How to prepare Antelope horns for mounting?

[Ninja]

Just got back from an antelope hunt in Wyoming and I have a set of horns that I want to mount on a board. The horns are cut off with the skull plate. I've skinned the hide off the skull plate. I don't know what to do next.

I've been told that the horns have a layer of "fat" between the outside horn and the inside bone that needs to be cleaned out. I have no idea how to do this.

Rather than tearing into the project and ruining the horns, maybe some of you guys could give me some pointers on how to proceed. Any advice, instructions, or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Aim Small, Miss Small!!!
Mike Snyder

[longwinters]

You have been told correctly.  I took mine to a friend who is a taxidermist.  He told me the same thing . . . you have to get that stuff out or it will smell.  He is charging me 100.00 to mount mine in a european mount.  He isnt that good of a friend to do it for free  :lol: But I dont know how to do it myself.  Good luck as it looks like no one else here does either.

long

[freddogs]

I'm not an expert but I'll tell you my experience. I've had a couple sets of horns mouted by taxidermists and somehow they soaked the horn till they got them off and clean them up into nice mounts. I shot one a few years ago and cleaned all the meat off the skull and just let it dry and it didn't smell. I kept it on a shelf in the kitchen for a couple years beore the wife made me move it. I have 3 small racks in the basement that have dried out and don't smell. We need more expert advice here.

[Severt Swenson, Jr.]

Last winter I made a skull mount for my daughter's antelope.  I let it dry and then jerked the horns lose from the inner bone. I purchased some high powered hydrogen peroxide from the local beauty parlor and painted the skull with this a few times and it really  made it white.  It cleaned off all other skin residue which I had not scraped.  I then glued the horns back on the bone. Surf the web and you can find good ideas.

[taxmiser]

Yes, antelope do have a layer of disagreeable tissue between the sheath and the boney core.  First all the hair and tissue needs to be removed from the skull surronding the base of the horns.  When all the tissue is removed the horns should pull off the skulls without to much effort.  I have just boiled the skull in a large pot in a solution of borax and water for a couple of hours until the tissue peels easily from the skull.  Now there will be a sizeable gap between the horns and the boney cores that need to be filled with something to provide good contact.  I have used plaster of paris successfully for years.  A word of caution is in order.  Allow the horns time to dry before mounting or they will dry after monting and will develop cracks.  It takes about a month before the horns are safe to mount to the skull.   The real pros just throw the whole skull into a container that has meat eating beetles who clean the whole thing up in a few hours but just not for me, thanks anyway!
Dale