Coloring horns

Wyobowhunt · Dec 2, 2008

I shot a real nice buck during archery season, but the velvet has starting to come off so I piled off the rest of the velvet and the horns are all white. i would like to stain them as naturally as I can. Does anybody have suggestions? I thought about rubing them with sage brush, pine and cedar branches. Do you guys think this will give him a normal color. Will post picture of the hotns later. thanks for any suggestions in advance.

Wyobowhunt

Basin_Bucks · Dec 2, 2008

if the antlers are in good shape then that would be the most natural thing to do and besides thats what gives them their color anyway. i think it would take a little time rubbing them this way but overall i think you will be far more happy with them this way than if you were to use a stain. I have restored chalked sheds that i have found using both stain and coffee grounds im not a fan of using stain, as it is very noticable that you have touched them up. my second choice over using natural vegation would be the coffee grounds as it turns out extremly natural looking...

mozey · Dec 2, 2008

...I'm interested as well. I'm not a coffee drinker; is there any particular brand of coffee you'd recommend?

southslope82 · Dec 2, 2008

I have not yet tried this but I have heard that if you take like some leaves, grass, brush, bark and dirt and put into a baggie and with water and let it get really mushy and work it over with your hands til its pasty then applying it to the antlers then rub the antlers on with a board will get it close to natrual??? I need to try it and see I guess! I beleive that there is some kind thing that taxidermist use too not 100% sure but maybe its worth a shot

Wyobowhunt · Dec 3, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Dec-03-08 AT 02:02PM (MST)[p]http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8cc22b3127ccec592f3f039dc00000040O00AZuG7Zk3YuWIPbz4G/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...7Zk3YuWIPbz4G/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...7Zk3YuWIPbz4G/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

What do you guys think

dleonard3 · Dec 3, 2008

I would go out and find an old pinion tree that has alot of that old, black soil around the trunk. You know, the stuff that is full of old rotten pine needles and little chunks of pine sap. Get some of this stuff and run it through a sifter a few times to break it up into a fine mix. Then mix a little with water to make it wet and sloppy. Smear it on the antlers and rub it in good - more at the bases, and less at the tips. Let it dry completely, then brush off the excess. Take a damp cloth and clean off the polished tips, then lightly wipe down the rest of the antler to bring out the highlights. I like to use sand paper for the polished areas, and clean out the vein areas with a damp Q-tip too. You can also rub it on different kinds of brush and trees to give it a little color variation. Once you get it looking good, you can spray on a coat of clear paint (matte, not gloss) to richen the color and seal it.

Try this on "junk" antlers first to see how it works. And don't forget to let us know how it turns out.

WildAntlerMan · Dec 3, 2008

Our Wild Antler MAgic works great and fast. That head would take about 30-45 minutes to do and look great. You can purchase it here through Brian or at our web site. $30.00 bucks and one kit will do around 50-100 antlers like yours. Heres the links:

http://www.monstermuleys.com/cgi-bin/store/store.pl?page=wam

or

www.wildantlercreations.com

Wyobowhunt · Dec 4, 2008

Wes,
Thanks for the information. I look forward to trying WAM out. If it works well and I do a good job I will post a picture and send one to you.
Thanks
Tory

nebo · Dec 5, 2008

I will be waiting to see if it works for you. I have some I would like to do. If anyone has used this stuff would you post some pictures.

WildAntlerMan · Dec 8, 2008

Here is a set which were about 3-4 years old.

nebo · Dec 8, 2008

They look good and you used the W.A.M the product that is advertised on this site. It seems to work very good.

WildAntlerMan · Dec 9, 2008

Yes, we used WAM, above in this post are the links on here and our site.

shedfish19 · Dec 9, 2008

That looks pretty good. . . great job!

nebo · Dec 9, 2008

I will be ordering some soon. After the application do you do anything else to them. They look very nice and have a shine to them.

WildAntlerMan · Dec 9, 2008

Thanks. The instructions comes in the kit. You can make them shine or as dull as you want, after schlaking them just get some dry WAM and buff the shine off. It is really easy to do. Takes about 30 minutes to complete from start to finish. (depending on drying time.)

glass_eye · Dec 12, 2008

Potassium permagenate works best. Looks like gunpowdwer and you mix it with water. Goes on purple but turns brown as it dries.

Flatlandr · Dec 12, 2008

>Potassium permagenate works best. Looks like
>gunpowdwer and you mix it
>with water. Goes on purple
>but turns brown as it
>dries.

I agree it looks good but in my experiences with potassium permagenate you need to seal it with a clear coat as the coloring is not very durable and will wear off if handled much.

Tsho · Dec 12, 2008

I've actually found sheds that were pretty bleached by the sun(not chaulky, but totally bleached) so i just acted like i was a pissed off territorial buck and picked a helpless little cedar tree and started rubbing. The moisture from the tree made it easy to blend in dirt and also made it stick real well. After about 20 minutes i had a fresh looking drop..... so anyway, yeah when a deer wants to color their hair... i mean horns, they go to the cedar cedar horn salon. Just act like a deer and do some rubbin' and scrapin' hahahaha

nebo · Dec 13, 2008

One thing I do with sheds is rub on a a johnson wax. It really brings out the natural color and gives them a shine. I also would think it would protect the horn like product says. I don't know if it's right or wrong but really does a great justice to the horn. Would this wax be ok to use after I use the WAM product for the sealer.

glass_eye · Dec 13, 2008

If antlers are dry I use furniture oil/polish.

nebo · Dec 14, 2008

Thanks for information. This wax that I use is a paste which I would think would protect the horn also. I have found no ill effects from using this wax.