How to skin an boil a fallow head?

groach1234

Well-Known Member
Right I shot my first fallow buck today (story to follow) I have skinned the head everywhere apart from the pedicles and I just cant seem to get this off. Any tips? then where to go? I have been told to boil somewhere between 10 and 30 mins but what do I do to get the eye balls and brain out? thats what is puzzling me. Any help and tips greatly appreciated.

George
 
well done on the fallow. As for the cleaning process, take your time. get as much skin off as you can then boil it for half an hour, if its still tough, give it an extra 10 mins. the eyes i get out by cutting around them, try not to pop them while hot as they explode!

What i would recommend is using a pressure washer to get the meat off.. works a treat.
 
Hello

Thats right but before you boil it take out the eye balls and cut the head where you want it for mounting. When you cut from the nose across to the back of the head you will go though the brain cavity. Once you have done that (and its not that easy to get it straight without a sawing off stand) you just pop the top half of the brain out then a good boil and final srape will finish the job off. Also make sure you clean out behind the nose or they can pong a bit. Once you have scraped all the cooked fat off you can give it a rinse and then cover the bone of the scull with peroxide soaked cotton wool and leave it for a day of two to soak. Should come out nicely bleached if you get it clean first. Best of luck and have fun. Oh and don't get the peroxide on the antlers.




Mark
 
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I have a long thin flexible skinning knife that I used to cut around the eyes to free them, I also did it while I still had skin and muscle to pull with so if thats gone then its a bit more awkward.I used the same knife to get at the remaining material under the pedicles after boiling. be carefull with the power washer, I almost launched my trophy over the fence to next door :D
 
I shot a pricket in Sept and I cut the head as for mounting to a board for access then did the slow cooking method and then the neighboring farmers dog pounced on all the scraps so it saved wasting it.
I have it stored in salt to be sure all the residue is clear then I will do the peroxide treatment in the spring.
Martin
 
Like others have said, cut the eyes out first, small sharp knife around the eye socket, if you boil is long enough the brain will cook out.

dont rush i know how exciting it is but take your time you only get one shot. i use peroxide hair soloution which you probably can get from your local hair salon which they use to do hair dyes etc its about £8 for a litre and half, ive done 20 + roe heads and still have plenty left, its a thick liquid so i just paint it on and then cling film wrap the skull. if you get any on the antlers / coronets make sure you wash it all off.
 
Well done George.

There's only one thing to do when preparing the head - get stuck in. Take your time as all the others have said but essentially get in there.

You refer to the pedicles; if you take a sharp knife you can slice away the flesh away quite accurately before you boil. This makes it much easier to remove the remaining meat and fats once boiled.

One bit that I seemed to lose about half of the time with when I did my first one was clearing out the narrow channels that start on the front, between the nose and eyes, and go through into the brain cavity. I found it difficult to clean that channel of all tissue without damaging the narrow and fragile bone around the opening.

Good luck.

Dave
 
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