Antlers

[walleyehunter80]

I have a few sets of antlers from bucks that my wife, father and myself have shot over the last 3 years. I just use a sawzall to cut the top of the head along with the antler off.

My question is what does everyone do with the rack once they cut it off?

The ones I have I just stored in a tote and they started to mold! Green mold! So I washed them off and now they really stink.....Ha Ha Ha.......Help!

So now whet do I do with the ones I have and what can I do to prevent it from happening again?

Josh

[featherslayer 1]

I take all the hair and hide off the skull part and then i use a leather strap to tie it to a popple pole the beaver chewed the bark off. the pole is appr. 8' tall, i call it my horny pole, i also cut each horn off on some of the smallers ones and hang it off the eye guards, off the other horns. it looks pretty cool. i also have a track light in my trophy room that i put horns around which is on the ceiling.

[walleyehunter80]

What about the mold?

[featherslayer 1]

I have never had a problem with mold, my guess is that the horns wasn't all the way dry before you put them in the tote. I would try and wash them off and let sit in your garage for awhile up in the rafters so the drying process takes affect. The horns i put on the pole are in my garage until spring. I think by then your horns should be good to go.

[Steve Foss]

If you got the mold off, just let them hang to dry until next spring. Even without velvet, antlers have a fair amount of moisture, and there's even more moisture when you cut out a piece of skull so the antlers remain intact. Sealing that will allow mold to grow, all right, as you obviously know now.

If mine went moldy, I'd just put them in hot soapy water and take a scrub brush to them.

As for what to do with the antlers themselves after they are dry? Last year's 9-point buck may become rattling antlers (the one in my avatar), but the main beams actually touch each other in front, which I think is kinda cool, so I may mount it. The buck from before that is still slated to be turned into buttons. Yeah, buttons. Slice them thin on a band saw, buff them with fine sandpaper, drill two small holes, and I've got great buttons for all my wool hunting and cold weather clothing.

Yeah, I've been told I have too much time on my hands, but what the heck?

[DonBo]

Here's what you do with them:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2363755/1