removing antelope horns tip

[SDHNTR]

I've always been leery of boiling out antelope horns to pop them from the skull plate. Boiling can easily crack them. I finally got one I wanted to officially score so I was super nervous with this one. The scull cap and attached horns have been sitting in my garage in a garbage bag for about 10 days. Mainly because I hadn't had time to tend to them yet.

Anyhow I got them out tonight and was ready to boil. Had a pot going on the BBQ. Pulled the horns out of the bag (yes it smelled funky) and noticed they were loose. After a little gentle tugging they popped right off without any boiling at all. Bingo.

No more boiling antelope horns for this guy.

 

[bpnclark]

10 days in a bag? That must have smelled good!!! :throw-up-on:
Have you seen the replica skulls that you just slip the horns on?

 

[SDHNTR]

yeah, it was ripe. I've seen those replicas, but you still gotta get the horns off.

 

[bpnclark]

I boil the skull and use a kit from Van Dykes. I usually soft boil the skull in the sodium thing for about an hour and take it out. Just trim the fat off the base around the horn, wiggle it, and it comes off. Then you finish soft boiling the skull in the solution. No risk of cracking.

But your way does seem a lot easier. Especially if you don’t want to keep the skull. :beer toast:

 

[SDHNTR]

You can still boil the skull. Just pop the horns off before boiling. Then you can boil all the flesh off without worrying about cracking the horns. Super easy.

 

[Huntr Pat]

I do it the same way as horned animals. Take a measurement them leave them in a Black garbage bag for a week or so but it should come off fairly easily. You can also take aflat tip screw driver and tap around slowly. Some peeps drill a small hole at the base of the horns so they can later install it in the same position wit a small tooth pick. You can go on taxidermy.net and you should find all kinds of good and helpful tips.