How should one care for velvet antlers immediately following the kill? Plan to carry to taxidermy for preserving but do not want to damage velvet or cause difficulties in the preservation of the velvet. Could be a number of days prior to getting to the taxidermy.
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It is imperative that you DO NOT TOUCH those antlers. The natural motion is to grab them in your hands. That's a good way to have your handprint emblazoned in the velvet. Be especially careful in moving the deer. Don't bang the antlers on anything as you likely induce a "peel". It is very time consuming and tedious for you the hunter and the taxidermist, but it's just what you have to do with velvet. Once the skull cap is removed, place them in a deep freezer before you do anything. When I get them in, I use dry wall screws to hold them to a table tennis paddle looking piece of plywood. I ship them to the freeze dryer that way as well. That allows anyone to pick up the antlers without actually touching them.
Why not wait until the antlers are properly grown before hunting. People who shoot half grown heads aren't good hunters.
People with half grown brains shouldn't post here.
Thanks George. I have an opportunity to muzzleloader hunt in early September and just in case the deer was still in velvet I wanted to have some idea of how to handle it.
Pete - sounds like you know nothing about hunting - any animal taken is worth preserving to the best of the hunters ability.
There are deer killed all times of the year that still have velvet. I guide hunts in oklahoma and texas. I have had 3 late seanson deer killed that still had velvet. 2 of them had a deformity but they were all mature deer.