Maceration Smell On Deer Antlers

I had that problem too. I spray antlers with crylon clear matte finish. That usually takes care if smell

 

Once fully dry, they should be good. If they were antlers that were porous from still being in velvet it will take longer. Have you finished degreasing and whitening? After the degreasing step I don't notice any odor to speak of.

 

I had a small whitetail skull that fit all the way inside a 5 gallon bucket and it soaked in the antlers. I ended up spraying with odoban and letting it sit outside in the sun for a week. it finally went away.

 

Once in a while there is still a bad smell after degreasing but usually goes away within a couple months

 

It would be way better to dissipate the odor rather than masking it. I have soaked them in an ammonia solution for a few days and then allow to air dry. About a quart of ACE Hardware Janitorial Ammonia in 3 gallons of water.

 

Take your skull/antlers and spray with windex and wipe down then put in a container that has a lid , now take a small bowl of bleach and set it inside container, your not pouring it in your just setting it in for the fumes to take over the smell , put lid on it and give it 2 days . Take out let it air out , works for me .

 

Im in Wisconsin and while degreasing I cover everything up with garbage bags to hold the heat in. my antlers turn green and smell very bad .the green wont wipe off even with steel wool. I actually whiten the antler green area and re stain. anything I can do diff.? going to cost a fortune if I just leave it open. I tried balls and that didn't help much. and ya stinky antlers

 

It is the humidity and condensation in the air around the antlers that is causing the mold. You need to expose them to air. I wrap the container and use the balls on the top and I can't say there is a jump in heat loss. Your other option would be to use a deeper container and submerge the antlers too but now you are using more materials and heating a larger volume of solution.