fritz the time varys i haven't done a large amount but i have done some in 6 to 8 weeks in hot summer temps as longer in cooler. it does take a while and i get busy and dont check like i should.

when you pull out a fairly clean skull,may be a few small tendrals hanging but no worries as these tend to dry up and turn to dust with little effort.and dont get worried if the skull looks a littl greyish or if you mess around and leave it in longer than you think you should have.

pour out your water.
another word of caution here learned the hard way...there will be bugs and other things in the water when pouring out WATCH FOR YUOR TEETH some critters loose teeth not so much deer but others and i have lost some i now pour thru a screen i made.

anyway refill bucket with clean water and a generous dose of dawn dishwashing liquid and soak for a week or so.this pulls the grease from it.
then i take it out and hang it to dry out.when dry or you get back to it.you can proceed

i clean up any died matter ,which hasn't been much so far and can be done with toothbrush and pocket knife.
then i wrap the horns in saran wrap as the soulotion in the following step will cause whiting of the horns real fast.
glue back in any bones or teeth that have fallen out and i have had the upper bones come out forward of the nose,usually by ruff handling.

 then  mix a solution of salon care 30 or 50 volume creme developer and quick white super strenth powder purchased at salley's beauty supply,for a few bucks. this will foam some.i then just paint on and wait 30 minutes and rinse off with water hose.
let the skull sit for 30 minutes to an hour,i usually fling arrows during the waiting parts ,as it will whiten some more as it sits.

if the skull is not white enough to suit ya paint it again and let sit for another 30 minutes or so,shoot some more and let sit i haven't had to do one a third time and at anytime after rinsing you can pause and return when you want to paint again.

  now i am still experimenting with seals i have used triple thick from hoppy lobby and it gives a wet shiney look and the latest i am trying is a water based polyurethane,dont use oil based as it will yellow the skull.

then i hang on a plaque,those shown are made by a buddy of mine i work with.and i may add make the skulls look even better he puts them at an angle to show the horns a bit.the pics were taken more from the top to show the skulls

got me some old weathered barn wood to hang the ones i am doing now  some on to see how they will look

Thanks again for the info, Gerald! Now I just have to get off my butt and get it done.    

most welcome fritz,you can call me goat maybe a few folks have run into me ta the shoots,i amby no means an expert but they been comming out good so far and with my schedule it works for me real well

I hear you. Time is my enemy. I just don't have time to babysit one that is boiling.

great job, look really good.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8003/dscf0014cm1.jpg

This is what we do with Javalina skulls

This was perfect timing since I just found a winter kill of a nice 13 pt buck. Was wondering what I was going to do with it.

Nice job  

Very nice! Chortdraw, awesome art work!

thanks for posting the info!  Gonna give it a go on mine and see how it goes...still pretty cold yet to let it sit in a bucket...it'd freeze lol.  Gonna print this off and wait for spring.

chortdraw that is awesome!i have one that is painted but just one solid color nothing as cool as that!sadly i am nowhere near that gifted.

Good job!

Excellent job ! i have seen alot of them done and those are about the best ive have seen the have a shine to them... crest white strips for the teeth eh!

I have 2 more to do and these were cleaned very well. Now to figure out what to do on them. I guess I will have to take a break from my carving and concentrate on painting.
 I have given my bow making equipment to my buddy so he will try his hand at building some bows. If he builds as good as he shoots he won't have any problems. I'm getting to old to have so many prodjects  

Very nice work on those skulls!

Enjoy!

Shoot straight, Shinken