Cleaning Heads

[jamross65]

Some ideas please.

Last summer I cleaned off 4 Roe heads with the intention of getting them scored at Scone Game Fair next month.

The bottom line is that I put them in the garage to finish off properly but this didn't happen! There is now some very hard skin left under the coronets and I am looking for suggestions to remove it. I was concerned that soaking in water would allow the skull to absorb which defeats the point in drying and the fair is only a week and a half away.

I was also considering steaming by sitting the skull above boiling water which hopefully would not cause it to absorb anything.

Any suggestions other than the obvious of doing the job properly at the time

 

[6pointer]

get in and about it with a blunt screwdriver that will sort it long nose pliers for the nose cartallage. Dont re soak in any way you will not get the official score with a scull that has some wetness about it.

 

[moose]

I would re-boil, if they do make medal you will want them to be presentable and nice and clean, after you have boiled and scrapped them, put them on top of your central heating boiler or aga or the likes for acouple of days and they will be totally dryed out. If there is a problem with them still being damp, you can still have them measured provisionally, similar to anything shot this year in May or June will be provisionally measured then re-weighed again after the 90 day drying period for the official scoring. I had one last year, measured at the Gamefair then after the 90 days i took it Bushware for the re-weighing, can't remember but think there was only a point less of a difference.

Either that get them measured the way they are, you might get some more points for the extra weight

Moose

 

[mj robson]

I would boil and power wash the head then put it somewhere hot as Moose says.

I put mine on top of our oil central heating boiler and they dry from wet in a short time. I have a set of UWE HS-3000 scales, the same as the CIC use to measure, I keep track of the skulls during drying and on top of my boiler they will dry 100% in less than 3 days (most is lost in the first 24hrs).

Your head has gone over the 90 day period so the core of the antlers is dry, this bit is important and can hold a lot of moisture, especially in early season heads. If you re-boil only the skull will get wet and will be easy to fully dry again in a short period.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[6pointer]

If you can get it dry thats fine like said the moisture that needs time too dry is in the bone not on it. But i cant see any reason for getting it provisionally done .If its wet wait till its dry and get it done once and done right.

 

[smudge262]

as long as you dont demand a medal for a provisional score !!!!

 

[moose]

6pointer, if its debatable whether it will make a medal then take it to the gamefair and have it measured if your going anyway, if it doesn't make medal then nothing lost and no cost involved, if it does then you get it reweighed and the medal is then awarded.
If it's a definite medal then i agree wait for the drying time and get it measured once.

Smudge262 , you only get a score sheet with provisional marked on it and only get the medal after the allotted drying time.

Moose