I wanted to post some pictures of the cleaned skull of the 8pt I took on Sunday. He did not have a huge frame to his rack but it was sure pretty set. His horns were dark mahogany from all the bay and pines where he lived. It really contrasts with the bleached skull which came out like a museum mount.
The trick to this is not to boil it so long that you ruin the cartilage in the sutures that holds all the individual bones together. Otherwise, the skull will be loose and the teeth and a few bones could fall out.
Another important part of the process is the bleaching with does not actually use bleach at all. Bleach will leach calcium from the bones and ruin them. The proper product is hydrogen peroxide with a final drying and bleaching under the sun for a short period.
I also like to clean the horns and coat them with a protective coating of polyurethane.
There are a number of other important steps or tips to know for the best outcome and I'll do a more in-depth posting on this at a later date with plenty of in-progress pictures. The process sounds difficult but it is not really that bad.
Anyway here's the finished product and a link to the actual hunt story:
First weekend Bow Hunting Report 2010
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