# Fish heads on shed



## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Kinda antiquated in todays' world I guess, But:
Over the years along with Antlers, recovered skulls etc we used to tack large pike, catfish and gar heads over a friends barn door. The fish skulls only lasted a year or two then disintegrated.
This fall I'd like to take a couple of mean 'ol male salmon heads and put them on the fishing shed. What's a good cheap treatment for some modicum of durability outdoors? 3-4-5 years possible?


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

clean em out... degreas em, get all the meat out of them including the cheek meat... exct exct (cost nothing ) and then fil it back in w/ critter clay (about $7 ) and then seal it w/ fungicidal sealer (about $10 ) and you can get a couple of fish heads done w/ those two things... if you want the eyes then you will have to replace the eyes w/ fake ones. another $4 to $12 depending on the maker.


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

oh i forgot, you can fill em w/ borax or soak em in lantern gas to semi preserve them... but only after you get all the meat and grease out... if you dont get the meat and grease out, they wont last long at all.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Would boiling them with borax/peroxide like the European deer skull mounts I've read about get the cleaning done or would they fall apart from loss of conective tissue?


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

they would fall apart.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

neil duffey said:


> they would fall apart.


So I just scrape away with an Exacto knife or what?


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

when you originaly posted i had no clue you wanted just the skull. i wouldnt know how to get a perfectly white skull im sorry. we just dont have people asking us to do european skull mounts on fish every day.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

neil duffey said:


> when you originaly posted i had no clue you wanted just the skull. i wouldnt know how to get a perfectly white skull im sorry. we just dont have people asking us to do european skull mounts on fish every day.


That's ok, just wanted the heads to last awhile outdoors, not fall apart in a year or two. Maybe I'll wait until they weather a couple months then dip them in some kind of UV epoxy. Thanks for the consult.


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

jimp said:


> That's ok, just wanted the heads to last awhile outdoors, not fall apart in a year or two. Maybe I'll wait until they weather a couple months then dip them in some kind of UV epoxy. Thanks for the consult.


im surprised no one else has chimed in... but any time you need help post up. were glad to help


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## Paul Thompson (Jul 16, 2007)

Fish heads outside on a barn door,,,,, will NOT last very long, nothing will outside, even lawn furniture will fall apart if left outside in the elements.
If you can put an awning over it to keep the sun off of it, you may get a few more days out of it. Fish heads nailed to a board is normally not a taxidermy product, but a home made kind of trophy to save a dollar.
Thats why fish heads on sheds look like garbage, there is just no way to treat a fish head to last outside in the elements. Just to get them clean enough not to leak greese to be hung on the living room wall is a chore alone.


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## GoNorthMore (Jul 17, 2009)

We used to hang them outside for a month in the summer to let the bugs clean them, then use a spray shellac on them. I've got some at the hunt camp that are 20+ years old but they are in a screened porch so away from most of the elements. Look pretty rough and ugly, but that was always part of the appeal.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

GoNorthMore said:


> We used to hang them outside for a month in the summer to let the bugs clean them, then use a spray shellac on them. I've got some at the hunt camp that are 20+ years old but they are in a screened porch so away from most of the elements. Look pretty rough and ugly, but that was always part of the appeal.


That's it! Character!

The door is on the shade side, so just a couple coates of shellac gets a couple years? Sounds like what I'm doing. Can easily replace Gnarly 'ol dog salmon heads every few years...the other stuff lasts longer. 
We stick up any old skulls of any kind, critter eaten sheds, turtle shells, anything interesting for catching the youngsters (and neophyte adult) interest and conversations about about nature.


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## James Dymond (Feb 23, 2002)

Not outside but a cheap job that is fifty years old. Jim


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Yesiree!
Character :coolgleam


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