Antler velvet taxidermy question...

tod osier

tod osier

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I shot a pretty nice 9 point in velvet and was considering tanning the rack myself (ordered antler tan already), but the velvet is pretty scuffed up in places. It is neat to have one in velvet, since I haven't ever shot one, but I'm now wondering about skinning the velvet off since it won't look that great anyway.

The rack is in the freezer and the antler tips appear hard all the way (i.e., there are no soft tips adn the skin over the antlers is uniform thickness over the entire rack). The antler tips don't appear sharp under the velvet, but that may just be the deer.

Is there any way to tell if the antlers will look good once the velvet is off?

Thanks,

Tod

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T
 
I don't know about the velvet but you are right that is a very pretty buck. Congrats on a fine deer.

Tim
 
velvet tan isn't necessary, just use formaldehyde if you can find it....

better to do it fresh, but only if it's freezer burned will you have problems... poke a bunch of holes (esp. in the tips ) and soak the entire rack in the formaldehyde. If you don't have enough to do that, inject salt water to displace the blood/other fluids until it flows through clean... then wrap in plastic (to keep it from leaking) and inject with the formaldehyde.

You can put it back in the freezer after the formaldehyde has time to do its thing...

Done as freshly as possible, it should look almost as good as when you killed it. Don't be afraid to shampoo it up real good when done, it will do wonders...
 
Tod,
Two things, If you strip the velvet off the antlers will be WHITE and slightly on the rough side. The color and polish come from rubbing them on trees. The other most guys are having velvet antlers freeze dried. The home tanning kits will leave the velvet looking more like crushed velvet than the peach fuzz that's on them now. If you go the freeze dried route make sure you talk to the freeze drier to make sure he is comfortable with doing these unless your taxidermist has his own freeze dry unit. (most taxidermists send this job out so make sure you don't get some fly by night guy)

Nice buck!
 
Paul & Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I haven't handeled one in velvet before, and I'm surprised how easily the fuzz came off, I treated it very carefully and the bag I have it in is full of fuzz. I froze the head the following morning, does velvet slip like hair on a hide or is it just not attached very well? I don't think I'd have anything left if I shampooed it.

On the freeze drying, I can likely do that myself at work. We don't have a chamber big enough, but I could build one to fit.

So if I stripped the velvet off I'd have to polish and color. I'm sure I could find directions for that.

T
 
I don't know about the velvet but you are right that is a very pretty buck. Congrats on a fine deer.

Tim
Click to expand...


Thanks Tim, I especially like the orange summer coat mohawk he has.

T
 
Freeze drying is by far the best choice. And YES, it will "slip", even overnight (you'll notice it probably dried a bit and shriveled, not having the same "full" look to it). They are very sensitive when fresh and hair loss is as easy as rough handling it (I'm sure you noticed that bucks are typically VERY sensitive to their antlers before shedding, avoiding branches, etc.).

And shampooing is for AFTER it's cured/dried.... and shouldn't cause any hair loss as the roots should be "set" by then...
 
also, you can get "fake" velvet done by one of the supply companies and aside from the monochromatic look to it (which can be shaded with paints to get a more realistic look), the finished product is awesome. Not sure you'd like it stripped/stained (which is really pretty easy) as the antlers don't have that burnished/rubbed look to them...
 
Yep, velvet slips just like the skin only you're dealing with hair that is already starting to die so is prone to slipping anyway. If you can freeze dry it yourself then I'd prep it like Paul suggested and then freeze dry.

If you strip off the velvet you can polish your antlers with steel wool and fine sand paper then dye it with walnut stain or oak stain. A helpful hint; staining antlers like this or sheds is like staining end grain red oak. It will SOAK up the stain and once done there isn't anyway to get it out. Start at the pedicles and work your way out. Antlers are typically darker at the bases with less staining on the tips. You can vary the colors of stain to more closely match what your local deer look like. Finish with a good rubbing of tung oil. (which will darken everything a bit more too)
 
One last question...

It seems like there woudl be no harm in trying to preserve in velvet then if it looked like crap, soaking and stripping?

Paul, you have any links on the imitation? I assume it goes over preserved and freeze-dried antlers.

Thanks guys. I wished I had got it into the freezer that day.



T
 
Tod,
The antler flocking is similar to the same stuff you put on goose decoy heads. On antlers it can look pretty bad if done wrong. If you want a nice job I'd recommend sending the rack to Research Mannikins. I'm not sure what they charge but you can give them a call. They have the chemicals if you want to preserve them too.
http://www.rmi-online.com/
 
Nice buck you got there. I've never done a deer but have done several caribou and a couple of moose in velvet. I've used a few things, but have settled on Varsol. I inject the big veins with a honker of a syringe and then paint the whole thing with a regular paintbrush and Varsol. Soak it good. Repeat everyday for a week or so until things are looking really mummified. Then I let it hang outside to air for a few months. Lots of guys know more about this than me though, this is just one way.

As far as trying something and then stripping it later, I had just that sort of thing happen a couple of years ago on a caribou that was too long getting to me. After I did my thing to it, patches still slipped so I started peeling the whole works. What a job! It was 80% mummified and looked like crap when I was done. I'd say decide now what you want to do. Also, one guy here in town puts color in peeled antlers by rubbing them with willows and moss and dirt and whatever he feels the varmint would have done on its own. VERY time consuming, but looks great in the end.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Mike
 
DO NOT use flocking unless you like looking at a piece of crap. The link to Research is what I was referring to.... You ship it to them and they do their own process.

I can't seem to dig up a picture that shows it. They will send you a sample which is just a dowel with the stuff on it. On a small rack it's fairly inexpensive but the price gets big quick with caribou, etc. (esp. with shipping!).
 
Thanks everybody for the help. I have some "antler in velvet tan" that I am going to try and I think I'll freeze dry. I haven't decided, but I think a skull mount would be cool, since I probably won't shoot another decent buck in velvet.

Best,

T
 
If you're going to do the skull mount yourself, it may be obvious, maybe not, but you're going to need to cut the antlers off before you clean up the skull. Make two cuts at an angle (with hack saw or thin blade bone saw) so that you preserve the antler's position and direction (for reattaching). SIMMER (not boil) the skull, and remove all the gristle and meat, then wash thoroughly. If you want a bleached out look, get some strong hydrogen peroxide (40% if possible, but the 3% stuff will work) and mix it with some magnesium carbonate and apply to skull. Put it out in the sun and when it dries/whitens to your satisfaction, wash off and you're done/ready to epoxy the antlers back on.
 
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