724wd Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 so, i aquired a set of whitetail antlers last weekend still in velvet. if i decide to leave them in velvet, are they going to start stinking? i know there is blood in the velvet, should i remove it (the velvet)? just trying to get ideas on how to work with them (display). and since you were wondering, not poached, roadkill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 You ask a good question,and I hoped you'd get some answers,'cause it's something I've wondered about too.Deer are in full velvet in New Mexico during archery and blackpowder season,and I have seen mounts with velvet.I took a taxidermy class at the local JC just long enough to know it's not my bag,and anything we didn't want to stink,we rubbed Borax into or soaked in anti-freeze.I'll ask at work,there's a couple guys that sideline doing taxidermy stuff,and maybe I'll have an answer this afternoon. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
724wd Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 well, they were stinking over the weekend, so i stripped it off. kinda a pain, and that smell really gets into the pores of your hands. i think i got it all off (my hands) and when i clean the horns of the residual blood, i'll wear gloves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 My taxidermy friend said he'd only done 2,and he used a hypodermic needle to shoot phormaldahide(sorry about the spelling) between the antler and skin,but they still dried out and didn't look so good.According to him,now days most strip the skin off and use a spray that imitates the fuzzy skin.I'd have stripped it off too,and he also said that sometimes the antler is extra white under the velvet,so after it dries and is cleaned up,use a little wood stain to give it a natural color.He does lots of European mounts,and he puts the skulls and horns would be the same,in a fireant bed.I've seen that done,and they're cleaner than a hounds tooth after a week.Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emul8 Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Yuck...I didn't know that the velvet on a deer's antlers was full of blood! I mean, it sound completely sensible now (how else are antlers supposed to grow?), but I never thought about it before. Like any tissue that involves a high concentration of blood, there isn't really an easy way of preserving it though...blood starts to decompose very, very rapidly once it is no longer circulating...as you found out from the way the antlers began stinking. That's a trip though.... You learn something new everyday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelsdou Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 A buddy of mine had a bow-kill muley buck mounted still in the velvet. He told me the fellow that did the work for him "freeze-dried" the rack to preserve the velvet. How he freeze dried it I have not a clue. Pretty awkward to fit in a freezer, unless he went with a spray down of cyrogenic CO2 or helium. Anyway, I think it looks like hell. Dead velvet looks like dead velvet, not at all like it looks a live muley buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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