a trophy in my book. When judging the age of a deer in the field, I just look for a deer that looks something like me. Full grown, a bit of grey, thick shoulders, and a little sag in the gut.
> 
> View attachment 7638059


I am a huge fan of just old deer! Sounds like you have it going good down there! Love the photos ur on fire!!!


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## Raising3arrows (Dec 19, 2021)

Kevind62 said:


> Final rinse after the boil.
> 
> View attachment 7637530
> 
> ...


I wish there was a good way to save the thin bone in the nasal cavity. Yours looks great! I’m a big fan of the natural bone color as well


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## tryn2hunt (Aug 29, 2018)

Those antlers are gnarly....love that dark color at the bases. Nice job on that one for sure!


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## Kevind62 (10 mo ago)

Raising3arrows said:


> I wish there was a good way to save the thin bone in the nasal cavity. Yours looks great! I’m a big fan of the natural bone color as well


It's really dependent on the age of the deer if boiling. 3 year olds and some 4 year olds don't have as dense material in the cavity as older deer. Most times you can wash everything out of the cavity on a younger deer. It gets more difficult as they get older. It may sound a bit graphic, but look at it like this, have you ever looked up the nostrils of a 20 year old person and then look up the nose of your grandfather? 🤪 It actually holds true through most all warm blooded creatures. The other alternative would be to use beatles. With this you have to have somewhere you can build a large dry aquarium far enough away to keep from having to smell the stench of rotting flesh. It takes a while but they'll do a good job. I don't know a lot of folks who use beatles anymore just due to the headache of keeping up with them. They're a very small variety and simply lay their eggs around the flesh and the maggots (worms) eat it away. I've never used them but know several folks who have. The stench is pretty bad. Some guys would use an old chest freezer for their beatle box and just add ventilation. With this, you definitely need to remove the brain cavity, eyes, roof of the mouth, and as much meat as possible. I never use ant beds. They'll build their nest over the bone and the dirt will stain the bone. You won't be able to get this stain out. This also required leaving it exposed to the sun for several days which will bleach the skull. 

To help clean it out you can take a small welding rod and flatten about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inc on one end. Bend 1/8" of it over 90 degrees. If you have a belt sander, grind the edged down until it's the same width as the original rod. With a propane (soldering) torch, get it red hot. Dip it in water. This will harden it so it doesn't try to straighten out on you when you're using it. You can use it to fish out a lot of the matter in the cavity. You don't want to over boil the skull. Once you're down to just the nasal cavity just keep the water hot (just before boiling) and soak the skull. Take it out and keep shooting water in through the brain cavity and alternating back through the nasal cavity. All you should have left if anything will be cartilage. This will dry hard without any odor.


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## Huntthat (Nov 19, 2010)

That’s a unique deer…..nice work


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## Kevind62 (10 mo ago)

Finally got all my skulls off of the floor and on to the wall. Got tired of having to move them around every time I needed what was underneath them. 😁. There's a couple more on one of the other walls. Didn't feel like trying to do the panorama thing or post a bunch of pics.


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## groundsize (7 mo ago)

Looks like it turned out great to me.

I found a pressure washed works wonders 3/4 of the way through boiling.


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## Ozatonka_British_Labs (5 mo ago)

Turned out great!


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