My euro deer mount.........stinks!!!!

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arjppj

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I let me deer head sit out from early December until yesterday, the 'coons and maggots pretty much took care of everything inside. The only thing i had to do was peel back the skin and throw in the simmer pot outside. Well, it smelled like a pot o piss, let it air out overnight and it still stinks. I'm looking at the bottom of the skull, where the spinal cord hole is, and the bone section right in front of it a dull gray color, where as the rest is white now. The only thing I can think of it that as the brain decayed/got eaten out, it sat on that section and soured the bone. Should I just let it sit out a few weeks to air out? Anybody else experience this?
 
I let mine sit in an anthill through the summer - no problems after that. Some people like to use a bleach solution too, but that changes the color pretty drastically and can actually eat away at the skull/rack if it's too strong. If it stinks, I'd just leave it outside a bit longer
 
You can use a solution of water bleach and hydrogen peroxide on the skull. It will stop the stink bu do NOT get it on the antlers or it will bleach them out.
 
I'm using 40% hydrogen peroxide to whiten it and am "basting" it every hour or so right now, but the wife is complaining about the smell. I know bleach can deteriorate the bone, so I'm going to stay away from that since there are already some fragile sections around the eye and top of the bridge of the nose. Its already been outside for two months, so I guess I wont miss it if its outside a couple more.
 
Don't know about leavin' the hide & such on, but I usually slice the skull plate off from the back of it to the upper nose area........ I then skin the thing, remove as much tissue as possible and find a good ant hill............have one being cleaned now. After that treatment the bleach method works well, just don't let the thing stand in the stuff.

Can't see why the same approach wouldn't work for the full skull........
 
might be too late but right after I skin mine I spray easy-off oven cleaner and it melts what ever tissue is left behind.
 
For next time, it's a lot easier to skin the skull when it's fresh and the skin hasn't hardened. Raw untanned hides can be really tough after they've dried. That's what the Native Americans and others used to make/cover their shields.

After you've skinned it, it'll be easier for the little critters to get in and finish up the job too.
 
I bury mine and dig them up around May, wash them down in bleach and let air dry. The worms and beetles do a fantastic job if your not in a hurry.
 
I skin out the skull and remove the lower jaw and what is left of the spine. Then i slow boil the skull. I also add dish soap to the water to get rid of the oil and grease the skull produces. Then i rinse out with water and remove all the left over tissue out of the nasal cavity and brain material. Then i brush on volume 40 hair salon cream and let sit for about 8 hours, rinse it all off and repeat volume 40 cream about 3-4 more times until skull is a nice white, this product will not harm the skull either but do not get any on the anters as it will whiten those as well. This process actually produces a smell that pleases women lol.
 
To late now but you should have googled your "how to " question. There is step by step directions available. Look at it this way,you`ll know better next time.
 
This what not intended to be a how to. I know how to. I was wondering if anybody else has had their deer head stink so freaking bad their wife said to get it out of the house. The head is cleaned out. There was no flesh, the head was cleaned out, but the bone just had a sour-ass smell.
 
I have modified this to include a light spray using Kilz spray primer as a finish...and I don't always do the hydrogen peroxide part since the Kilz makes it look close to the same....but this gives you a good framework. It is important to pull all of the brains out.

BTW: I made the table top wood mounts for use on my gun bench or desk.

http://ecosportsmen.com/?p=256

Mount-1-XL.jpg Mount-2-XL.jpg

Reloading%20Bench-2-X2.jpg
 
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