Boiling a Deer Skull

add bleach

I wrap the base of the horns with Foil and then fill with water to where the skull is just out of the water. A touch of soap helps.


Take your time. Let it simmer more than a rolling boil.


You'll need a needle nose to get all up in the head.

pressure washer helps to get loose meat off



For the whitening, I apply peroxide gel that you can get from a nail salon. Brush it on 2-3 times (once a day) then rinse it off




I need to adjust the skull and move it higher on the state

Another option is send it to someone with beetles. I don't think they charge much and you won't have to ruin a pot and mess with that nasty sumbitch.

But if you do it, leave horns out of the water. When you're done, put peroxide soaked paper towels on the skull, it'll brighten it right up.

After its boiled good and you want to hose the brains out of the skull by aiming at the spinal cord hole, be very careful to keep your face away from the backsplash.


If the antlers fade/bleach, you can stain to match the old color.

I let mine simmer for 4 hours or so, taking it out and removing the loose meat every 45 minutes to an hour. Once it's pretty clean i bend a wire coat hanger into a hook and pull out the brain. Once the brain is out I pressure wash the nasal and brain cavity. Usually I'll remove the nose bones and super glue them back on once the skull is totally cleaned.

Do not use bleach to whiten, it will cause the bone to be brittle. I use volume 40 peroxide mixed with white bleach powder (I get both from Sally Beauty).

Buck Boiler Kind of like a crock pot for skulls, neighbor has one and it works really well.

I prefer maceration simply because you can't damage the bone. However if you are going to cook make sure you simmer , not boil. Boiling can quickly go from perfect to damaged bone. It also can drive grease into the bone. Don't let bleach anywhere near it, same for washing soda. It will make the bone brittle and chalky.

After it is clean put it into soapy water back on the burner for a couple hours min. I normally do a week at 110 but that is a bit of overkill for whitetail. If you don't degrease you will have some yellowing in a couple of years.

Whiten with peroxide from a beauty supply place. Go easy with it. I don't like it to be too white, I like bone color. You can always bleach more, can't really take it back. If you want something besides standard white there are several interesting stains out there. The potassium permanganate and old english dark wood polish are my favorites.

The skull on the right was done with old english.

Found a skull this year and dipped it

do you guys get skin off before boil? Brain still inside?

DO NOT add bleach to your water whatever you do. Just simmer in plain water for about 3 hrs, power wash, let dry, apply peroxide and let sit for about 6 hrs, rinse, let dry, you're done. (I've done over 2,000 european mounts for people)