Cleaning heads.

[auquhollie]

put your heads in a pheasant type feeder drum. Keep the lid off untill you notice maggots feeding then put the water tight lid on and leave for two weeks. The head will be strippped clean and left pure white. The maggots in my drum are still alive after 3 months. You just keep adding more heads.

Best thing is with the lid on there is no smell.

Natures own way

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[Gez]

Thats a great idea, not one I've seen used before, but will probably give it a go.

Gez

 

[zaitsev]

A slight refinement of this is to skin the head before you let it get flyblown and remove eyes etc. This is quicker for the maggots to get at and doesn't leave mummified skin on the skul which is a pain to get off. Quick boil and peroxide after and they're perfect.

 

[irishgun]

i have done many heads this way skin the head, remove the jaw,cut with a hand saw from the nose under the eye socket ,boil for 40 to 50 minutes .power wash it takes less than 5 minutes .clean no mess and a lovely trophy .also if keeping the head in a cold room for a bit skin it and keep it in a bucket of water .

 

[bambislayer]

Here's how I do it

skin head

Cut trophy

Boil [untill meat is tender]

Clean with pressure washer [takes minutes]

Treat with peroxide

 

[Robin Hood]

I've done plenty with the power washer method when preparing for clients but I think I'll give the maggots a try with my next personal trophy, I'm not in any hurry that way.

Do the maggots strip all the fine nose cartalidge as well?

Cheers,
R.H.

 

[auquhollie]

They seem to, When i done it last summer i didnt even skin them. I just put them into the barrel whole and the maggots done the rest. I think putting them in whole was the trick because when you take the head out after a month there is still food left in the drum for the maggots to feed on untill you give them another head.

Whilst i agree there is better ways to do them last year i shot approx 30 bucks and wanted to try this method. I wont swap back this year.

In my experiance the heads were coming out after one month and they were 100% clean and very white. They were covered in slime but after a quick rinse under the outside tap they were ready for cutting.

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[Turfer]

Any ideas onh ow could you adopt the feeder bin and maggot method for use on Fallow and Sika.

Other than get yourself a bigger bucket?

 

[sikamalc]

Maggots what the f////// just boil them out

 

[auquhollie]

Maggots what the f////// just boil them out

Not everyone has a set up to boil with though (and sod doing it in the kitchen). Ok all you need is a big pan and a gas torch but maggots are free . I used to boil them out but i was shooting four of five bucks a week last season and it got a chore to do. By the time i had prepped them in the larder and tagged up ready for the game dealer and chopped up the waste for the dogs i just could not be arsed so i guess i went for the lazy option....

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[sikamalc]

Buy yourself a pressure washer. Boil them cut them and the tie them to a fence and use a pressure washer. You can do all 5 in a about an hour.

And after 34 years of preparing skeletons and skulls of about every species that walked the plains of Africa, its about the quickest way and no stink.

 

[Davie]

Soft feckers just wait till the wifes out .

 

[auquhollie]

Soft feckers just wait till the wifes out .

I spent the best part of my childhood doing just that. My old man used to make me boil out the heads in the kitchen. He then went on to get the fresh tripe from the slughter house. He made me boil that out as well, i remember throwing up in one bucket and putting the cooked and sliced tripe in the other.

I also remember when i first moved in with the wife and was boiling up a set of sheep horns to make some stick handles. I fell asleep i the living room and when i woke the pan had run dry of water. The smell quickly drove me back about 15 years and the wife thought i was slightly weird.

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[bogtrotter]

Hi Guys just a bit of advice regarding cleaning with pressure washer please, I prepare about 200 heads per year my clients plus I do heads for other stalkers, so you will appreciate that anything that speeds up the process would be a big help.

I can see that it would be ok with a big stag head but I am afraid to try it on Roe bucks, dont you find that it blows them apart?
even boiling out a young buck can be a problem and need to get the super glue out.


Just want to hear how others have found it especially from someone who has done a lot on a regular basis.

 

[Rangefinder]

BT

No problem at all with roe heads and a P Washer. Just make sure the angle you fire thro the atlas joint into the brain cavity is a good 'en or otherwise your covered in brains. Alternatively wear a pair of overalls like I do then it don't matter.

 

[willie_gunn]

bogtrotter

Like Rangefinder I've used the pressure washer on roe and muntjac heads and not had a problem, although I'll confess to being careful when it comes to the nasal bones on roe. I always follow the steps of skin/cut/clean, so if I do a long-nose cut the nasal bones can sometimes be fragile.

+1 on the angle of the pressure washer - picking roe brains out of your teeth and hair is not my favourite part of trophy preparation

willie_gunn

 

[bogtrotter]

Thanks guys, I will try it as all my clients are continental all my heads are long nose cut, and being continental all heads have to be prepared everything from yearling cull bucks to medal heads, I will try it better go and buy a stock of super glue just in case.

 

[csl]

+1 on the angle of the pressure washer - picking roe brains out of your teeth and hair is not my favourite part of trophy preparation

+2

The Avon Catalogue lady came round to shove some unwanted junkmail through my letterbox whilst I was pressure washing a roe buck's head on the patio, head to toe in brain matter. I've not seen her since!

 

[Heym SR20]

+2

The Avon Catalogue lady came round to shove some unwanted junkmail through my letterbox whilst I was pressure washing a roe buck's head on the patio, head to toe in brain matter. I've not seen her since!

But Alex Avon skin so soft is the best stuff for keeping midges away - so you will want her back if you ever come stalking in scotland anytime from May through to October!

 

[fineyoungbuck]

I have a good friend who spilt some fishing maggots in his car. They were in the cracks of the seat , everywhere! Being Polish, he thouight it would be a good idea to put a few of his hens in the car till after dinner. When he returned the maggots were all gone.......but substituted with chicken s_hit! he he he he