I was looking through some old photos I had, and I found some I took while processing a deer head for my cousin. I figured I should share because it was an interesting process.
(note: except for the finished product, photos have been spoiled because there is a fair amount of blood in some, and the rest might be disturbing to some people. If you are squeamish, then I wouldn't suggest you look at them).
[spoil:3dh3qiei](//http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/Skeletal_Atheist/deerhead.jpg)[/spoil:3dh3qiei]
This is the deer head after I removed all the skin and the neck. Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of the head while the skin was on it.
[spoil:3dh3qiei](//http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/Skeletal_Atheist/headstuff.jpg)[/spoil:3dh3qiei]
All the skin and meat I removed from the head. That was quite a bit more than I expected.
[spoil:3dh3qiei](//http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/Skeletal_Atheist/tools.jpg)[/spoil:3dh3qiei]
The knives I used for removal of skin and meat. The exacto was also used to remove the brain by way of stirring inside the cranial cavity in order to create a sort of brain soup, that then dripped out.
[spoil:3dh3qiei](//http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/Skeletal_Atheist/deerheadstew.jpg)[/spoil:3dh3qiei]
Simmering the deer head in order to remove the rest of the meat. I had to simmer it for about 3 and a half hours, and the smell was less than pleasant. The antlers are wrapped in foil so they don't get accidentally bleached during the process.
(//http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr287/Skeletal_Atheist/finishedskull.jpg)
The finished skull being hung up to dry.
In general it was an enjoyable project, and I would certainly like to experiment with some different methods if I get the chance to undertake another project like this. I imagine one thing I would change would be to use a greater variety of knives when removing the flesh, and also to try to acquire the head after the deer has been freshly killed rather than having to thaw it out. I'd also like to try another method of removing the brain, maybe a vacuum or something (I admit that I gagged when some of the brain dripped onto me).
Awesome. I'd love to get my hands on a deer or buffalo skull to do some scrimshaw on it. I've done a little bit on some bone knife handles, but some of the skulls I've seen are just beautiful.
http://imgur.com/gallery/ZqWUJvs (http://imgur.com/gallery/ZqWUJvs)
^ Oh wow, I don't think I have the artistic talent for that. Now that I see that though I would certainly like to get my hands on a cow head, process it, and hand it off to someone more artistic than me and let them do what they want.
That's cool. I used to hang out with a guy in Cheyenne who' did that. We'd go around in the spring looking for shed antlers and sometimes find a complete skull. He found a 6 point elk skull with the ivory still in it once around Estes Park. He processed it and did the Sioux type decoration on it. He made a nice chunk of change selling that kind of stuff to tourists during frontier Days.
Quote from: "stromboli"Awesome. I'd love to get my hands on a deer or buffalo skull to do some scrimshaw on it. I've done a little bit on some bone knife handles, but some of the skulls I've seen are just beautiful.
http://imgur.com/gallery/ZqWUJvs (http://imgur.com/gallery/ZqWUJvs)
:-D That buffalo skull is really beautiful, and shows excellent skill with carving. Thanks! Solitary
Looks great!
I work in the parasitology field so a lot of my colleagues and peers are bug people. It's not uncommon for these people to have colonies of dermestid beetles that do the cleaning for you so you don't even have to remove the soft tissue. Take a head, place in container with beetles, and let things happen. They do a remarkably good job of cleaning the thing inside and out.
Quote from: "Mermaid"Looks great!
I work in the parasitology field so a lot of my colleagues and peers are bug people. It's not uncommon for these people to have colonies of dermestid beetles that do the cleaning for you so you don't even have to remove the soft tissue. Take a head, place in container with beetles, and let things happen. They do a remarkably good job of cleaning the thing inside and out.
Think I saw that once on an episode of "Bones" (used to watch it lol)
Deer head looks great! And love the scrimshaw of buffalo head - beautiful.
Quote from: "Mermaid"Looks great!
I work in the parasitology field so a lot of my colleagues and peers are bug people. It's not uncommon for these people to have colonies of dermestid beetles that do the cleaning for you so you don't even have to remove the soft tissue. Take a head, place in container with beetles, and let things happen. They do a remarkably good job of cleaning the thing inside and out.
I thought about getting my own colony once, but then I figured I don't process often enough to justify it. Maybe if I ever get into making European Mounts for all the local hunters or something.