I recently got a blackbuck to do for myself, and everything went fine with it, up to the point when it came time to get the horns off of the cores. I've tried boiling and that didn't even make them budge. Since then I have had them soaking in water for about a week and a half trying to get them to rot off the cores but so far no luck, they won't even twist at all! They are still tight as they were when it was fresh, all of the skull plate meat, however has come off already. I am out of ideas on how to get these horns off.
I've clicked the orange button and didnt come up with much more than boiling them off and letting them soak, neither of which has worked for me. I've even slammed the things against my workbench trying to loosen them and that doesn't even work..I tried prying around the inside of the bases with a screwdriver to loosen, it didnt work either....I must have one hard-headed blackbuck....
Any ideas of what to do?
Thanks,
-Adam
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They won't come off. I drill a small hole in several places along the off side of the horns and inject them with Ortho insect spray full strength. After it dries, I seal the holes with colored Apoxie. I'm told that soaking them in formaldehyde for a couple weeks will do the same thing without the holes, but formaldehyde and I don't get along that well.
the only problem you may be face with now is since you have boiled the head it will take a long time to rot than it would if it was fresh, you will have to give them a chance in the water, sometimes it can take weeks, it depends allot on time of year, the tempter there etc I had some horns in a drum of water for 4 1/2 weeks before they freed up, then I have had horns that we put in a plastic bag in the summer that pop off in 2 days , like I say it depends allot as to when where and how......
One week in the water is not going to loosen the horns. They will have to soak a few weeks. And boiling them was not a good idea. Like Kiwi said, it could take longer now for them to come off, but they will. I am doing a bunch of blackbucks every year, and I have never had a problem with them coming off the horncore, but they will have to soak more then a week. Blackbuck horns are some of the easiest horns to get off the horncore. You just have to be patient. Some things just can't be rushed. Leave them in the water and just check them once a week or twice a week. They will come off.
I boil them for about 15-20 min. Make sure you break the seal around the base of the horn with a screwdriver. You can't pull straight off, you have to twist in the direction of the curl. The horns come off pretty easy and I can't tell you how many I've done.
Les
"Blackbuck horns are some of the easiest to come off". They have SPIRAL HORNS AND SPIRAL CORES. Bison have to be #1, then longhorns and aoudads, but BLACKBUCK? No way.
but I do about a dozen blackbucks a year, and I've found their horns to release quite easy compared to mature rams or audad. Maybe I am just better then you in my success of horn release? LOL.
All I do is soak them in a bucket of water, and usually withing two weeks (during the summer) to six weeks(during the winter)those horns just twist off quite easy. I can't help it that I find them easy to do. Maybe you need to come down here so I can give you a horn removal lesson. LMAO
When I cape out any Exotic horned animal, I wrap the base of the horn with plastic. Cover the skull portion and about an inch of the horn. Let the horns Rot for about a week on the average, and it will slide off the core. On some sheep you may need to help it with a board or some other piece of wood to hit it on, and it will pop off. The only time you may have trouble is if there is some damage to the horn, and regrowth has welded itself to the core. Blackbucks? NO PROBLEM!
I'm going on a exotic hunt on the 28th of Feb. I was planning on taking a black buck, and then mounting it myself. I didn't know until reading this, that the horns had to be removed. after there removed, what do you do to get them back on the form for mounting? Is there a fake skull plate? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Jason