Antler Shop Taxidermy  

     Preparing Hides

     I get calls and emails from hunters that want to send animals to the Antler Shop.  No Problem!  I can accept any wildlife species that has a legal hunting or trapping season in the state or province from which it was taken.  All you have to do is include state, season dates and limits, your name, address, phone number, and email address, and a copy of your hunting or trapping license.  It it is from Canada or Mexico check with your local wildlife authority to see if a CITES permit is required.

     Small game animals, up to coyote, can be frozen whole, triple plastic bagged, shipped in an insulated box (newspaper works well) and shipped on Monday through UPS.  Make sure you report to UPS what you are shipping (animal hides are fine).

     Of course you can skin out the animal then freeze and properly box for shipment.  DO NOT put salt on the hide.  Salt draws the water out of the hide and it will be a wet mess by the time it gets to the Antler Shop.  If I do the skinning it will be a custom skinning job so that the hide can be used for several options.

Instructions for skinning game heads:

• After the animal has been skinned to the back of the skull, remove the head from the carcass leaving the entire head attached.

     Take measurements

1. From corner of eyes to tip of nose
2. Tight around throat
3. Three inches down from throat

• Between the ears, on the back of the head, make a Y cut to the back of each antler or horn (razor blades work well).  Continue the cut down the back staying in the middle.

• VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO CUT THE CAPE TOO SHORT!  ABOUT 36 INCHES down the back.  Cut the cape off leaving plenty of brisket in the front.  Today's full shoulder forms have lots of shoulder showing and needs a full brisket.  To much hide is better than to little

• With a sharp, pointed knife, cut ear butts off at ear canal at the base of the skull.  Work the knife around the base of the antler or horn until skin is loose.

• Now hang the head by the base of the skull so that the hide rolls down, like taking off a sock.  Using your knife carefully, cut around the eye sockets, lips, and nose.  The nose can be cut off leaving the cartilage.

• Remove the antlers from the skull by cutting (use hack saw) between the eye sockets and antler base straight down.  Hold skull on nose and make another cut down to the middle of the eyes, behind the antlers.  Remove skull cap with antlers attached.  Clean any meat from the skull cap and let dry.  If you have Borax, sprinkle a little on.  It's a good drying agent.  DO NOT PUT SALT ON IT.

• Roll hide up tight, triple plastic bag and freeze.  When ready to ship, put frozen hide in insulated box (newspaper works well) along with antlers or horns and ship on Monday through UPS.

• Make sure you call me the day you ship so I can be watching for it.

ANTLERS   

     Talking with many hunters, most of the time, the topic of interest are antlers.  One question that often comes up is why does some deer exhibit antler growth that is so non-typical, abnormal and unusual?  There is not an easy answer.  Many factors can come into play to produce non-typical antler growth.

     Genetic differences play a big part especially when the abnormal growth is balanced on both sides of the rack.  Age can also play a role.   Quite often when a deer reaches 4 years old, sticker points start to arise off the burr, down low on the main beam and kickers on the typical points.  These age related abnormal growths may be due in part to an injury that has occurred to the pedicel.  The pedicel is the projection that arises upward off of the orbital bone above the eye.  It is the base that grows the antler.  Female deer do not have pedicels only low lying bumps, so they don’t typically grow antlers.  The pedicel plays an important role in antler growth.  Its diameter which usually increases with age (but not always, once again genetically controlled), produces greater antler mass.

     During the rut many fights that bucks get into are just shoving and pushing matches, no harm done.  But sometimes the fights are serious and broken antlers or damage to the pedicel can occur.  If the damaged pedicel is severe enough (such as major crack or break) the healing process may leave the pedicel deformed.  The following year the damaged, but healed pedicel will most likely produce an antler that is abnormal, non-typical or unusual.  If only one side of the rack was injured the undamaged side will grow a typical antler.  That is why some deer will have a typical antler on one side and a non-typical on the other side.

     Now like I said there are other reasons for deer to produce non-typical antlers, but damage to the pedicel is a common one.

     If you have any other questions about wildlife, deer or antlers, drop me an email and I will try to answer them for you.

Gary

Notice that the left antler is non-typical due to an injury to the pedicel and the right antler is normal (no injury).