quick skull cleaning for traveling

[mtnbiker208]

when pressure washing, utilize rain gear and glasses's.

 

[rclouse79]

Do the best you can with a knife. Then roll into a car wash and spend $2 on the pressure washer. Good to go.

A pressure washer will save you a lot of time. I learned the hard way to get the skull secured and stay away from the nose end. I had to super glue some delicate bones back together.

 

[KenLee]

Do the best you can with a knife. Then roll into a car wash and spend $2 on the pressure washer. Good to go.

Came here to say the same

 

[pirogue]

The western states that I’m familiar with require ALL meat and tissue to be removed from skulls and skull plates. So, hose and pressure washer “cleaning” wouldn’t even come close to legal.

Boiling is the only quick method I know to use.

Agreed. Car wash is making an effort, not satisfying regulations.

 

[Weldor]

Sad part is No two states have the same regs about it. Texas requires 4 quaters bone in, Arizona deboned meat. New Mexico ? Kinda hard to keep up with all the regs. Are you suppose stop at the Texas border and butcher your meat? or vice versa? That said Peroxcide is cheap , I skin and clean skull and drop it in a large pan with a quart of Peroxcide and water it cleans right up after some time. Plus it whitens the skull as soon as the sun gets to it.

 

[ElDiablito]

I skin and clean skull and drop it in a large pan with a quart of Peroxcide and water it cleans right up after some time.

Cold? Or you boil it in peroxide?

 

[Stave]

Not saying this is the best way, but this is what we do:
1) skin it, cutting most of the meat off but don't go crazy. Boiling later will make the remaining meat come off easily
2) focus on getting as much of the eye and brain matter out. Use a sharp knife and pliers alternately to get the eye sockets cleaned. Use a coat hanger wire to blend the brain (this is much easier to do before boiling. If it is raw it will drip out). ***The eyes and brain are the most important parts to remove thoroughly if you don't want to bring diseases to your home state, which is the whole point***
3) build a fire. Wrap the antlers in saran wrap to prevent smoke discoloration. Use electrical tape to secure the saran wrap and aluminum foil to shield it from heat.
4) boil 30 minutes. Drain and clean using knife and pliers. Repeat.

This whole process takes ~4 hours for a whitetail skull. The plus for me is that I can do it in camp at night and not have to search for a car wash or water hose on the way home. It helps us be entirely self sufficient and remain in the wilderness. But check to make sure you can build a fire where you are at

 

[Stave]

Or...skin it out, wrap it in a trash bag, and put it inside your truck and don't get pulled over. I think devoting a whole day to boil a skull is kind of ridiculous.

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Uh . . . PLEASE remove the brain so you aren't transporting prions

 

[BH2010]

Uh . . . PLEASE remove the brain so you aren't transporting prions

Yeah, I thought that part was a given. Like you say, that's the only real issue.

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[ElDiablito]

Yeah, I thought that part was a given. Like you say, that's the only real issue.

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The prions can be detected in the brain, tonsils, lymph nodes, eyes and spine. So, all those are “the issue.”

 

[BH2010]

The prions can be detected in the brain, tonsils, lymph nodes, eyes and spine. So, all those are “the issue.”

Yes, and when you skin/flesh a skull out with a knife there won't be any tonsils or lymph nodes or eyes left either. My question is why do the regulations say a skull has to be spotless to travel when, as you've also stated, you can remove all of the questionable materiel and still have bits of muscle and cartilage attached?

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[2rsquared]

I've boiled (more like "simmered") plenty of whitetail and hog skulls, but never an elk. If lucky enough, I plan on preparing the elk skull for transport across multiple state lines using an old school coleman stove and an oval galvanized metal tub.

What size tub does one need to fit an elk skull?

https://www.amazon.com/Behrens-3-OV-16-Gallon-Oval-Steel/dp/B000RNHBO8?th=1

 

[Duh]

I've boiled (more like "simmered") plenty of whitetail and hog skulls, but never an elk. If lucky enough, I plan on preparing the elk skull for transport across multiple state lines using an old school coleman stove and an oval galvanized metal tub.

What size tub does one need to fit an elk skull?

https://www.amazon.com/Behrens-3-OV-16-Gallon-Oval-Steel/dp/B000RNHBO8?th=1

I’ve found the cheap tubs I bought leaked a lot and I had to keep dumping more water in, which took longer to get to my boiling temp.

I still haven’t found a decent pot to bring with on my out of state trips.

 

[Weldor]

If you have a sheetmetal shop close by, they can make one up pretty cheap. I had my made for Elk skulls so it's a custom fit no wasted space 2" over the top and about 1-1/2" side ,end clearance. About $40 bucks.

 

[Bearclawbeav]

what about car wash
then douse with clorox ( try not to get any on horns )
then rinse with car wash
throw in bag and hit the rd.

 

[chindits]

Cut the bottom 1/3 of a steel drum and you can do elk no problem.

 

[wapitibob]

Remove the eyes and use a wire to remove the brains and you're fine in WY; straight from the chief game warden.

 

[WCB]

just bring a LP tank burner and a cheap kettle/pot. Remove as much tissue as possible...simmer for 30-45 minutes (mabe a scoop of oxyclean) then hit up a self spray carwash.

Best part it is 99% done so when you get home no need to worry about it. I've done this on many trips including ones where I killed a deer in 1 state and headed to the next state for another week of hunting. No partial rotting skull in the back of my truck or worry about being stopped and having an issue.

 

[SDHNTR]

I have yet to see any state enforce the ALL meat removed, pressure washing works well. The cartilage does not have to be removed as stated above.
A piece of wire into the brain cavity and then spin it will break up the gray matter and let it fall out, the lining in there is harder to get out though.

CA enforces this at the level of the taxidermist. Because they get fined, many now won’t accept a skull that isn’t capped, perfectly clean of all meat and connective tissue and dried. My taxi had to stop doing out of state euro mounts for this reason. Even with brain/hide/meat/eyes removed. So ridiculous.

Previously, I used a stiff wire chucked into a drill if I had access to one, scrambled the brain through the hole at the atlas joint and then a pressure washer, hose or air compressor and blast away. Just keep your mouth closed when you spray!

 

[NateK]

Check the regs for all of the states you will be traveling through. Our local game warden recommended that after we clean up the skulls as well as we could we soaked in a high percentage bleach solution for 30 minutes and then wrap/tape up in a contractor bag so if we got inspected the bleach smell would help serve as proof that we had done our best to eliminate all living material.