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Hunting & Fishing staining dropped horns??

bmathistsu

Private
Minuteman
Nov 6, 2009
29
0
43
TX
I have got alot of old sheds sittin around they have been bleached by the sun, has anybody ever stained the horns with an oil stain to try to get a natural color back into them.....heard guys use to do it back in the 50's just curious
thanks pics would be great to if you have
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

I had a rack from the first nice buck I ever killed that was turning light and faded. I wiped on some Minwax stain/sealer combo stuff and they turned out pretty good.
Apply lightly and use an additional coat, rather than trying to remove too much.
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

Min-Wax works well. There is also a product made specifically for that purpose. McKenzie Supply, Van Dykes, etc... carry it.
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

I have used wood stain with great results. No need to buy any special stuff. Early American works great.
This one was completely white from the hydrogen pereoxide.
Little wood stain and like new..

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Re: staining dropped horns??

I've been told some folks used linseed oil to darken up bleached antlers.
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

If you want realistic looking horns use real material and get your hands dirty.

In the fall use what the earth has given the deer to stain his antlers originally.

In my area we have oaks walnuts cedar and so on. Use materials that you have seen the deer rubbing most.

So I start by taking water out of a creek basin that has the fallen leaves in it, the water will have taken the leaves dies out of it, I use this mix with mud tree bark and so on till you have a paste smear this on the horns and wrap it will rags or towels and let it soak into the horn for a week, take it off and look at it if you want it darker do it again. Then I will take it to a tree maybe a cedar, pine, or walnut and rub the bases to give it the realistic look again.

I help my taxidermy buddy out this seems to do the trick and his customers love it.
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

I like to use Old English stain on my chalkies. It has seemed to work pretty well for me.
 
Re: staining dropped horns??

Ive stained quite a few. Walnut, maple, even mix a bit of cherry stain to emulate that fresh velvet shed phase. Its quick to do and turns out ok.

However......

If you want a truly "fresh" appearance to them....ya gotta go about it the same way the buck did. Ive done a few sets this way, it takes longer but yields much better results.

Basically, just go out, cut some various species of saplings local to your area, and start scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing and.....well, you get the point. You can mix in rubbing lightly with some dirt, or just weeds every now and than too. The oils from the bark and wood will gradually stain the bone, you'll polish the bone up just like a ruttin buck does (ever notice how bleached antler feels rough?, you want to get rid of that) and end up with a real good looking set of antlers.