I recently got my first 2 bow bucks back from the taxidermist, and I noticed a strange rough spot on the antler. At first I was thinking it was from rubbing trees, but then I thought maybe this is from boiling it out. Does anyone here boil their own heads? I was wondering if it boiling it out could have caused this? Normally you sit the antlers on each side of a metal pot keeping the antlers up while boiling. However this was a very narrow buck, so how can you keep from not boiling the antlers too? This is that rough spot im thinking was caused by either the buck or boiling the head. This is the spread of the buck, so how do they keep this bucks head up? And what is this strange spot from. I didnt specifically notice it when I shot him, but I didnt really look for it. Any feedback is really appreciated thanks.
your taxi didn't use any bleach did he? bleach can cause issues with the rack as well as soften the skull and cause deterioration.
not that im aware of. He's been doing this for a while and I would hope he didnt. It half looks like the deer did it because there is a brown color in the spots if you look closely. This kinda makes me think the deer could have done it. Or like Sota said it could have just been from drying out. I'm not sure. Regardless, do you think it is something thats happened on its own and is harmless, or is it something that the taxidermist did that was caused by a specific reason? Thanks.
It wasn't from the boiling process. Antlers often have odd scuffs or markings on them, that's just how it is.
it possibly could have happened right before the buck shed velvet and the antlers were still a little soft... probably just normal wear and tear....
Not trying to change the subject but I am just curious as my dad does European mounts done by beetle cleaning. When boiled, are all those fine bones in the nasal cavity still there and intact? I would think those marks where done by the deer.
I agree. I've boiled the skull from almost every (got 2 mounted) buck I've killed, and never had ANY negative results from the process. Nobody would even notice that blemish unless you mentioned it to them.
Okay thanks for the feed back everyone! I kinda thought so too, but is there anything a human could do to give it that rough spot? Like I said, I didnt notice it when I shot it, but im sure it was probably there. I still am curious as to how it could have got the roughness? But correct me if im wrong, but it would be hard for a human to give it a rough spot. If I'm mistaken, tell me how I/the taxidermist could have done this. Thanks
I have boiled 5 or so bucks if you use water the only thing that can go wrong is you can over boil the head. It needs to be a slow simmer and the water level must be kept up. Too fast a boil or if you let the water boil down the skull and antlers will get weak and brittle.I have not tried the bugs
