Saving Velvet

[Trey Arentz]

Hey guys,
Heading up to the NBR in 3 weeks here and looking for the best way you guys have found to preserve the velvet on caribou. We are hunting for 11 days so there's a chance of not getting the animals skull out for awhile. Also, what did you guys find was the best way to get the velvet antlers back home? Get it to a taxidermist in Alaska and have the cure it and ship it, or try to freeze them and then travel with them?

 

[ndbuck09]

Hunted Alaska in 2018 for caribou. My group of 3 all killed velvet bulls on the same day, then due some to weather but more with a pilot that didn't want to come in early to pick us up, we ended up sitting with tags full and lots of meat and velvet antlers for 7 days. This was in August and some days temps were pushing 60, nights are nice and cool.

We didn't really do anything to the velvet except hope...sprayed the meat with citric acid. We did keep the antlers as dry as we could and caped the heads the day after we killed the animals. The other thing we did was put a game bag around the skull and tightened above the bottom of the velvet to protect from the flies.

Then we took to a guy in Fairbanks who does a dipping method for preservation and then sends your antlers to you via air cargo. Got mine the November/december after the mid august hunt. My taxidermist here in Idaho was pretty impressed with the preservation of the velvet. I hadn't seen many velvet antlers preserved but they are identical to the day I killed the caribou. It's a phenomenal job, they don't smell like anything and they're still just as perfect as the day I killed the caribou. Problem is I can't remember the guys name in Fairbanks, but I do know he operated out of an "interesting" warehouse in Fairbanks.

 

[Nick Muche]

Keep them as dry and cool as you can, and get them to the Fairbanks Fur Tannery and ask to have them freeze dried. I've done that with several and they've all turned out just fine.

Also, what is the "NBR", did you mean the NPR?

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I think he means "Northern Brooks Range".

And to the OP, Nick's advice about how to handle velvet antlers is solid.

 

[FishfinderAK]

Keep them as dry and cool as you can, and get them to the Fairbanks Fur Tannery and ask to have them freeze dried. I've done that with several and they've all turned out just fine.

Also, what is the "NBR", did you mean the NPR?

Hmm I hadn’t considered freeze drying. How long in the freezer does that take, Nick?
Is the Tannery pretty cool w doing it or is it more of a PIA for them?
My kids and I will be up there hunting my daughters 40 mi youth tag.

 

[Nick Muche]

He's done it for me when asked, I would guess they do it often. I think it took about a month, could be wrong.

 

[jdmaxwell]

No experience but product called Velvalock my taxidermist recommended

 

[flinginairos]

Hunted Alaska in 2018 for caribou. My group of 3 all killed velvet bulls on the same day, then due some to weather but more with a pilot that didn't want to come in early to pick us up, we ended up sitting with tags full and lots of meat and velvet antlers for 7 days. This was in August and some days temps were pushing 60, nights are nice and cool.

We didn't really do anything to the velvet except hope...sprayed the meat with citric acid. We did keep the antlers as dry as we could and caped the heads the day after we killed the animals. The other thing we did was put a game bag around the skull and tightened above the bottom of the velvet to protect from the flies.

Then we took to a guy in Fairbanks who does a dipping method for preservation and then sends your antlers to you via air cargo. Got mine the November/december after the mid august hunt. My taxidermist here in Idaho was pretty impressed with the preservation of the velvet. I hadn't seen many velvet antlers preserved but they are identical to the day I killed the caribou. It's a phenomenal job, they don't smell like anything and they're still just as perfect as the day I killed the caribou. Problem is I can't remember the guys name in Fairbanks, but I do know he operated out of an "interesting" warehouse in Fairbanks.

Did the same exact thing in 2020. I killed my bull august 3rd early in the trip and had it preserved probably at the same place you did and I can’t remember the name either! I had the rack shipped to my taxidermist and it came out perfect. Just be sure if there are any splits in the velvet to pack some salt around it so the flies don’t lay eggs in it. I also killed a whitetail in 2018 in full velvet and just kept the head in a cooler until I took it to the taxi a week later and it turned out great as well.


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[Haro450]

We dropped antlers at the Fairbanks fur tannery last year. Turned out well but did take along time to get them back. They where shipped to us through alaska air cargo.

 

[chimaygr]

Well it sounds like you can get away without doing any sort of injections, spraying with product, etc. However, I have been told to use Velvalock, anyone else want to revive this thread and have any experience with that product or something similar / better? At a pair of jacksons per 12oz bottle, it seems like it better be 1) necessary and 2) extremely efficacious!

 

[BowMan86]

I have used velvalok with good results, however I think that it states in the directions it works best with warm, dry, sunny weather. Usually not the case in Aug/Sept in Alaska. I kept mine in the freezer til the following summer and sprayed it down really good with Velvalok. 4 years later they look exactly the same as the day I shot it.

 

[BowMan86]

I did a hunt up on the dalton highway in mid-late Aug a few years back. Shot a bull day one of a 10 day hunt. I thought there would be no chance of saving the velvet. Kept it cool and dry (nothing else) and got that one to a taxidermist about 11 days after being shot and it turned out great.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Velvet lock worked well for me.