A head for business: Strathmore teen creates western heritage art out of bovine skulls

Keilan Kugler is the first to admit it's not a pretty job, but cleaning skulls is something he picked up when he was 14 years old.

"Not too many people do them because it's a lot of work," he said.

"And it's not (the cleanest) job, for sure."

Kugler, now 17, runs KJK Skulls out of a garage on his parents' property northeast of Strathmore.

He has six boilers operating at any one time to clean all the organic material off each skull.

Then, he degreases the bone and uses a mild bleach for whitening.

Finally, he sands the horns and uses a polyurethane finish to bring out the colour.

"I buy heads from all over Alberta and you kind of get an eye for what to look for," Kugler said.

"I look for a little red in (the horns) but once I uncover everything, I know all the colour that's going to come and usually, I look for ones that have a lot more coffee colour and a black with a little bit of white at the base."

Kugler says it can take anywhere from 30 to 150 hours to finish a skull, depending on size and the horn length.

He says others in his profession calculate the price of a finished skull by the length of the horns.

"I do a skull charge and then add in my hours," he said.

"I sell smaller ones for like $400 to $700 and then all my bigger ones are like $700 to $3,000, pretty much."

Kugler's mom, Holly, says her son is passionate about his business and she's watched his work improve over the years.

"He's very artistic. Doesn't come from me," she joked.

"But he started just figuring things out from YouTube and trial and error."

She says her son has clients all over the country and has sold more than 200 skulls.

She says some people want them in their homes or offices to add to their decor.

But others want skulls that tell a story.

"Sometimes, it's a family history piece -- a cow or a bull that's been in their family forever, so (Keilan has) finished it for a memory piece," she said.

"And then there's different ones that he's done that are Canadian champion bulls -- something that the stock contractor can have in their home."

Aside from his business, high school studies and working in the family businesses, Kugler grew up in a rodeo family and is an accomplished team roper.

"He's done very well with his roping," his mom said.

"He's headed down to nationals for the high school finals here in July, he's headed to Las Vegas in the fall to the Junior NFR and yeah, he's accomplished a lot. There's many, many buckles and prizes and stuff like that hanging on the walls in the house. So super proud of him."

You can learn more about KJK Skulls here.