Contact Us

Outrageous Adventures Guide Service
c/o Kerry & Dawn Konold
PO Box 412
Mobridge, SD 57601
(605)-762-3474
outrageous_adventures@hotmail.com
Map
GPS Coordinates: N 45 30.567',W 100 18.544'

Directions from Mobridge, SD:

7.5 mi about 13 mins

From: Mobridge, S Dakota (A)

  1. Head east on W Grand Crossing/SD-20/US-12 toward 1st Ave W - Continue to follow SD-20/US-12 4.3 mi
  2. Turn right at SD-1804 3.2 mi

To: 130th St/SD-1804 (B)

Or - Click here for directions from your location of choice



Share on Facebook subscribe feed

buck skull

Permalink: buck skull
by , Posted to on 09/09/2009 3:22 PM | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 10/04/2005
Location: ND
In early march I burried a buck shull. How long does it need to stay in the graound to become completely cleaned off.
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 3:56 PM | Reply #1 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 07/14/2009
Location: ND
I have never buried one so I can't give you a good answer although If you had steaked it out by  a big  ant pile it would have been clean in early March.
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 4:47 PM | Reply #2 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 06/28/2002
Location: MN
put in a  pail and let the fly's at it, maggots do the job in jig time and its CLEAN! much faster and better job than ants etc..
 
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 5:22 PM | Reply #3 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 08/18/2009
Location: nd
if you go to you tube they can help you with this. just type in what you want
ssbullhead
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 6:06 PM | Reply #4 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 10/04/2005
Location: ND

thank you all

Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 7:04 PM | Reply #5 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 09/05/2008
Location: ND
Toolx4, the next time you want to clean a skull try this.  Take the skull and wire it to a tree limb.  This will keep it out of reach of the larger scavengers and makes sure it stays put.  Then cover it with some pine or other heavy foliage type branches.  These will keep the sun off of it and prevent it from bleaching out.  The flies will start the cleaning process and then the dermestid beetles will end it.  Most flies that produce "maggots" as are commonly seen, are to big to access the small blood vessel openings in the bone.  This is where the beetles come in.  They are small enough to go almost anywhere and clean out the smallest fragments of tissue.   You will have a cleaner skull by doing this than with most any other method I have heard.  It will also keep the antlers looking the way they did when the animal was killed.  It has worked for me several times and is a snap to do.  Then cover the antlers with plastic and spray the bone area with a clear coat and your done.  
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 9:10 PM | Reply #6 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 08/28/2009
Location: sd
I have found this isn't quite that easy if you want one that is close to taxidermy quality.  I had one hanging out in the pine tree for the better part of 6 months and the bugs did a pretty good job, but it still had quite a bit of residual on it.  I slow boiled mine in a old pot over my turket cooker stand.  I then gently washed it off.  Be careful to keep the antlers out of the boiling water.  I then went to the local beauty supply store and picked up some 40 volume hydrogen peroxide to soak just the head in a small tupperware container.  Be very careful to keep antlers completely away from the 40 volume...it will bleach them WHITE.  After 24 hours remove from 40 volume and gently rinse away.  I then soaked it sun for a day to really whiten them up.  I mounted mine on some old barn wood that I salvaged from some hunting property.  Good luck here is a link that may be helpful for you as it was for me.  I would post some pics if I could...but don't see a link to post to the topic.


http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/board,17.0.html
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 9:29 PM | Reply #7 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 07/14/2003
Location: ND
If you live close to a college see if the biology or other professor has some of those beetles.  They might love to take the skull because keeping those beetles alive requires grub and a deer skull has just what they need.




 
Kirsch's Outdoor Products | Fargo, ND | 701-261-9017 koutdoorproducts.com
Risovi Taxidermy Studio | New Rockford, ND | 701-947-2048 risovitaxidermystudio.com
Jig-em-Up Guide Service | Grand Forks, ND | 701-739-9198 jig-em-up-guide-service.com

 
Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 10:00 PM | Reply #8 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 11/12/2003
Location: ND

TOOLX4
Be careful with the burying method, mice love to eat antler sheds and the skull is no different. Also, I would imagine the cartiledge may be difficult to keep intact removing from the burial area.

In the future I would recommend just deboning, boiling and soaking the skull in peroxide with in a week or 2 after you have filled your tag. I have done a few 6 month old or older ones (not mine), and that process reeks !!!

https://www.facebook.com/MossyMO
If Guns Cause Crime, All Of Mine Are Defective.

Re: buck skull
by on 09/09/2009 10:23 PM | Reply #9 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 01/30/2009
Location: SD
I buried three skulls two years ago in the backyard.  I dug them one up last year and it smelled AWFUL..  it still had lots lots of meat attached.  I buried it again and dug them up this year.  They were completely clean.  The skulls have a brownish tint to them, and it looks kind of cool.  Next time, I will try the ant pile though.  It will do the job much quicker.
Re: buck skull
by on 09/10/2009 06:30 AM | Reply #10 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 09/10/2009
Location: ND
Me and a buddy of mine have a Beetle colony,  and it works awsome!! We started with 500 and now hace about 10,000-12,000 beetles!!

 Our heads turn out really good, you don'y have to worry about mice, or critters getting away with them. Our colony is eating good right now so a prep head only take about a day to clean out. then a couple days to degrease it and a couple days to bleach it!!

We just did a head for a guy that let his sit out all summer, (it was bad!!!!)  and they didn't like it but they cleaned it up. They will eat a plate of goose breasts (2lbs of cut up meat) in about 24 hours.

