Bear skull preparation

[troutkingmaster]

We just got the skull back from my girlfriends first bear she shot last year. One of her friends prepared it but it still has a stink to it so I can't bring it inside. After looking closely, there is still a bit of dried flesh etc. in various nooks and crannies, which is where I assume the smell is coming from. How do you guys get all that out, do I really just have to take a pick and get after it? Also, do I need to find out what the guy did up til now beofre I try anything like boiling, bleaching, etc.? Thanks

[Boar]

Boy good luck, I have my taxidermist send it to a dermestid beetle colonist an it comes back as clean as a whitstle, if it smells that bad there has to be more flesh than in the nooks an cranies, brain cavity maybe, just assuming. Boar

[CANOPY SAM]

Boar might be right. I'd drill a small hole in the roof of the mouth, gently toward the brain and see what comes out. If nothing's there you might get away with covering the skull thoroughly with several layers of floor poly.

[harvey lee]

Yes, beetles are the way to go.

The smell may go away in time. I would scrape away any flesh you can see and then hope for the best. This could take some time.