Coloring elk sheds project

[Bill]

Living in Montana has some advantages- like finding a small bulls antlers and skull while scouting for elk. It appears to have been a mountain lion kill since the whole skeleton was partially covered by leaves.

I’m starting to restore it and looking good to display.

The antlers have bleached, but have not gotten split or chalky- lucky me.

I’ve read to use coffee grounds, been told to use brown boot polish. What I saw looking at some elk mounts in Whitefish (a short get-away to Glacier NP with my wife) is natural antlers are not a solid brown but brown in areas, white in others.

What colorizing technique worked for you folks? Can you post a couple pictures?

Elk season opens in a few days, so the project will get done- when it gets done.

Starting point:







Antlers I’m comparing to:






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[JES]

I had some antlers come back form taxi in a weird condition, here is a link to what I did to get them back to a better condition. I think it would work for you:

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=789243

[nimrodtracy]

nice

[Bama]

potasium pormanganate. I use it all the time in knife making I could make those look awesome.

[Mac]

potasium pormanganate. I use it all the time in knife making I could make those look awesome.

It’s hard to get something as big as those to look good with the potassium pormanganate. I use it for time repair and smaller stuff like that but for whole antlers they sell a stain. It’s not real expensive and you can get it through a taxidermy supply company such as mckenzies. Wipe it on, run off excess and sand the high spots with fine steel wool. May take a few coats to get the results you want.

[44mAG]

I have seen a lot of people use regular Minwax wood stain which have all turned out good looking to me.

[Bill]

Thanks for McKinseys suggestion.

Which color Minwax stain?


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[buck_wild]

If you are going Miniwax, Golden Oak as the base color and Walnut as the darker color. You'll have to go in phases. Start light then go darker. You'll figure it out quickly. Get a feel for how much to wipe off, how long to let it set before wiping etc. If color isn't the way you want, use steel wool to "sand" it off and start again. If they are chalky anywhere, be aware that will soak stain in more thus more color. I know you said they weren't but just a word of caution.

[Bill]

Thanks on Minwax info. I called McKinseys and spoke with tech support. He said stain, shoe polish, potassium permanganate all work, he uses this and thinks it produces the most natural results. So I ordered some.

To be continued…..




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[Texas8point]

Thanks on Minwax info. I called McKinseys and spoke with tech support. He said stain, shoe polish, potassium permanganate all work, he uses this and thinks it produces the most natural results. So I ordered some.

To be continued…..




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I’ve used the minwax and it worked well for me. I’ll be anxious to see how the paint turns out.


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[MASTERS]

sheds lol

[ZachW]

I use MinWax Provincial 211 and I use a Q-Tip to lightly apply it and then (wearing a rubber glove) rub the excess off and repeat this as many times as I need to to get the proper color.

[3ChordTruth]

In for how this project turns out, but most important good luck with a LIVE elk this season!

[Bill]

I build a new workbench with a wood vise from a glue lam beam cutoff and 2x6s, and decided to start on the skull for mounting it. The Japanese pull-saw makes quick work of an initial trimming of the skull. There wasn’t enough skull for a true European mount, so I’ll be attaching it to a wood block.

Probably paint the skull black, which I’ve done before.








Hey thanks on the live elk. I’ve got game cams set up on some private property that’s supposed to ‘light up’ in a few weeks when the rut starts, put one out today on public land where I found a lot if elk tracks coming down a gulch, saw 80+ cows coming out of alfalfa where I’ve been trying to fool a pronghorn- and there’s a place in the national forest I’ve seen tracks. I’m trying to decide on where to go for the opener, a lot depends on what we see on the game cams Friday.


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[Bama]

It’s hard to get something as big as those to look good with the potassium pormanganate. I use it for time repair and smaller stuff like that but for whole antlers they sell a stain. It’s not real expensive and you can get it through a taxidermy supply company such as mckenzies. Wipe it on, run off excess and sand the high spots with fine steel wool. May take a few coats to get the results you want.

Makes sense I'm used to dealing with Knife handle size , not full blown antlers .