I have a set of antlers completely covered in velvet killed a week ago. The antlers are hard, the deer just didn't have the gonads required to shed the velvet. I have already read how to preserve the velvet and have a plan for that. However, last night I was skinning a couple other dear and realized just how much I grab and yank around on the antlers while in the process. The antlers in velvet are still attached to the unskinned deer in my freezer. I am a little unsure how I should go about skinning out the head and removing the antlers. I will have to set the head out for a while to let it thaw before I can skin it out, but I don't want to let the antlers set that long out of the freezer. Should I preserve the antlers while still on the head as it thaws out? Should I cut the antlers off under the burr and reattach them later? Any help would be appreciated.
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same kind of project going. I plan on using Stop Rot on the velvet while the cape thaws, re-freeze the antlers after caping and send them out for freeze drying. But....I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance, Gene
If you've recognized how you jerk the antlers around already, then DON'T on this particual deer. You don't want to cut those antlers off, that's for sure.
I can skin off the head without manhandling the antlers. I am more concerned about the sequence of antler preservation while waiting for the head to thaw enough to skin. I really don't know what kind of time frame I have before the velvet starts to deteriorate. Unless someone has a better idea here, I will probably use the "antler in velvet" from Knobloch's while the head is thawing, and not wait to get the antlers off the head to do it. Have you preserved hard antlers in velvet before Goerge? Do you have a product that you recommend? Thanks for the advice.
i got a road kill buck one time that had been laying on the side of the road all day. this buck had full velvet on the antlers and it preserved fine. now if that buck laid out in the sun that long, you shouldnt really have any problems with laying your buck out to thaw, not in the sun of course, but in a shaded area or shop. as far as the pulling on the antlers, the velvet just slides off if you do pull or twist, just be extra careful.
Why don't you just cut them off and use a different cape? That would be the most sensible thing to do so you don't ruin the velvet. The velvelt on the antlers is the biggest thing and capes are a dime a dozen.....well here anyways!