# Burying skull pre-Euro mount prep work. Burial location? Any tips for a rookie?



## silver_yummies (Jan 17, 2007)

Any tips on where a good place to bury my skulls to let nature run its course on my deer head so I can then place them on a plaque to finish a Euro mount? Anywhere underground or should they be buried in like a garden or around a manure pile? Mix anything in with the dirt when I bury them to attract the maggots faster? Any tips for this rookie?

My plan is to bury 2 buck skulls Saturday and leave them be until Fall and remove them and whiten them up with that hair whitening bleach and put it by heat for a few minutes and wash it off and that should be it....right? I am not going to boil them for various reasons so please post any tips if you have buried your skulls and what works best for you. Thanks :darkbeer::darkbeer::darkbeer:


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## silver_yummies (Jan 17, 2007)

anyone? before I go count some sheep??


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## Hoyt_83 (Jun 10, 2006)

Don't do it. I tried to take the "easy" way out one time too, ended up being more work.


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## silver_yummies (Jan 17, 2007)

Hoyt_83 said:


> Don't do it. I tried to take the "easy" way out one time too, ended up being more work.


how so? can you explain?


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## BEETLE GUY (Apr 14, 2007)

Simmer some water and place 1/2 cup of soda ash. place the head in and let it set for a hour or so


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## sunstroked (Oct 8, 2008)

I wouldn't think burying a skull would be a good idea. Mice and such will chew on your antlers. A pretty simple way to clean out the skull is to boil it. The full directions can be found here. 
http://www.javelinahunter.com/preparing_a_skull.htm
I have used this method on javelina, bear, elk, and deer. For best results do not over boil. Use the arm & hammer washing soda as called for. You can find it at most grocery stores, (safeway) in my area.
A friend of mine took his skull to a place that uses the beetles to clean the skull. Its not cheap, but looked fantastic when done. I'm cheap, so I boil them.


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## A_W (Apr 6, 2009)

I've boiled and buried...skulls come out better boiled. The key is to bring the skull to a simmer...as mentioned, if you boil it for too long or too hot the skull can fracture. I mix in some oxi-clean when I boil my skulls...then once all of the meat/brains, etc. are gone (this will require you to use a knife/pick to scrape away some of the hard to reach spots), I make a paste with oxi-clean and 3% hydrogen peroxide (not the hair bleaching kind) and coat the skull. Put it in black plastic bag and keep it out of the sun for a day or two...should come out nice. Wrapping the antlers in foil near the base is a good call so you don't get the peroxide/oxi-clean mix on the rack


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## ddworkm (Apr 4, 2006)

send it away to a place with beetles!!!! Contact Beetle Guy on here!!!


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## silver_yummies (Jan 17, 2007)

Nobody has had any luck burying skulls?


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## Usingmyrights (Aug 19, 2008)

Beetles or maceration is the only way to go. Beetles are faster, but will cost you unless you get luckly enough to find someone willing to hook you up with a deal. Maceration is free-cheap, but will take longer and smell awful. Don't forget to degrease before you try whitening or you'll likely end up with dark spots on the skull. Also burying is likely to discolor the skull due to minerals seeping into it. I can give you a better write up if you want, with more details, or check out taxidermy.net and do a search there. They have a whole section dedicated just to skulls and skelotons.


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## silver_yummies (Jan 17, 2007)

to boil or not to boil - that is the question.......and need an answer by Saturday. :darkbeer:


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## STRAITBT (Jan 12, 2009)

Boil...I have done my last 5 bucks by boiling and all have turned out fantastic. Had my neighbor and a few other guys in on the deal during the last boil session. Had the old turkey fryer going long enough to go through three propane tanks...think we did 11 or 12 skulls. By boiling, you can have your whole euro mount done in less than 3 days!!!!


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## Usingmyrights (Aug 19, 2008)

Not to boil. It can break down the skull and cook the fat into the skull causing perminate staining. I seriously suggest going over to taxidermy.net and browse through the skulls and skelotons section over there.


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## jdamet (Jul 25, 2009)

I vote for maceration, if you dont mind waiting a little while for it. 
I just finished a winter kill this way and it turned out pretty good. It is by far the easiest way, except for the smell, but there are ways around that.
I bought a rubbermaid tub, filled it with water, put the skull in and then sealed the lid with silicone. A month later I just opened it up, took the perfectly clean skull out and sealed it back up. I just set the tub out with the trash. Total cost, $4, and no cleaning needed. I did let it sit in some water and Dawn dish soap overnight to kill the smell. 
Its also a great way for a laugh if you are home when the trash guys come. You can always tell when they break the seal on the lid.ukey:


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## MR Pilsner (Apr 17, 2009)

if you send it away somewhere that has bugs for this purpose do it. obviously more costly

if you want to try and bury yourself I would not recomend it. A friend found the foloowing:

1) mice and critetrs will chew the crap out of the antlers and skull

2) environment will bleach the color of the antler.

