dead buck antlers

[lv4huntn]

A friend of mine found this buck dead a couple years ago. The skull was in pretty bad shape and the antlers were white. He gave them to me to fix up, so I cut them off the skull and stained them. I plan on putting them on a skull. I have looked at several skulls to mount them on, but I think the guy who advertises in trophy hunter has the best one. Any opinions?

Dan

 

[muleycrazy23]

I have bought several of the skulls from Kade Bambrough to mount some sheds on and they work great and are very easy to work with. His are the ones in Trophy Hunter mag. You cant go wrong with those and the pedicle is from a deer that had 5 1/2" bases so they fit pretty much any antler size. Here are some of the sheds I mounted from last year.

 

[Huntemup]

Hey Lv4,

It looks like you did a fantastic job of staining those antlers. Do you mind sharing how you did it, what you used, etc.? Or is a trade secret?

Also, are the skulls that you're talking about that are advertised in T.H. off real bucks or are they replicas? I guess I haven't paid enough attention to the ads.

Thanks,

Huntemup

 

[lv4huntn]

muleycrazy23,
That is a good looking mount and exactly what I was hoping to see. The skull he makes is a great replica. I really like the finished product. Those are some great sheds as well.
Thanks for positong those pics.

Huntemup,
I used a method that was poted on here last year. I used aged oak minwax stain in the gel form and then toned it down with mud. I repeated the process several times and got a good color. you can take an emery cloth and rub in the spots where you want some polished tips. the skull is a replica.
BTW I really like the post you had with your dog> I have been contemplating purchasing a lab. Your pics kind of comvinced me to do it. Thanks

Dan

 

[Huntemup]

I appreciate the info Dan...I'll give it a shot. I've tried other stains in the past and am usually somewhat satisfied, but never totally. I like your idea of combining a gel form stain with natural stuff like mud. I'll bet the antler doesn't soak up the stain in soft spots as much with gel either. Anyway, I was impressed with that set in your picture.

I think that going with a lab is a great choice for several reasons...of course I'm very biased! I'll post some more pictures of him with his finds sometime. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more this year...he's already off to a pretty good start!

Best of luck!

G.

 

[Huntemup]

Hey Muleycrazy23,

Awesome sheds! The back forks on that 3rd pict. look enormous! Of course all the forks look great on the buck in the 2nd pict. I'd say you've got some productive honey holes out there! The mounts look great too. Way to go!

Huntemup

 

[MrB]

Looks like hair around the pedestals. Why did you cut them off separately?
Just curious, Mike

 

[lv4huntn]

Mr B,
The skull was in pretty bad shape and the nose was completly chewed off. I wanted to give it a good mount with a european type replica. Now I just have to cut the rest of the skull off without damaging the bone!
Dan