I have a muskox head to be mounted. It was preped by anouther taxidermist in anouther part of the country. The horns were boiled off the skull as far as i can tell. So now i'm trying to get them to slip back on and there is no way they will fit. I have never done it this way and was hoping someone would know how to get these horns back on the skull cap to fit properly or any other ideas on how to mount these on the head. Thanks in advance for your advise.
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musk ox, but it sounds like the horns were allowed to dry off the skull plate, and shrunk too much. Just file aways the bone on the skull cap until they slide on.
Muskox have a large bump on the bone core that would lay right under the horn boss when they are together.Often this hump has to be chiseled off before the horn sheaths will come off.Some times when the horn is soft from boiling it can be sprung over this hump to remove it.After drying then,the horn won't flex enough to go back on.If this is the case,you need to remove that bony hump so that the horn sheath will slide back on the bony core.Use bandsaw,sawzall,wood rasp-whatever it takes.Make sure get them lined up properly when you glue them back on.There will be a little less bone to help them index perfectly.Good luck with it.
when a horn is removed from the core and dries, it will shrink.
place the horn, not the core in water this will swell it , soften it and allow you to slide it on the core. let it soak over night if needed.I've never sean muskox horns come off.