3) the burying itself will start to rot the skull

not worth it overall, boiling and picking is much more gross and finicky but well worth the time and effort if you really want a nice mount in the end.


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## bang250 (Jan 10, 2005)

ddworkm said:


> send it away to a place with beetles!!!! Contact Beetle Guy on here!!!


x2. I let beetles do mine


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## Usingmyrights (Aug 19, 2008)

jdamet said:


> I vote for maceration, if you dont mind waiting a little while for it.
> I just finished a winter kill this way and it turned out pretty good. It is by far the easiest way, except for the smell, but there are ways around that.
> I bought a rubbermaid tub, filled it with water, put the skull in and then sealed the lid with silicone. A month later I just opened it up, took the perfectly clean skull out and sealed it back up. I just set the tub out with the trash. Total cost, $4, and no cleaning needed. I did let it sit in some water and Dawn dish soap overnight to kill the smell.
> Its also a great way for a laugh if you are home when the trash guys come. You can always tell when they break the seal on the lid.ukey:


The dawn is good because it acts as a degreaser and a lot of guys use it. Most will actually let it soak for about a month in a bucket with a water/Dawn mix (a lot of Dawn). Ideally you want the water to be about 110* because it helps pull the grease out of the skull without cooking it into it. Just skim the water every so often to remove the grease and do a water change as needed. I've heard some people say that the colored Dawn leaves a slight tint from time to time, so clear Dawn would be ideal. Making a degreasing tank it pretty simple and cheap to do. Also for the maceration an aquarium heater will help speed up the process.


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## jdamet (Jul 25, 2009)

Usingmyrights said:


> The dawn is good because it acts as a degreaser and a lot of guys use it. Most will actually let it soak for about a month in a bucket with a water/Dawn mix (a lot of Dawn). Ideally you want the water to be about 110* because it helps pull the grease out of the skull without cooking it into it. Just skim the water every so often to remove the grease and do a water change as needed. I've heard some people say that the colored Dawn leaves a slight tint from time to time, so clear Dawn would be ideal. Making a degreasing tank it pretty simple and cheap to do. Also for the maceration an aquarium heater will help speed up the process.


I put a TON of Dawn in the water when I started and didnt change the water. I know guys that do it both ways and I couldnt tell the difference in the finished product, so I opted to leave it sealed. The water didnt even come close to the 110 mark, as our temps have only been in the 80's a few days now, but it worked just the same.
This was my first maceration experience, and I will stick with it from now on. It does take time, but it is by far the easiest way to get the job done. And the results are the same as a skull that was boiled and picked clean, or cleaned by beetles. 
I will have to try the aquarium heater next time.


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## Usingmyrights (Aug 19, 2008)

^^^I'm just stating whats generally been agreed upon as the "ideal" way of doing maceration based on my research. Beetles are better in the fact that the skull isn't in water so there's no chance of the sutures on the skull opening up. It shouldn't be a problem with regular soaking/low temps, but I've heard of issues of it happening at higher temps. I will say again though that the maceration is better than boiling/simmering. I'm about to build a degreasing tank, and will post pics if you'd like once I get in built. I'm going to have under $30 into once its built. Right now I'm trying to find a different thermostat so that it can double as a maceration tank. The temp ranges are a little different and a regular 120-150* will be too hot for the maceration since it'll kill the bacteria at those temps.


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## skynight (Nov 5, 2003)

I've tried boiling them and have paid to have them boiled and beetled. Beetles are far superior in the finished product.

Just a caution - I read a story by a guy that got a severe flesh eating bacteria from cutting himself while cleaning a skull he had buried in the dirt.


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## pearlcityblue (Dec 22, 2005)

*ants*

Put it in a fireant mound they will eat it up.


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## oregonelkslayer (Feb 15, 2007)

I buryed mine and it came out just fine. I did have to wait about 7 months. Make sure it is in furtel ground lots of critters. My came out nice.


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## t-roys (Oct 12, 2009)

Boil it. Very easy to do. Did four last fall and all were a piece of cake. Nothing hard about it. Had never done one before last year.


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## k4zn4v3 (Jan 17, 2010)

This is how I learned to do it. You have to be carefull with the temperature of the water, if the water is to hot the bone gets soft and breaks into pieces. There is also another way that you can do it. I had some old wire squares laying around so I made a box with the head in it and put it out in the woods. The wire keeps out the mice and squirrels, doesnt let the dirt harm the bone, and lets the bigs do their job. The head was in there for about a week, then I got impatient and boiled it. 


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