Hello I'm not a taxidermist, but I was hoping somebody could help me with a question. I'm about to go on a blackbuck (population control) hunt in the texas hill country and I was just wondering how I could get the core out of the horns. The local taxidermist charges about $150 to mount a set of bb horns, but I figure I can do it for alot less. Any help would be apprectiated, thanks for the time.
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I want to know if they actually DO come out. I've mounted two and was unable to ever get the cores out. (I figured that after rotting, boiling, and finally letting them hang to dry for a year, all I needed was to saturate them with bug proofer.) So someone who's an expert, please tell us the answer to this one.
If you do -it--yourself you will most likely figure out it would be better to take it to the taxidermist. These things are messy at best.
and you could screw up the horns. Than what will you have?
Terry, The horns will come off of the cores. You have to be very careful if you boil them. You don't want to over cook them. I keep a very close watch on them when I do them, and twist them ("unscrew them in the diection of their twists"), every few minutes till they come off.
With that all said, if it were me, I'd take it to someone who knows what they are doing.
Good Luck
Eric
Thanks for the help. I've shot a few nailgi down here in S. TX, and I skull mounted them myself, but I figured a blackbuck since it has twisting horns would be some what harder to do, I guess I was right. I'll more then likely take all of the blackbucks to the taxi. Thanks again for the time and advice. Happy Hunting.