Old skull cap question

F

Fishingkid

Active Member

Messages

104

• Jun 26, 2021

• #1

I have a plastic tub full of a bunch of old deer skull caps horns I cut off the tops of the skulls and did not remove the hide. I cleaned out inside skull and salted everything let them dry outside until they no longer smelled. Some of the hair has fallen out of a couple I was wondering if it is possible to get the hide off? I cut the skull caps from behind the horns to the top of the snout. Maybe I can trim all the caps down smaller and more uniform to hang on my wall. I figure someone here has experimented with something like this before?

 

K

kota

Member

Messages

20

• Jun 26, 2021

• #2

I had one with some dried out hide and soaked it in water for a bit to soften the hide up, then skinned it off, cleaned it up and did antlers on a plaque with it. Here are a couple examples of the finished product.

 

diablo

Very Active Member

Messages

1,223

• Jun 26, 2021

• #3

^^This

 

Horniac

Very Active Member

Messages

1,412

• Jun 26, 2021

• #4

Might be easier to just simmer them in a big pot like you do for a European skull and power wash them clean. Since your just keeping the skull cap instead of trying to keep the whole skull with the more delicate nasal bones and teeth, you could probably be even more aggressive and do a full on boil to speed the process…

Horniac

 

Buckhunter1955

Active Member

Messages

781

• Jul 23, 2021

• #5

I've taken the old dry hard hide off by using vice grips. I just peeled off strips and pieces.

 

hornkiller

Long Time Member

Messages

4,269

• Jul 23, 2021

• #6

Flat head screw driver works wonders!

 

BLooDTRaCKeR

Very Active Member

Messages

2,764

• Jul 23, 2021

• #7

I just throw em in a pot of boiling water with some borax as a degreaser and soak for an hour, then scrape it off with little effort.

 

J

jims

Long Time Member

Messages

3,965

• Jul 25, 2021

• #8

It's possible to do this with or without boiling. It may take for the hide to loosen up so I'd likely let it soak in water for a while. I often soak mine in mule train borox plus dawn. The borax keeps bugs off and the dawn gets rid of the grease. It should be a lot easier to clean since you are only using part of the skull.

If you want your skull to whiten up you may want to either brush peroxide paste or soak it in peroxide liquid. This will also kill most of the bacteria so it smells better.