"Clean up along" nasty antlers found in creek

[Dave Bulla]

Everyone who mentioned mixing cleaners.... FYI, I was doing this outside and in small amounts as I was fully aware of the dangers of mixing cleaners.  Thanks for the  concerns though...

As for the antlers, they have continued to whiten as they dried and are now about as white as I want them overall but some areas are definitely whiter than they should be so I'll be playing around with the stain to get them back to a more natural and less weathered appearance.  I'll probably also do a little judicious sanding whith a fine grit paper to smooth out some areas that appear almost pitted due to either erosion or some sort of mineral loss from being in the creek for so long.

We'll see how it goes.

[WoodsyDave]

Dave, the set I have that I cleaned up were like yours.  I used bleach, but whenever I am bleaching bone, I wrap paper towels around it and soak it down.  I leave them in the sun and re-soak enough to keep the paper moist for a day or so, then rinse well. That really gets deep and whitens them up.
Then, I took a light stain and used very sparingly to get them back to a natural look.

[Night Wing]

Great looking souvenir.

[KSdan]

PMd Dave

[Dave Bulla]

FYI all, learned something new yesterday.

KSDan pm'd me about the possibility that picking up antlers attached to the skull may be illegal and/or require a special permit.  Evidently it's the law in KS and he gave me a heads up that it may be the same in MO.

Today at work I dug into my wallet and found a card form one of the local Conservation Officers and gave him a call.  Dan was correct.  Basically, you CAN pick up antlers still attached to a skull but you need to contact the local CO within 24 hours.  The guy I talked to was very open and helpful to me even after I explained that I'd found the antlers then later heard about the possible law/restriction.  He said it was no problem and would mail me a form to fill out so that I can get a possession permit or somethin' that would allow me to legally keep the antlers.  He said that especially around hunting season or in cases where a deer is just found dead say in a farmers field they like to physically check the animal for cause of death.  Mainly to decide if it died of natural causes, was hit by a car or poached.

So, if any of you happen to find a skull, if you care about keeping things legal, just give your local CO a holler and get a permit.  If the animal is "fresh" or cause of death is questionable, I'd personally leave it lay where it is and have the CO look at it before taking the head.

[david_lewis93]

I found a product at the dollar store that is amazingly good at removing stains and mildew, it is called "AWESOME" usually at Family dollar stores.

[fireflybow]

Not a pro at this but what would have happened if you took them to a car wash and power sprayed them?

[adeeden]

Dave, If you use 35% hydrogen peroxide to clean and whiten then restain the actual atlers with postassium permanganate you will make those look incredible. I have done several sets this way with excellent results. When staining though water it down about 70% to start and use a thin layer then add layers to get the color you want. Then use some sandpaper to highlight some of the "bumps" around the bases!

[Dave Bulla]

Adeeden, I've got the rack cleaned up as white as I want it and am ready to "restore" the colors.  Do you have any pictures of racks you've used the potasium permanganate on?  How even is it?  Seems like real antlers always have some color irregularities to them and an even stain might look fake.  I already tried some minwax golden pecan on one side and I'm not too thrilled about it.  I was going for the kinda yellowed ivory tint but it's got more orange than I wanted.  

A lot of the racks around here are kinda darker brown and if you look close, almost have green, red and purpleish shades to them.  What I dont' want, is brown like elk antlers.  Maybe down in the grooves towards the bases as that is normal there but not up on the rest of the rack.  I'm pretty artistic when I want to be and have painted and drawn a lot when I was younger so I have a pretty good eye for color but I'm just being cautious about this.

I was gonna take some more pictures but my daughter seems to have borrowed my camera and I don't know where she left it.  I'll have some up by the weekend for sure.  Got an idea for a wall display that may be kinda cool too.

[Dave Bulla]

I'm also thinking about taking them to the woods and make some rubs with them and see how much color they pick up from the sap.

Ya always hear guys saying that the darker colored racks are caused by what they rub on but I've never been too sure.  I kinda think a lot of it is from what they eat as when you cut the antlers, sometimes the color goes pretty deep and it's too evenly colored (I think) to be caused by rubbing trees but it might be a cool way to find out.

[bowhunterfrompast]

Dave..thanks for the heads up on calling the CO when finding antlers attached to the head still. I believe it is the same when coming across a road kill..bhfp

[Frenchy]

I prefer to use peroxide than bleach water.
Bleach-water solution increases the bone porosity.
Because of that it may be difficult to restore the antler's natural color.
I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color,i think it works pretty well

[Dave Bulla]

Frenchy,

"I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color, I think its works pretty well."

Is that a fancy way of saying "crayons"????
   

Just kidding.  With a name like Frenchy, made me think of the times I hear people talk about shopping at "that fancy french store, Tarjay."  (Target) or the Glahday (Glade) comercials.

But seriously, what do you mean by pigmented wax and where do you get it?

[adeeden]

Dave, I'll check on some pictures I'm sure i got some around here somewhere! As for the actual color if you thin it way down and put it on in layers it looks perfect! As for making rubs to try to stain them I have also tried that and all I got was blisters for the effort!

[Frenchy]

Originally posted by Dave Bulla:
Frenchy,

"I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color, I think its works pretty well."


But seriously, what do you mean by pigmented wax and where do you get it?

Sorry for my unclear wording Dave ,i meant wax polishes for furniture
(brown wax)

[Frenchy]

Originally posted by Dave Bulla:
Frenchy,

"
Just kidding.  With a name like Frenchy, made me think of the times I hear people talk about shopping at "that fancy french store, Tarjay."  (Target) or the Glahday (Glade) comercials.