Submitted by James Morrison on 12/20/99. ( ruralwsc@lcc.net ) 209.34.9.50
I just got in my first Blackbuck antalope. I have done lots of deer and other small mammals. I took this mount in on trade for a South Texas W/T Hunt. I am comfortable looking at my references and doing the mounting, were I have questions is in the skinning, cutting the skull plate, and taking the horn off the plate and cleaning the core. Another problem is that I have a small freezer and it wouldn't fit in it (has real tall horns). I had to take all of the shelves out of my fridge and turn the temp way down. I need to get this thing skinned and salted and out of my fridge asap so prompt responses graetly appreaciated. Thanks in advance. James Morrison in Huntsville, Texas
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This response submitted by mike on 12/20/99. ( the_taxidermist@yahoo.com ) 208.46.229.32
James-
Skin the critter just like a deer, except that you will
need to cut the skin loose at the horn bases; fell around
them and cut right at the line where the horn hardens all
the way around the base- cape as usual.
If you are not sure who's mannikin you are going to use,
save as much of the skull plate as possible- make your cut
from the rear of the skull through the pre-orbital spur and
out the bridge of the nose. You will have enough skull then
for whichever style of form you choose, trimming later to fit.
The skull plate should be boiled right away to remove the horns.
Wrap horn bases(2"-3" up) with tinfoil to keep the water
from staining them, simmer with sal soda and alittle dawn
until the horns pull off. Pack the horns with salt to dry
and clean the cores by scraping off the connecting tissue
and simmering for a few minutes to degrease. You can cut
the cores back to three or four inches, that's plenty for
re-attachment.
mike
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