Great info! Your photos and report are much appreciated.I originally buried my antelope head (hide on, horn sheaths off) on 9/2. I dug it up on 10/12 and it still had a considerable amount of hide and flesh still attached. I was doing my muzz buck skull anyway so I dug the antelope up again on 11/9. Much to my surprise, there was virtually no tissue/meat/hide left on it. But it was very stained, missing teeth and nose bones and most of the sutures are very loose. It feels somewhat fragile. I washed it, boiled it, washed it again and let it soak in a pretty stiff hydrogen peroxide solution overnight. It turned out better than I expected. I still think boiling while fresh produces better results though.View attachment 427529View attachment 427534View attachment 427535View attachment 427542View attachment 427545View attachment 427546
Thanks! The deer doesn’t stink at all, but he was fairly fresh. The very tips of the antelope horn cores (or whatever the bone beneath the horn is called) are a bit smelly, but it’s only about 1/2” of them that wouldn’t fit completely under the water/peroxide. To me, it’s not strong enough to be off-putting and I only notice it when the horns are off and it’s right in my face. In my experience, the beauty store 40 volume peroxide creme mixed at 1ish cup per gallon in water does a pretty good job of de-stinking/degreasing/whitening. I usually mix the peroxide and water, place the skull in the pot, bring the pot to boil and then turn off the heat and just let the head soak in the pot overnight- or longer if necessary. But be mindful of where that peroxide goes- it’ll bleach anything it touches, including your skin and the animals horns. I think I paid $14 for a gallon of the 40 volume creme at sally beauty supply a couple years ago. And like @swampratt, I use a power washer to clean the heads after my initial boil. It’s messy as hell, but it does get them real clean.Great info! Your photos and report are much appreciated.
Does it stink much?
I’m curious… I’ve got skulls in the ground
That looks great! Really cool deer too!View attachment 428060View attachment 428061View attachment 428062View attachment 428063My first attempt at this. Went well used strong peroxide and power washer
mounted it to a board and it is hanging on my cabin's porch as a towel, hat, coat rackThat looks great! Really cool deer too!
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