Antelope horn removal....the final frontier!!

[michael p.]

With all the back & forth on Antelope horn removal tast week I figured I would show my simple "fool proof" method of removing the horn's LOL

FIRST!! Before removing I drill a small pilot hole in each outer side where the "notch" is on the shell. When you re-attach the shell's of Antelope horns they will slide all the way to the base of the skull which is to far. This hole allows you to insert a brake when reattaching the shells so you do not have to guess the proper allignment & heighth of each horn.


Then I simmer them one side at a time in dawn soap & baking soda on VERY LOW heat for 15-20 minutes (a smaller pot allows you to regulate the temperature better)


Stick in other side for 15-20 minutes


And that's it


I then simmer the skull cap only for another 15-20 minutes to remove the reast of the meat & grease.

[Josh K]

WOW that eazy that Micheal p.

[bill@hogheaven]

Looks like most things you do, you do outdoors LOL.

[bw]

Without starting the fire again, I just wanted to say that I think that is still more work than necessary.

BUT  I am really glad you posted it....because I learned a much better way of gauging the height of my horns.  I had always taken caliper measurements from the top of the eye orbit to the "notch".  And Im always wondering if Im off by a little bit.   But the idea of drilling a hole just against the bottom of the horn is an excellent idea.  Nice work Michael.

[Taflinger]

Man,I thought I was a slob until seeing your outside work area Michael P.Now I don't feel so bad.Good tip with the pilot hole.

[Cole]

Man,I thought I was a slob until seeing your outside work area Michael P.Now I don't feel so bad.Good tip with the pilot hole.

You beat me to it. lol Clean up back there MichaelP!!! (j/k, I'm a pretty big slob myself.)

[michael p.]

Without starting the fire again, I just wanted to say that I think that is still more work than necessary.

It could be But it's what i'm very comfortable with and it's simple & idiot proof (unless you forget about them!! )

Man,I thought I was a slob until seeing your outside work area Michael P.Now I don't feel so bad.Good tip with the pilot hole.

The show room and my storage/salting room are the only things in order.....my work are & the back slab look like a bomb hit it!!! I got an old black wino named Leroy that comes by once or twice a week to mow, cleans the yard, sweep's  etc. I'm gonna have to get him to straighten out the slab LOL I had him help me clean out the salting/storage building and it looks GREAT!!

[HOLMES]

Where did you get the special timer for the job? Is it required for professional results?

[michael p.]

Where did you get the special timer for the job? Is it required for professional results?

I thought it would add a "funny" touch to it I'll talk to yall later, I gotta get my a$$ to work

[AndyO]

Where did you get the special timer for the job? Is it required for professional results?

I have the same exact "timer" on my kitchen wall.

Thanks for taking the time to show how you do this MP.

[cattrax]

Just curious Michael, what's the Dawn do for you. I use sodium carbonate myself instead of sodium BIcarbonate. I think it works on the meat a little quicker.

[CHT]

Did you get upset with the trash can with the red racing stripe?         Great idea w/ the pilot hole thanks.

[George Roof]

Michael, "idiot proof" and "fool proof" are words you should eschew.  The FIRST thing you need to find is a cure for your gasoline ass.  Why on earth would you "drill a hole" in an antelope horn?  The things will litterally fall off before you have the hide pickled and tanned anyway, so where's the fire?  A hole in the horn is basically a "dead end".  It won't provide osmosis for any liquid simply because the inside pressure is equal to the outside pressure.  Once you start sliding the core OUT, the hole will allow liquide to seep in behind the vaccuum, but FOR WHAT, THE HORN IS OFF THEN ANYWAY.  The soft tips of the horn core are up toward the core tips so the liquid isn't going to run uphill.  The cores are tapered, so no mechanical advantage is going to be had when insert the cured cores back into the dry casings.  A truly FOOLPROOF method is to bag the fresh horns and leave them OUTSIDE while you take the cape INSIDE and flesh it out and tan it.

[Cole]

If you look at the picture George, he's not drilling a hole in the horn, he's drilling it in the core.

[Darrell]

George let his hippo mouth overload his humming bird ass.