Anyone have any tips for skinning a deer skullplate. I let it sit for a week and now the hide is like hairy titanium. Is there a chemical that will disolve the hide and leave the antlers unchanged?

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ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"

LOL, yup, let is soak and soften up a little then give your son a screw driver and a carpet knife and tell him not to cut himself. You may want to up his allowance if you don't have to run him to the emergency room for stitches...

good luck
GF

You might check with a local taxidermist to see who has Dermestid beetles. I think it's relatively cheap to let the beetles do the work.

Allowance? Ha! He's 37 and he warned me not to let it dry but I forgot. My wife went out tonite Christmas shopping so I took the oportunity to boil the **** out of the skull in one of her stainless steel pots. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Got 99% of it off but there's still a little gristle here and there especially under the antler bosses. I just hope it doesn't smell. I'm using this rack to upgrade an older mount. It's too good for a plaque but not good enough to spend 600 bucks on a mount.

__________________
ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"

I assume they eat whatever I miss? Sounds like a great idea, I'll ask the taxidemist. Thanks.

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ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"

They may not work, the skin might need to be removed by hand anyway. Taxidermists use them to remove all the meat, especially on the skull with all of it's nooks and crannies.

I was reading up on some taxidermy tips recently and it seems there is a product for this. I recall it was pretty cheap just can't remember the name. Google netted a supply co that carried a wide variety.

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Gun Control should come in three flavors: Safe, Semi and auto.

Thanks, guys, the boiling and the elbow grease did it.

__________________
ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"

Did you par boil and remove the hide, or completely boil it and have it fall off?

Reason I ask is, I have a head been sitting in the freezer for 2 yrs, and I need to take care of it.

I filled a large pot with boiling water and diped the skullplate in. The antlers sitting on the edges of the pot kept it submerged in the boiling water. It softened after 15 minute but was still difficult to remove so I kept it in for about an hour. The hide didn't fall off but I was able to remove it with a knife and pliers. I then teek a small wire brush on a drill to clean off the remaining fat and tissue.

__________________
ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"

Thanks! My neighbor boiled his deer head(after the hide was off) for about 8 hrs (outside) to get all the stuff off of it for a euro mount. He used a little dawn dish soap in the pot.

I have 2 heads I am going to boil for the same purpose.

You can buy the mounting kits from Cabela's, Midway, Natchez, etc. that contain powdered chemicals for the skull prep. Directions on use included. You have to supply the bucket, though!

If you can find an ant hill (particularily in the South with the fire ants), just place the head on the hill for a week and come back for it. Should be as clean as a whistle.

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A euro mount uses the whole skull with all it's nooks and crannies so cleaning it is a much more tedious task than just cleaning off just the skull plate like I did..

__________________
ED PANZELLA
"SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER"