The Accurate Reloading Forums
Kudu horns ... there should be a law!
07 March 2006, 22:58
stagmanKudu horns ... there should be a law!
My kudu horns are now black ...
What were once beautiful, shiny and walnut-colored came out of the crate solid black, dull and cracked all to hell.
I don't know what the freak they do with our horns in SA, but there really should be a law.
Sorry, had to vent ... it is my finest trophy and the horns look like they have been hosed down with some kind of bug killer and baked for a year ... makes me sick.
"If you hunt to eat, or hunt for sport for something fine, something that will make you proud, and make you remember every single detail of the day you found him and shot him, that is good too." – Robert Chester Ruark
08 March 2006, 00:38
HuntertaxiTake a rag and wipe the horns. If there is a black residue on it then it’s only oxide that’s on the horns.
If that fails take some solvent but start at the tip of your horns.
Let me know.
Cheers
Tell it as it is!
08 March 2006, 01:23
MasteriflemanThat's the way my Kudu horns came, also from RSA. I thought that perhaps the taxidermist does something with them to make them look like they were on a live Kudu.
"I ask, sir, what is the Militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them" - George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment during the Virginia convention to ratify the Constitution
08 March 2006, 01:36
stagmanI've washed them 3 times with Dawn and scrubbed them with a steel brush, which did lighten them just a slight bit, but were still DARK.
When that didn't work, I used a solvent and was disappointed to see that it didn't work either.
Whatever they did to them appears to be unfixable.
"If you hunt to eat, or hunt for sport for something fine, something that will make you proud, and make you remember every single detail of the day you found him and shot him, that is good too." – Robert Chester Ruark
08 March 2006, 02:24
Jerry HuffakerWhat happens to the horns is, they boil them too long and they keep adding to the same water and it ends up soaking the horns in fat(oil)and it turns them black. There's nothing you can do about it.
Jerry Huffaker
State, National and World Champion Taxidermist
08 March 2006, 04:53
RustyStag,
Same thing happened to mine. I feel for ya buddy! A senseless loss!
Rusty
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08 March 2006, 09:35
mfastStag,
More of the same. One of the responses I recieved as a solution was to put some grease or oil back onto the horns. One of the possibilies is to use paste wax. It improved the appearance of my horns very much. Mix wax or grease with the correctly colored dirt and tree sap and you will likely come up with a similar substance to what gave the horns some of their original color.
On the positive side, both of my waterbuck horns did not loose their contrasting colors as much but still did respond positively to the paste wax rubbed in with a small brush.
Marv
the more I read then think on it, the more I am certain I will just leave my horns and skins in Afr. . Take some quality pictures and be done with it.
IMHO the ruined horns,slashed capes,over priced crate/shipping costs, brokerage fees along with taxidermy fees here in the US seems like too much trouble these days for mounts to collect dust in my already too full den.
08 March 2006, 17:57
Rich ElliottJerry,
If he boiled them some more in fresh water is there a chance that some of it would rise to the top?
Rich Elliott
Rich Elliott
Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris
08 March 2006, 18:15
stagmanI like the idea of the paste wax. The natural horns almost have a waxy look and I think the wax would fill in some of the cracks.
Reckon who makes a suitable wax????
"If you hunt to eat, or hunt for sport for something fine, something that will make you proud, and make you remember every single detail of the day you found him and shot him, that is good too." – Robert Chester Ruark
08 March 2006, 20:17
new_guyquote:
Originally posted by Rich Elliott:
Jerry,
If he boiled them some more in fresh water is there a chance that some of it would rise to the top?
Rich Elliott
I've been told that boiling in soapy water (diswashing liquid) will help remove some of the fat. Anyone tried this?
08 March 2006, 20:27
mfastStagman,
Try Johnson's Paste Wax, for example.
Marv
I have used a bee wax based furniture wax that is about the consistency of honey that I got at a high-end hardware store. It sure returned the luster to my kudu, gemsbok and eland horns. Bob
little worse than looking at a nice mount such as kudu or gemsbuck and the horns look fake...as if someone put flat black paint on them.
08 March 2006, 22:45
calgarychef1If I ever make it to the dark continent I think I'll try to be there to supervise the boiling. Seems to be a common problem...overboiling, and submerging the horns.
the chef
08 March 2006, 22:48
404WJJefferyWhen I got my first trophy shipment from Africa, all my horns were painted black and cracked. I asked the next taxidermist about it, and they told me they can process the horns without painting them- leave them natural. I requested this, and have three orders waiting to receive....I'l let you iknow how they turn out.
______________________________
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08 March 2006, 23:43
kududeThe best looking horns I have gotten came back from Namibia where they just put the skulls in old bath tubs and let them soak in the sun. They heated up but weren't heated to a temp at which the fats are released and saturate the horns or skulls. I did not understand how important it was then. Of course, in RSA in the northern Cape at 5000 ft, you have to add a little fire just to thaw the water! Kudude
09 March 2006, 05:19
craneShouldn't the skull be submerged with the bottom of the horns right at the water level? That is the only method I have ever seen used. Sounds like poor supervision on the PH's part to me.
