Your buck looks great!! Thanks for posting an update.
This years buck I used a sous vide machine.
The wife wouldn't let me use the home one, so I bought a cheap one off Amazon.
It did work, but it was a learning experience.
First is it slower than simmering but a lot faster than macerating...
Second, I had to place a thin bag around the head as the meat etc, was staining the heating element and creating some interesting smells that got the boss asking. Once I had the skull and water in a bag, it worked Ok, but the lack of water circulation did slow the cleaning process. Will work on this the next time.
Third was figuring out the temp, but some research on taxidermy forums brought me around to between 165-175 deg. It will also depend on how well you prep it.
Just like sous vide at home, insulate the container you are using will keep the temp much more even.
It took approx. 3 days over letting it sit for 12 hours, clean and repeat. Then some time cleaning the brains and the last little bit of stuff
Then I did a lower temp, around 140 and soaked it (no bag) in Dawn and Oxiclean to degrease it. Changed the water every 12 hours until no more grease, another 2 days.
Then let it sit out in the winter sun over the next few weeks.
I decided to leave it natural instead of the peroxide treatment.
I am happy how it turned out.
Overall, I will try this again as I didn't have to worry about the skull getting soft or discolouring the antlers. Trial and error.
Cheers
SS
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