Antler Darkening (opinions wanted)

[butcherboy]

Don’t use stain, or paint. Use plain ole dirt mixed with some water. Use a leather or cloth glove to rub it in and a toothbrush to rub into the antler burrs. Let it dry then lightly brush off the dry dirt. I usually buy a bag of topsoil from Lowes or Homedepot. I needed a lot to recolor antlers after doing a euro, or shoulder mount. I’ve used this method for hundreds of deer antlers.

I think the antlers are your euro looks pretty good.

 

[pirogue]

Did you not ask the Taxi what he did, before asking the internet to speculate?

 

[Grassymike]

I think they looked fine to begin with. That said I do live on the prairie and most of the bucks around here end up with antlers that are white or nearly so. Very little brush except sage for them to strip velvet or beat up. My buck from this fall actually has 2-3 pieces of velvet dried on his antlers that never striped.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

MBN ever use that Potasium P to start chemical fires? take a couple of tsp and sprinkle on a log. A few drops of anti-freeze OR my favorite choice a glycerin suppository and few drops of sugary spit. Burns like a jet engine once the chemicals mix. Be careful with that stuff bro.

Funny tragic story from my Army days as a Private in charge of Field Sanitation supplies for our unit being deployed to Saudi Arabia. We loaded three of our medical connex' for rail and sea transport out of Europe. We deployed hoping to reconnect with our logistics supplies when the ship landed in Arabia...never showed up by the time Desert Storm was over. Months later we got word that one our connexes caught fire on the ship and burned hot enough to melt through the metal destroying everything in it.. Apparently the connex was dropped while being loaded in Germany which shifted the cargo of medical supplies and set the stage for disaster. The Potassium Promagnenate (water purification powder) spilled and combined with 100+F temps inside the closed connex created sweating, melting and dripping boxes of glycerin suppositories which then mixed with spilled pills with sugar coating on them....BOOM. Crazy shit man.

 

[BrentH]

Did you not ask the Taxi what he did, before asking the internet to speculate?

Never asked the internet to speculate on why they got lighter. Asked for opinions on how my coffee ground approach looked, but thanks for asking

 

[MBN]

MBN ever use that Potasium P to start chemical fires? take a couple of tsp and sprinkle on a log. A few drops of anti-freeze OR my favorite choice a glycerin suppository and few drops of sugary spit. Burns like a jet engine once the chemicals mix. Be careful with that stuff bro.

Funny tragic story from my Army days as a Private in charge of Field Sanitation supplies for our unit being deployed to Saudi Arabia. We loaded three of our medical connex' for rail and sea transport out of Europe. We deployed hoping to reconnect with our logistics supplies when the ship landed in Arabia...never showed up by the time Desert Storm was over. Months later we got word that one our connexes caught fire on the ship and burned hot enough to melt through the metal destroying everything in it.. Apparently the connex was dropped while being loaded in Germany which shifted the cargo of medical supplies and set the stage for disaster. The Potassium Promagnenate (water purification powder) spilled and combined with 100+F temps inside the closed connex created sweating, melting and dripping boxes of glycerin suppositories which then mixed with spilled pills with sugar coating on them....BOOM. Crazy shit man.

MBN ever use that Potasium P to start chemical fires? take a couple of tsp and sprinkle on a log. A few drops of anti-freeze OR my favorite choice a glycerin suppository and few drops of sugary spit. Burns like a jet engine once the chemicals mix. Be careful with that stuff bro.

Funny tragic story from my Army days as a Private in charge of Field Sanitation supplies for our unit being deployed to Saudi Arabia. We loaded three of our medical connex' for rail and sea transport out of Europe. We deployed hoping to reconnect with our logistics supplies when the ship landed in Arabia...never showed up by the time Desert Storm was over. Months later we got word that one our connexes caught fire on the ship and burned hot enough to melt through the metal destroying everything in it.. Apparently the connex was dropped while being loaded in Germany which shifted the cargo of medical supplies and set the stage for disaster. The Potassium Promagnenate (water purification powder) spilled and combined with 100+F temps inside the closed connex created sweating, melting and dripping boxes of glycerin suppositories which then mixed with spilled pills with sugar coating on them....BOOM. Crazy shit man.

From what I know it is safe when mixed with water but I will definitely make sure to be careful with it!! Sounds like quite the rodeo!! It really does good on caribou that were in velvet though. Seems to be a lot easier and turns out better than stain. Might have to put it in the go bag for fire starter now?! Thanks for the heads up Larry.

 

[jhm2023]

Antler wax

AWXPL

Light Final Step Antler Wax Pint - adds luster to your trophy antlers.

www.vandykestaxidermy.com

AWXPD

Dark Final Step Antler Wax Pint - adds luster to your trophy antlers.

www.vandykestaxidermy.com

 

[HiMtnHntr]

They look good. If you really want them darker, take some steel wool to them, rather lightly. Get some dark dirt and mix with water to make a paste. Work that in with an old tooth brush. Allow to dry. Rub off with a rag. Take steel wool to the parts you want lighter/ivory, like ends of points and burrs and such. Spray with satin Clearcoat. This will enhance colors, both light and dark.

 

[northwoods_us]

Looking for opinions on what to do/try next.

This buck was from this past season. First picture shows the antler color the day it was killed. There is some dirt on it from when it made its death run. It was also raining, so the antlers were wet.

View attachment 512696

These next two pictures show the color of the antlers when we got the euro back from the taxi.

View attachment 512703

View attachment 512698

Not sure what happened, or why they are so much lighter. Wanted to try and get them back to their original color, so researched the different methods and tried the coffee ground approach. Tried three different coffees, the last being the darkest roast Folgers makes. In the end, it seemed like all three had about the same effect on the color. It got darker, but I still don’t think it’s back to the original color.

View attachment 512701

View attachment 512700

View attachment 512702


So, is there just a limit on how much color they will absorb? If I want them darker, do I just need to go to a different method? Would you just call this good enough?

Looking for opinions on what to do/try next.

This buck was from this past season. First picture shows the antler color the day it was killed. There is some dirt on it from when it made its death run. It was also raining, so the antlers were wet.

View attachment 512696

These next two pictures show the color of the antlers when we got the euro back from the taxi.

View attachment 512703

View attachment 512698

Not sure what happened, or why they are so much lighter. Wanted to try and get them back to their original color, so researched the different methods and tried the coffee ground approach. Tried three different coffees, the last being the darkest roast Folgers makes. In the end, it seemed like all three had about the same effect on the color. It got darker, but I still don’t think it’s back to the original color.

View attachment 512701

View attachment 512700

View attachment 512702


So, is there just a limit on how much color they will absorb? If I want them darker, do I just need to go to a different method? Would you just call this good enough?

Potassium permanganate crystal mixed w H2O. More coats applied, darker the antlers

 

[CaliWoodsman]

I had good luck with Briwax in darkening up antlers:

Antler Restoration Project

I’ve had these two sets of antlers sitting next to the house for I believe 6 and 7 years now. It’s been eating at me that I let them get in such bad shape. While they’re no trophy according to B&C, they each meant a great deal to me. So with a little time to kill I set out to try to bring them...

rokslide.com