We started this to do our own stuff, but now evreybody we talk to wants there stuff done. Kinda cool the stuff you can have them eat, I got a couple a big coyote skulls, and my buddy in alaska is sending me a brown bear skull this week!
Re: buck skull
by on 09/10/2009 08:04 AM | Reply #11 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 04/16/2008
Location: ND
Cut all the fur and meat off it you can and let it sit in a pot of ALMOST boiling, NOT boiling water with some washing soda(sodium carbonate) for an hour or so. Do this outside or in a barn. Do not bury it or put it outside, I have never done it, because the one thing I have most about taxidermy is doing a European mount on a head that is maggot infested and smells like sh$#.
carpe-diem Said: I slow boiled mine in a old pot over my turket cooker stand.  I then gently washed it off.  Be careful to keep the antlers out of the boiling water.  I then went to the local beauty supply store and picked up some 40 volume hydrogen peroxide to soak just the head in a small tupperware container.  Be very careful to keep antlers completely away from the 40 volume...it will bleach them WHITE.  After 24 hours remove from 40 volume and gently rinse away.  I then soaked it sun for a day to really whiten them up.  I mounted mine on some old barn wood that I salvaged from some hunting property.  Good luck here is a link that may be helpful for you as it was for me.  I would post some pics if I could...but don't see a link to post to the topic.


http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/board,17.0.html
I don't believe legally that you can buy those products from, the hair salons. The only thing I do different is, I mix the 40 volume peroxide with equal parts of a product called basic white(pretty much the same stuff that the salons use to put highlights in hair and such). This makes a paste, put that all over the skull evenly, wrap it in saran wrap, then put it in a white plastic bag and place the skull on something white while the paste works. The paste is dried up in a couple days. Then rinse the paste off. Then make a batch of vinegar and water (5 gallons of water to a splash of vineagar. This is to neutralize any paste that is still on the skull. Let skull dry out, then either re-whiten if it is not white enough for you, or take a can of flat white, and mist very little white paint over the skull, if you want it to look really white. After that all dries, I stain the horns with old english(dark brown stuff), scratch filler, and wipe off after a minute or so.  Once everything is dry put a clear coat on it, this will preserve that trophy for a long time and make it easier to clean.

like said before, be sure not to get the past on the horns and don't get the stain on the skull. They sell kits at scheels, that really are not to badly priced. When you take it a taxidermy, you are really paying for his time(boiling method), because it is time consuming, the products are really not that expensive. It is really not a hard process, and top quality work can be done by first timers. Those kits have instructions, give it a try.

Re: buck skull
by on 09/10/2009 11:37 PM | Reply #12 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 07/14/2009
Location: ND
ms666 Said:
  Next time, I will try the ant pile though.  It will do the job much quicker.
Just be sure to pound a steak in the ground and use wire to tie it down or it will grow legs.  Stir up the ant pile good and lay it  on top.
Re: buck skull
by on 09/10/2009 11:37 PM | Reply #13 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 08/28/2009
Location: sd
The volume 40 I purchased was from the local Sally's beauty supply.  Didn't need a license, as they sell to the public.  I got the 40 volume cream and not the liquid.  For my first attempts they turned out pretty good, but I need to work on the degreasing next time and for sure cleaning them up within a few weeks after harvest.  Boiling those skulls was one of the nastiest things I have done.  Going to have to try the old english on a set that I found lying around while hunting last year, they were pretty weather bleached.
Re: buck skull
by on 09/10/2009 11:59 PM | Reply #14 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 12/15/2008
Location: ND
Optimax-90 Said:
Me and a buddy of mine have a Beetle colony,  and it works awsome!! We started with 500 and now hace about 10,000-12,000 beetles!!

 Our heads turn out really good, you don'y have to worry about mice, or critters getting away with them. Our colony is eating good right now so a prep head only take about a day to clean out. then a couple days to degrease it and a couple days to bleach it!!

We just did a head for a guy that let his sit out all summer, (it was bad!!!!)  and they didn't like it but they cleaned it up. They will eat a plate of goose breasts (2lbs of cut up meat) in about 24 hours.

We started this to do our own stuff, but now evreybody we talk to wants there stuff done. Kinda cool the stuff you can have them eat, I got a couple a big coyote skulls, and my buddy in alaska is sending me a brown bear skull this week!
Where do you keep those beetles, hopefully not in the house, would hate to be sleeping and have some bugs eating at my flesh

Re: buck skull
by on 09/11/2009 07:07 AM | Reply #15 | "Quote" | "Quick Reply" |

Joined: 09/10/2009
Location: ND


Where do you keep those beetles, hopefully not in the house, would hate to be sleeping and have some bugs eating at my flesh

 
They will not eat skin, feathers, or hide. What ever you put in there has to be skined! that why that buck was so nasty. Dry as a popcorn fart, so we had to soak it in water for two and half days, then the stink came out, and it was bad, real bad.

We keep them in an old freezer body above my office, at my shop. They don't smell to speak of, unless we have something nasty in there. Put a coyote skull up there a few weeks ago with the brain still in it, (they love brain!!!) but that was real bad, not going to do that anytime soon.
Posted By: GUN DOG
Posted On: 09/09/2009 3:22 PM
2244 Views, 22 Comments
Rate This ForumTopic
  • Currently 0/5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

0/5 (0 votes cast)

You must be signed in to comment on this topic







Total Outdoor Network
TON Sites | Contact | Advertise | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use



North Dakota Fishing and Hunting | Minnesota Fishing and Hunting | Wisconsin Fishing and Hunting | Nebraska Fishing and Hunting | Walleye Fishing | South Dakota Fishing and Hunting | Alaska Fishing and Hunting |