I posted this on the big game forum, but it was suggested that I might want to try here as well.

OK, I've got a bit of a mess on my hands. The buddy that butchered my deer last year removed the antlers so that I could mount them later. I was under the impression that he had removed the antlers with a small piece of the skull that might have a bit of hair left on it. So I was in no hurry. Well I opened up the bag today with the intention of cleaning up the skull only to find that he had left the majority of the skull and all the tissue that goes with it. I won't go into to many details, but whatever went on in the bag darkened the antlers significantly.

Am I stuck with dark antlers or can they be cleaned/treated to be brought back to their natural color? The antlers themselves (not just the skull) have definately been darkened. Especially near the skull. My semi-educated guess is that the ammonia that is released when tissue breaks down is what did the darkening. But I can't prove that for sure.

I know that normally the tissue can be boiled off, but I have a feeling that that won't cut it this time. I've also been told that if the antlers themselves are submerged in the boiling water that it whitens them, which I don't want. I figure that bleach would do the job but wasn't sure what effects (other than sure whitening) it might have.

My only other thought was to somehow use vinegar. Soak? Boil? Wipe on? Full strength? Diluted? I hadn't gotten too far with this thought but it seems like vinegar would be more benign than bleach if something stronger than boiling will be required.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob