I am new to the art of taxidermy and have no experience in any of it's many areas. However, I am a skilled in the field of art in most of it's areas. I am an avid hunter and outdoorsman that over the years have picked up sheds and harvested many mule deer. I now have a collection of antlers that fill a wheel barrel and would like to use them before they are wasted and sun bleached. Most of the racks have separated skull plates and cracks from being in the sun too long. So they are not in real good shape. I do have a couple of sets scoring in the 180's that I would like to restore and modify if possible. The problem is that there are complications to what I plan to do and which is the best way to do it. So here are a few questions that I don't know what to do about.
1. What must I do or use to fix separated skull plates?
2. How do I fix broken tines and points?
3. How do I attach more tines to the original frame?
4. Is there a way to make main beams or tines longer?
5. What is the best way to increase mass, circumference?
I plan to take a original set of mule deer antlers and use part of other deer antler along with whatever else I need to create a modified set of antlers. For example: taking a set that scores 140 an altering it to a 200 class. I am not sure if any of this possible but I would appreciate knowing and what steps and materials are needed. Thanks for your time.
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Bill,
Bill (Cur) Gaither did a great article on antler repair that might answer some of your questions.
You can read it at www.TaxidermyReference.com You will find it under the Bill Gaither "Special Features"
Good luck,
Mark