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Scottish Highlander Horns

Discussion in 'Skulls and Skeletons' started by Shebeast, Dec 16, 2018.

  1. Dec 16, 2018 #1
    Shebeast

    Shebeast New Member

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    so my neighbor gave me 4 Highlander skulls straight from the slaughter... they came with the top “tuft” still attached... so I tried removing the “tuft” but it seems like the hair goes why up the horn before the horn gets hard, and I accidentally cut into the horn like it was a hide... fortunately on the rear side of the horn so hopefully it’s concealable...

    So then I tried boiling them off and hitting them with a soft hammer and I can’t get them to budge...

    Am I doing something wrong??? Is the soft horn supposed to go that far up on those guys, and if so... how am I supposed to get them off... there doesn’t seem to be any obvious sheath...
     
  3. Dec 16, 2018 #2
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

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    Hitting them with the rubber mallet works if they were bagged and rotted loose. I think all the posts on here specify that. Not sure about cooking them on. Did you take a thin bladed knife and run it up under the horn bases all the way around? There is a membrane there holding the horn to the skull that has to be cut free. I have done a highland before and it came with all the hair. I saved the head skin and tanned it. I can display the skull with and without. Getting the hide off is a bit of work but it can be done.If the lower part of the horn is really soft, pick a point and cut up underneath from there. The actual horn is a lot tougher.

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    Shebeast likes this.

  5. Dec 24, 2018 #3
    Shebeast

    Shebeast New Member

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    God bless you!! Unfortunately, here in Wyoming our temps aren’t conducive to the rot method so I’m down to the boil method... I’m glad you mentioned the soft base... do I just eventually cut that off? I’m thinking it may rot if I don’t... I guess I’m going to have to find a sharp knife with a weird angle to get up in there, some points are easy access but the underneath is pretty hard to get into... but back to the base... will I eventually cut all that soft horn up to the hard horn? It seems pretty high up...
    od bless
     
  6. Dec 24, 2018 #4
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    14,141
    2,262
    Taxachusetts
    I believe I used a filet knife. Try to avoid cutting as much horn as possible. The soft parts will dry if you keep it there but eventually you are going to hit hard horn.