Bear Skull Euro - Degrease?

[cornfedkiller]

What do you guys use to degrease a bear skull? I've read things online about water and Dawn and keeping the temp around 120 for several months, and short of sticking a sous vide in there, I'm not sure how I'd accomplish that. I've also read I can soak it in just straight ammonia at room temperature, which would be easy.

Any experience?

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

Oxy Clean. I soak the skull in a plastic tote box with hot water and the Oxy. Dump it out and use a new batch of clean, hot water with Oxy every 12hrs. I’ll do 3 or 4 soaks. I don’t heat the water with a burner, I just use super hot tap water.

 

[realunlucky]

What do you guys use to degrease a bear skull? I've read things online about water and Dawn and keeping the temp around 120 for several months, and short of sticking a sous vide in there, I'm not sure how I'd accomplish that. I've also read I can soak it in just straight ammonia at room temperature, which would be easy.

Any experience?

Aquarium heater in a container just big enough to hold the skull and water will easily give those temperatures.

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[Antares]

For really greasy bears, you can drill some small holes in the thickest parts of the bones (e.g., rear of lower jaw, etc) to help get the oil out and then soak in straight acetone. It’s expensive but effective. You can refresh the acetone by freezing it and then removing the congealed oil.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Oxy Clean. I soak the skull in a plastic tote box with hot water and the Oxy. Dump it out and use a new batch of clean, hot water with Oxy every 12hrs. I’ll do 3 or 4 soaks. I don’t heat the water with a burner, I just use super hot tap water.

What about just in a 5 gallon bucket or ice cream pail or something?

 

[30338]

The tank heaters in a 5 gallon bucket or actually use this device for degreasing skulls myself..

https://www.amazon.com/QWORK-Metal-Heater-Grease-Insulated/dp/B0875RFY51/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=1ZXVSNL9ADVTG&keywords=bucket%2Bheater%2B5%2Bgallon&qid=1702932945&sprefix=bucket%2Bheater%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-3-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

I hate doing bears though. All the teeth fall out, their greasy, and just a pain. Enough work though it'll look great.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

What about just in a 5 gallon bucket or ice cream pail or something?

For sure. I think a 5 gallon bucket or anything similar would work.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

For really greasy bears, you can drill some small holes in the thickest parts of the bones (e.g., rear of lower jaw, etc) to help get the oil out and then soak in straight acetone. It’s expensive but effective. You can refresh the acetone by freezing it and then removing the congealed oil.

Both of these suggestions are new to me. Drilling is a damn good idea.

 

[TSAMP]

I did Two skulls and did nothing differently than a normal whitetail.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I did Two skulls and did nothing differently than a normal whitetail.

They didnt yellow over time?

 

[TSAMP]

No not really. I've noticed deer yellow slightly over a few years and started clear coating them with a matte finish, but I didn't do these.

These are Two years old.

 

[cornfedkiller]

No not really. I've noticed deer yellow slightly over a few years and started clear coating them with a matte finish, but I didn't do these.

Awesome! Good to know. Thank you!

 

[rclouse79]

I simmered my last one in oxyclean for an hour, hit it with the pressure washer (being careful to stay away from the nose), and then simmered in in oxyclean for another hour. Then I threw it in a 5 gallon bucket full of hot dish water. I put an aquarium heater it there on high for about a month, changing out water every week. So far so good a year plus later on grease spots.

 

[nn76858]

As far as skulls yellowing I've had good luck spray painting skulls with a white primer ie kilz or something similar and then clear coating with the matte modge podge(in a spray can I've only found in Walmart here. I hang them to spray them with deer I aluminum foil the antlers and use electrical tape around the peticles and bases so u don't get paint on them. The 1 bear I did I painted it on a board. Turned out great I did dawn and water in a couple boils w light powerwash. Some teeth did fall out in pot but I glued them back in......

 

[NorCal Mixed bag]

This is my method, and it works great - but bears and pigs are definitely the most challenging:
1. Soak skull in 5gal bucket of water w/several ounces of Rid-X, or any other commercial septic bacterial treatment. Attach aquarium heater to inside of said bucket, and secure a proper position - set temp. to it’s highest setting - generally 90deg F. You may want to build a wire-framed cage to set in the bottom to capture teeth that will most certainly fall out over this long process….
2. Cover bucket with a black garbage bag and secure with bungee cord(s) around the top rim of bucket. You will lose water to heat/evaporation, and will help keep the critters and flies away from this Godawful stew; did I mention to keep this bucket at least 4 city blocks away from your domicile, lest you want to get divorced?! This process is rank…..
3. Change out water every week or 2. Preserve up to 1/4 of previous liquid or supplement w/more septic treatment. Continue this process for at least a month, but for bears & pigs, I’d allow for 2-3 (sometimes longer). The reason I bothered to go thru this long explanation at all is because I’m convinced this temp.-controlled long maceration process is THE best method of removing sinus material, preserving the nasal bone structure AND beginning the degreasing process. You will notice grease/oil floating/collecting at the top of the water bath each time you go to change/supplement….
4. When you feel you’ve macerated long enough, put skull in for a 1st simmer with a scoop of Oxyclean and a couple squirts of Dawn. I never let the the simmer get above 180deg, and never longer than 30min - and I rarely have any problems with the bone sutures falling apart or teeth falling out.
5. Do the simmer process as many times as you feel needed to remove all grease and oil, but I’d be careful with the Oxyclean too many times; it will make the bones brittle/flaky. In fact, I switch to a simmer w/3% hyd. peroxide - just dump a whole bottle into 1 of your simmer sessions. This will purge grease and whiten simultaneously.
6. The rest of the whitening and finishing mounting process I’ll leave out; there’s a couple thousand variations; but my long-winded description here has served me really well in getting all the grease/oils out, and provides a final product that can only be rivaled by beetles (and even better, IMHO).

I think the most important ingredient to this process is time - you have to be patient and diligent if you commit to this process - but it works reaalllyy well. You can achieve somewhat similar results by quick boiling and pressure washing, but it’s not nearly the quality - especially with the particularly greasy critters. Hope this helps.

 

[Joseph2186]

Go to ace hardware get their 10% ammonia get a good 5 gallon bucket with a lid full the bucket with water till its 3/4 full get a some regular dawn dish soap pour about a cup into the water and add 2 cups of the ammonia. Heat the water to 120 degrees. I use a silicone bucket heater for this keep the lid on. Check on it every week or so when the water looks murky empty the bucket and repeat. For a bear this could take a couple months to do properly just did my grizzly bear and took 9 weeks. When its done soak in plain water over night then let it completely dry. If there are dark spots where it still looks wet that is grease you can put it back in to degrease longer. Then you can whiten the skull. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

 

[Bear_Hunter]

Gasoline in a 5 gallon bucket. Couple weeks or so. Cheap and easy.

 

[doc holiday13]

Odo-Ban and Dawn liquid degreaser in near boiling water for 6 hours

 

[flathead#2]

When I do deer Euros I do several "boils"(simmers), changing out the water each time.
On the last 3-4 simmers, I add the Dawn.
Seems to work.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Gasoline in a 5 gallon bucket. Couple weeks or so. Cheap and easy.

No kidding?


I've had it sitting in a bucket of ammonia/water (mostly ammonia) for a few weeks now, and replaced the liquid a couple times... figured I'd just keep doing that for a while.