Beginner roe skull prep

[lowlandjock27]

I’m anticipating getting a row buck head in the near future and would like to mount the head. I have no idea how to go about it.

Would some one be able to tell me either

A- how to prep the skull for mounting (I understand boiling is involved….)

Or

B- reputable and cost efficient individuals who do this within the Ayrshire/glasgow/Edinburgh area.

 

[ChrisWill184]

At the top of this page, have a look at the Preparing a head thread that csl has written. If you don't have a pressure washer, you can always just scrape off the meaty parts with a knife and pliers after boiling (but it takes much longer!)

You can get 12% peroxide from a hairdressers supply outlet but as I haven't bought it for so long, there may be other places you can get it.

 

[Sol]

Boil the head for around 40 minutes scrape it, mush and flush the brain out and put it in a cold water bucket In a sunny spot in your garden with water filled up too below the antlers ideally place some sort of lid as roe deer antlers bleach in the sun quickly then leave it 2-3 weeks.

That's about the simplest way to do it without a pressure washer takes a little while but is less stinky than maceration.

 

[Mike1979]

If you want a decent job done and something to cherish for the rest of your days....get someone else to do it

Practice on the ones that you arent worried about making a mess of ...as practice makes perfect. Looks and sounds very simple but very easy to make a mess of a good head. @ironmatt on here does skull prep and a hell of a lot of it and you can post the head down to him and let him do all the messy bits then get something back you are proud to display.

 

[Mickeydredd]

B- reputable and cost efficient individuals who do this within the Ayrshire/glasgow/Edinburgh area.

I've had a couple done by a chap near Biggar, very reasonably priced.

 

[Riverwye]

More satisfying if you do it yourself, more sense of achievement. A Roe head is easy to do, do it while its still fresh it wont smell, skin and get as much meat/brain out as possible first, Good luck

 

[Mungo]

Mistakes I have made so you don’t have to:

Boiling too long. Bones can start to disarticulate.

Boiling with a dishwasher tab in the water. Eats into the bones and makes them crumbly.

Soak in bleach. Eats into the bones and makes them crumbly.

Boiling the water dry. Burns the bones that are in contact with the pan.

Cutting the skull after boiling. Bones splinter away from the cut.

Attempting to macerate with skin still on. Takes 2 years and the bone comes away stained brownish, which no amount of peroxide can shift.

Leaving a skull in the sun and bleaching the antlers.

Leaving a skull in a hedge so squirrels gnaw the antlers.

Burying a skull forgetting where.

Hanging a skull in a tree, but too low so it gets mauled by a badger.

Finally getting a perfect skull of your first medal buck, dropping it and snapping the tip of an antler.

 

[Mick9abf]

Mistakes I have made so you don’t have to:

Boiling with a dishwasher tab in the water. Eats into the bones and makes them crumbly.

Cutting the skull after boiling. Bones splinter away from the cut.

Leaving a skull in the sun and bleaching the antlers.

Sorry but disagree with these points you raised:

I add cheap dishwasher tablets or soda crystals when boiling and it 100% gives a better result (particularly if you’re doing a few in the pot at the same time), I don’t know what tablets you used but none of the heads I have done went ‘crumbly’. They also don’t have that boiled heid smell lingering as long.

It’s fine to cut after boiling and drying as long as you use a hacksaw with quite a fine TPI blade as I usually do this with medals after they have been scored if going on shields, just make sure it’s one of the cheap black blades from B&Q or wherever that don’t have the blue paint on them (don’t ask me how I know this).

I always try to leave skulls in the sun till the peroxide is dry as believe it does make a difference, although the weather in Scotland often has other ideas unless you’re speaking about having them on the wall in an area with a lot of sunlight in which case absolutely the sun takes colour out of the antlers over time.

What I would say that is also beneficial is to leave the skull up to the coronets in a bucket of cold water after skinning for a day or two (as long as you change the water).

 

[Mungo]

Sorry but disagree with those points:

I add cheap dishwasher tablets or soda crystals when boiling and it 100% gives a better result (particularly if you’re doing a few in the pot at the same time), I don’t know what tablets you used but none of the heads I have done went ‘crumbly’. They also don’t have that boiled heid smell lingering as long.

That’s really interesting. I tried it on the advice of various people, several times. It’s been a disaster every time. But it may be that different tabs have a different effect. I can see soda crystals working well - I’ll give that a go.

It’s fine to cut after boiling and drying as long as you use a hacksaw with quite a fine TPI blade as I usually do this with medals after they have been scored if going on shields, just make sure it’s one of the cheap black blades from B&Q or wherever that don’t have the blue paint on them (don’t ask me how I know this).

It may well be that I was using too coarse a blade!

I always try to leave skulls in the sun till the peroxide is dry as believe it does make a difference,

Absolutely. A few days seems to work really well. I meant leave it for weeks and weeks. Then you really do lose the colour.

 

[Mick9abf]

That’s really interesting. I tried it on the advice of various people, several times. It’s been a disaster every time. But it may be that different tabs have a different effect. I can see soda crystals working well - I’ll give that a go.


It may well be that I was using too coarse a blade!




Absolutely. A few days seems to work really well. I meant leave it for weeks and weeks. Then you really do lose the colour.

Use the cheapest of cheap tablets from wherever you shop and you’ll be fine. I stopped using soda crystals because I’m lazy and it’s easier to drop in a tablet and if you leave the bag till the next season in the shed you have to hack away at the content to chip some off.

 

[AeternusTaxidermy]

I've had a couple done by a chap near Biggar, very reasonably priced.

Out of curiosity what do you pay for a head to be cleaned and does it include shield mounting!

 

[Mickeydredd]

I think it was £40, not mounted. I’ve had a Sika and two Reds done.

 

[AeternusTaxidermy]

I think it was £40, not mounted. I’ve had a Sika and two Reds done.

That's lovely work! That second red is stunning not a bad price either, thanks for sharing

 

[Mickeydredd]

That's lovely work! That second red is stunning not a bad price either, thanks for sharing

Yeah he made silver on the old scoring system, he was a big lad. Bit of an extraction story behind him too…..

 

[AeternusTaxidermy]

Yeah he made silver on the old scoring system, he was a big lad. Bit of an extraction story behind him too…..

Lmao! Please tell the story associated with that photo what a beauty he was!