Do you apply a thin coat of varnish on altlers?

[Skunked-Rookie]

I was reading a site that said it is a good idea to brush a thin coat of varnish over the antlers so that they don't fade to white when you mount them to a plaque.

[CrappieJohn]

I have a ton of antlers and if they are out of direct sun they'll be fine without the varnish. Varnish can yellow in time and mess the color up.

[Mark Christianson]

I had a taxidermist that used a light coating of varnish or some dump on a deer head mount I have. I hate it.

All my antlers that are left natural, still look natural.

No way would I use varnish.

[Dag_1979]

Liquid Gold in an aerosol can is what I use. The only spots that darken on the antlers are the grooves that have dried velvet in them, otherwise it gives the antlers a nice shine instead of a flat/dull look.

[Mark Christianson]

But antlers dont have a shine in the wild.

Why add it?

[JEV]

I've put varnish on the antlers that I've mounted on a board. My head mount and the two European mounts I have do not have any varnish. I put the varnish on the antlers that are on the boards because I like the looks of it. A dark stained and varnished board with matching antlers looked nice to me. Let's face it, a set of antlers mounted on a board is far from "natural". A full head mount is a little different, so that's why they got no coating. I think it's more of a personal preference.

JEV

[harvey lee]

On really faded antlers I will put on some antler stain made for taxidermy use.If the antlers are still natural looking then nothing is put on.As stated above,varnish will yellow your antlers in time.

I have in the past a few times sprayed a substance on the antlers,but this is also a taxidermy product that will not yellow.

All of my head mounts look as good as new.Sometimes when a tine is broke and you have to repair it,then stain is a must on the repaired tine to match to the others.

[Dag_1979]

It's all personal preference. At a customer's request is the only time I would not apply liquid gold. I personally like antlers with the liquid gold on them, makes a nice fit with the shoulder mount.

[jlm]

Antlers with no protection will fade or darken over time, depending on what they are exposed to. I recommend that you seal the antlers with a flat poly. I am not sure of the exact product but you can get it from any taxidermy magazine. It does not change the look of the antlers at all, just protects it from exposure. Good luck!

[Skunked-Rookie]

Thanks for all of the info. Since you guys are on such a role with all of the info, I would like to ask your opinion on something. I am thinking about putting the antlers on a plaque sort of like this http://www.cherrytreetoys.com/store/images/39-100.JPG Do you think this would look corney? The pic is Basswood, I don't know if I would use that or not. I think a different type of wood like this slice would probably look nicer, but this is the only pic I could find to post. I would also possibly stain it. What do you guys think? web page

[radke22]

I was one told by a taxidermist that you should mix blood (beef or other) along with tree sap and a little varnish , mix together and apply that to bleached out antlers. I never tried it, but it sounds interesting non the less.

[Cooter]

Skunked - I think its certainly worth a shot, would be unique. If you don't like it you're only out the chunk of wood.

Wish I could chip in here more overall, but it really helps to have antlers to worry about coating

[Mudcat21]

I would skip the varnish, makes them cheesy looking when they get older. I have many nice mounts with no poly and they are just fine. Keep them out of direct sunlight and they will be good.