I decided not to get the hide tanned on my bear this year, just seemed like money we did not have right now so I decided to bleach the skull myself and see how it turns out. I figured there may be someone on here who is bored enough that this thread might seem interesting:) So I decided to show each process I go through right up until the end.
I took the hide out of the freezer Sunday and put it in the garage. It has been so cold here that is was just thawed enough today to start skinning. Now, keep in mind, I have never done this before, all suggestions are welcomed. I took one photo of the bear before I touched it. I then started by going across the top of the head and worked my way down. You would be surprised how much "meat" is on the head!!!!!
the second picture is off the base of the skull where the spine hooks on. I know on a human the first two vertebrae (C1 & C2) are called the atlas and axis. I stared at this for a few minutes and was baffled as how I was going to remove them from the skull. while I was thinking I happened to notice my hatchet and began to chop. I got rid of most of it, but I believe C1 is still there.
after that I just did the basic skinning job and got the rest. the last two pictures are after I was done removing the hide and some muscle.
I decided to call it quits for tonight and will do some more tomorrow. tomorrow I will remove as much meat as possible, get the eyes out, and remove the brains with a coat hanger. I read some tips for getting the rest of the meat off and I believe I will use Maceration to get the rest of the skin off of the skull. This will involve emerging the skull in a five gallon bucket of water and letting it rot. I will change 3/4 of the water every 4 days or so depending on the temperature outside and spray it down with a hose. Once this is done, I will soak it in lacquer thinner for a minimum of two weeks and be ready to post part II. God Bless.

Good luck there David on the skull.  Pretty impressive the amount of muscle powering those jawbones!  Alot of work but it will look pretty neat when bleached.

I've done just one and I bleached it in strong hydrogen perxoide and bright sunlight.  Ended up giving it to my son's biology teacher at the time who had an extensive skull collection of many species in his classroom, but no bears.

Nels

I'm interested!  I'd like to see how someone else does it.  I've done a deer and a hog, both were somewhat labor intensive, though that may not be the right word.  It took time and some attention, but not hard work.  Eyes and brains always seemed the hard part.  Thoroughly scramble the brains before they have a chance to harden, whether by cooking or drying or whatever.  You can always put the hide back in the freezer until you have time to fool with it.

I was going to get too the brains tonight but it was snowing and pretty cold out. this next part is the long part, as you said Glenn, not labor intensive, but I am going to have to pay attention. the weather is not warm right now and I don't see it getting any warmer. been anywheres from 19-30 derees in the mornings. this may take longer with the colder weather. I am going to plug forward though. I should of started this in september when I shot the thing! as far as the hide, my wife has about had it with "hides" in the freezer. just got rid of my buddies bear from last year. it shouldn't be my last bear so I will just concentrate on the skull this time. God bless.

That's pretty gnarly, David..... :)
 
 
Can't wait to see the finished product!

david If you need help let me know.I learned how to do mine thru my taxidermist not using bleach as it will flake and stain, eventually over time it wont look good.Im headed into town for a few hours but you can reach me at 907.590.4409 thats my cell.It will be easier and faster to explain the process than type away here.I'll try and get some pictures up soon. Daniel
 
p.s.forgot to tell ya thats a good looking bear.Im lareday excited for this up coming spring hunt.BTW! I just remembered I had put some bear skull pictures up already on here somewhere.Just check em out,I may have stated how I did the process there.

David, I always skin the head out when I skin the rest of the varmint. I set the head outside while it's still warm weather and let insects clean most of it up. Maggots do a pretty good job in a short time. After a week or so, I put the head in a bucket of water for a few days to keep it from drying out and start cleaning it myself. An old butter knife does a fair job of this and won't scratch the bone up like a sharp knife does. I then soak it in peroxide a couple days. A small wire brush is then used to scratch off anything left. It can be bleached completely white but don't leave it in bleach too long or it will destroy the bone. I hose it off good after bleaching and let dry.   .........Paul H

Paul,
Do you use just plain old peroxide from the store or do you get some of the more potent variety I have heard of from a chemical warehouse?

Glenn, I just use the regular drug store stuff. It's cheap enough. A gallon is just a few dollars. Don't be surprised if it looks like it's boiling when you drop a bear skull in a bucket of it. Protein makes it foam up. It's also useful for trying to find a blood trail after you shoot a varmint. You can take a small spray bottle with you hunting and spray it on whatrver you think looks like blood. If it's blood it will boil up good. It also boils up when it hits certain leaves but nothing like it does when hitting blood or protein.    ............Paul H

Thanks for the information guys. I am gonna set it outside since we may have a couple weeks where it gets to 60. I still see alot of bugs outside so maybe this will help. I did order a bleaching kit because it costs next to nothing. the first thing they tell you is to "boil" it, so to speak. from all I have heard, this is not good, so I will not do that. Gonna be a long process I think. God Bless.

Quotetomorrow I will remove as much meat as possible, get the eyes out, and remove the brains with a coat hanger. I read some tips for getting the rest of the meat off

this sounded good the night I wrote it, but it never happened. I decided to try and set the skull outside and see what would happen. After one month of sitting beside my garage, exactly what I expected happened, nothing. it was just to cold and there were no insects to speak off. when we got our first snow I took the skull and immersed it in water. I left it in my furnace room and it stank up the place so I put it in the garage. Water froze up so I had to think of some other way to get the meat off. I was sitting on my couch the other morning and remembered we had a Crockpot we never used that we got as a wedding gift. I decided to break it out and put the head in it and see what happens. Now, I did not ask my wife what she thought, but figured it would not matter since we never used it in 9 years. when I got home there was not a square foot of the garage that did not stink. I got in the door and I believe one of my boys told me I was in trouble. After that was all settled, at least I think it is settled, I went out to scrape the meat off the skull. The Crockpot worked as I anticipated, most of the meat just fell off of the bone and the brain just poured out for me. I scraped and pulled almost all of the meat off, but there was some I just still could not get so I immersed what was left in water and put it in the furnace room since it does not stink like it did. Hopefully in a couple weeks it will be bare as I keep changing the water. as I stated before, I started this at the wrong time of the year, but dang it, I am going to have this done before winter is over. I took a picture of the skull once it was cooked. I did not get a chance to take any pictures after most of the meat was off because I did not dare to pick up the wifes camera after handling the skull. once I am done this next process I will post pictures of the bare skull. Once it is bare I will immerse it in bleach as Paul has stated then in peroxide. Hopefully will post again in a couple weeks. God bless.

David, I can't help but laugh at your delimina. Don eabout the same thing myself but by leaving a head in a bucket of water outside. The neighbors cancelled a back yard outing with friends because of the smell. They can always move somewhere else. It's a lot of work cleaning a skull but not hard work. Sometimes you need a cast iron stomach tho. Women just don't seem to understand sometimes.   Good luck........Paul H

ahhh that's just funny.  At least you didn't start this the day before Christmas when all the family was coming over or something.  Yes, it's a stinky process.

QuoteSometimes you need a cast iron stomach tho

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Ain't that the truth!!!!!!

QuoteWomen just don't seem to understand sometimes.

My wife is a physical therapist and in college she spent a year in the dead labs disecting cadavers. She thinks this project is pretty neat and really liked the pictures I put in my first post. But, she did not like the use of the crockpot. she got over it fast and everything is fine now that it is cleaned!!

God Bless Good Understaanding Women