antelope horn mounting

[kapper]

Wow!  In figuring out how to use this board I went back and looked at all the posts about horn removal....please know this....I don't want to start a bunch of back and forths like what happend here before.....The type of simple mounts I do are not high tech by any means, Clean the hair off the skull plate, mount to a thin plywood form, cover and shape with plaster and then cover with leather...like I said, simple.....from what I was reading in prior posts it sounds like I can't do that with antelope horns...why not?  Will whats under the horn rot and smell or will the connections that are in there eventually dry and the horns just fall off of my mounting...I guess I don't understand why I need to take the horns off....also I did not see where anyone addressed the issue of the little bit of hair that seems pasted to the horn bases, how do I get that stuff off....I'm wondering if I bit off a little more than I can chew in takeing on this project...

[lookn4awhitetail]

That connective tissue that is inside those horn cores will ROT, and stink, and I am suprised that you have not smelled them already.  I dont seen many speed goats so I couldnt attest to it personally but you need to get the horn off and clean that.  If you are charging someone money for the service then you need to be doing it correctly.  That little bit of hair I quess would have to be trimmed if you dont want it on there.  Antelope horns are made of hair cells so its logical that there would be hair infused to the bases. 

[kapper]

Welll I didn't have a microwave big enuff to use and didn't have a large enuff metal container to boil the horns in but I managed to get them off by soaking them in multiple pots of boiling water poured into a 5 gal. bucket......it was a pain to get them off but now I see what everyone means by "connective tissue"....almost like the scalp on your head covering bone underneath the horns....I had no idea it was like that since I have never done horns before.....It's always interesting to see how critters are put together....I think I can handle the rest.

[Hammer]

Kapper, I am no expert but you should never put the horns of any animal in boiling water, what you should have done was start by drilling a small hole in the back of each horn and drill threw the sheath and into the horn. This is used as a guide for when you reattach the sheath, that way you know how far down to put them. Because of the cartilage that is removed from the bone horn your sheath will slide down to far from what it originally was. Next get a pan and put about 3" of water put skull in pan and boil water then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 min. The sheaths should pop right off. Clean skull with whatever means you wish, then clean the inside of the sheaths because they will stink. I just put a little turpentine in the sheath and wash it around then pour out and  it should evaporate quick. Then I fill with dry preserve and leave in there for a few days, then dump it out and wash with soap and water. Now after your skull is cleaned and sheaths are clean and no residue left in the sheath you reattach the sheaths. I start by drilling a couple holes completely threw the skull horns so that the bondo goes threw the holes, don't know if that's needed but that's what I do. Then mix up your bondo and add some to the cores and into the sheaths, don't put too much cause it will all come out. Next find your hole that you drilled as a reference and align and hold until bondo kicks, then do the other side. Good luck. Oh also there should not be much hair around the base of the sheath, all I do is burn it off. And don't ever put them in a microwave you may just blow the hell out of them.