I'm doing my first Aoudads and was wondering if they need to be thinned like deer? I have them split and dry salted right now, but will be rehydrating and putting them in the pickle this weekend.
Also, I drilled three small holes in the back of each horn ( just big enough to stick a finishing nail in ) so I could make sure and get them right back where they need to be on the cores. I put them in a garbage bag, let em sit for several days, then put them in some water to soak. The sheaths on the smaller set came right off last night, but I think the larger set is gonna take a little longer.I then took the skull plate, cut off all but about 6 inches of the horn core boiled it clean. I then took some anti bacterial soap and a scrub pad and scrubbed the inside of them the sheaths, rinsed em real good,then put the sheaths back on temporarily just in case they shrink.
Since I don't have an DP, I used a little bit of protex pre soak ( about a teaspoon) and dumped it down the inside of the sheaths. Probably pointless, but I figured maybe it would help repel any critters.
So far does it sound like I'm doing it right?
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entitles "do ram horns shrink". That is what you need to do to these horns. Sounds like you're coming along good. I cannot speak for the Pre-soak? If I didn't have any DP or any other made for taxidermy preservative, I'd probably put salt down in the core. Yes the skin of any animal that has a skin thick enough, needs to be thinned.