I'm very new at taxidermy and attempted to cape out my first antelope, which I figured would be the same as a whitetail...wrong. It was going great until I reached the horns where the skin and hair actually grow into and over them. How do you remove the skin/hair from these horns, or do you? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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You have to actually cut the skin from the horns at the hair line, then continue skinning as usual. You also have to separate the horn sheaths from the cores...I'm sure this is covered in the archives extensively (I prefer to microwave them). Also, before you seperate the sheaths, drill a small hole in the back of each one into the bone so you can line them up correctly when you re-attach them. I have used bondo to re-attach horns for 15 years with no problems, but George might tell you a horror story or two involving bondo and horns...
One other difference you'll find between antelope and deer is the gland area on antelope cheeks. This area needs to be fleshed out thoroughly. If you don't you'll probably have hair slippage in this area, and it will probably really stink like an antelope after mounting. This should be done before salting. My mini-flesher has a hard time cutting down through this area, but it still gets the job done. I'm anxious to try my knew fleshing machine on these, because I'm sure it will work easier. The top layer is kind of tough, and then you'll hit a real fatty area underneath. I've only done a few so maybe someone with more experience can elaborate on this. It's also covered extensively in the archives...Steve