Velvet preservation

[wytx]

Folks we know that have used Velvalok say it worked great but I'm betting liked stated above the antlers need to be hard under the velvet. Most of our animals taken out this way with velvet will be hard horned as our early seasons are in Sept for elk and deer.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

This buck was done with that spray stuff mentioned above. The taxi did it, not me. I didn't think it was going to work out since when I shot him early (Aug 10), it was 100 degrees and took all day to get it out, then another to the taxi. It looks pretty good.


My caribou was done in AK, I'm not sure the method but he had it done pretty quick and looked like he was dipping them in a large tank. They look phenomenal, as good as the day I shot it. It took me 6 days to get it to him, I just left them sitting in the shade that entire time.

 

[LongWayAround]

A buddy of mine showed me a bull elk that a friend of his mounted. The taxidermist flocked the antlers with static electricity, similar to flocked goose decoys. The artificial velvet looked great, much better than any artificial I had previously seen.

 

[Russellback]

So a stupid question: how do you freeze dry an entire rack? Do you just freeze it for a good while in a regular freezer? When you say freeze dry I think of like freeze drying food.

 

[ElDiablito]

When you say freeze dry I think of like freeze drying food.

Yes - with a freeze dryer.

 

[Russellback]

H

Yes - with a freeze dryer.

 

[Russellback]

Sorry I screwed that reply up
I’ve never seen a freeze dryer big enough to stick a whole deer head in. Am I missing something. Honestly not trying to be a smart alec

 

[ElDiablito]

Sorry I screwed that reply up
I’ve never seen a freeze dryer big enough to stick a whole deer head in. Am I missing something. Honestly not trying to be a smart alec

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[Russellback]

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Thanks, I will check it out!

 

[nm_nomad]

Just got my 2024 buck back from the taxidermist. I didn’t use any spray or anything. Just got the buck to him as soon as possible, tried not to touch the velvet, and I believe he used formaldehyde for velvet preservation.

 

[realunlucky]

I’ve never seen a freeze dryer big enough to stick a whole deer head in.

The local guy cuts the antlers off freeze dries them and epoxy them back on.



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[highcountrymuley]

This buck was starting to lose the velvet. Antler tip poking through on back fork. By time I quartered and caped him the velvet was a mess. So no go....

My brother shot nice velvet buck and used the product by Bess Maid from Louisianna: 4 in 1 Liqua-mount. This in a spray bottle. Saturate and spray a little more. Let dry. His taxi said it was best case of velvet preservation he has seen. So this gets my vote. It was recommended by my taxi and it worked well. About half bottle for one large muley rack. I ll get a pic to post...

 

[highcountrymuley]

My brother's buck was poking thru on his left side but I think it looks great

 

[realunlucky]

I ended using antler in velvet tan

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[realunlucky]

I'll report back how it worked on these samples

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[BrockWinegar]

It's denatured alcohol,same exact stuff you get at home Depot. It just has some glade or febreeze oils added to it. Hunters can be sold anything. Just look at energy drinks,add some camo to the can and bam ,you upsell and cater towards hunters. Or add some camouflage realtree camo to Crocs and charge 10 bucks more. A quart of dentatured alcohol is 7 bucks at Walmart you might need two for most applications.

If I ever got into the scam market I will package baking soda into a spray and call it scent killer spray. Or just rebottle some water and pinesol mixture and sell it as mount cleaner.

How you preserve the velvet is determined by the state and age of the rack ,if it's bulbous and bloody and fleshy ,it must be freeze dried. If it's sort of fleshy and bulbous but also sort of hard underneath ,it can be injected with alcohol and bit of formaldehyde or formalin,if it's hard velvet it's fine to just dry on. The velvet you see sometimes in October whitetails,the strips of it that sort of peels off like a bandaid . And in some cases the velvet gets stripped off the bone if it's in the half way or 3/4 state and then replaced with artificial velvet

If I were to buy denatured alcohol instead of velvalok, what proof do you recomend/does it matter?

It's denatured alcohol,same exact stuff you get at home Depot. It just has some glade or febreeze oils added to it. Hunters can be sold anything. Just look at energy drinks,add some camo to the can and bam ,you upsell and cater towards hunters. Or add some camouflage realtree camo to Crocs and charge 10 bucks more. A quart of dentatured alcohol is 7 bucks at Walmart you might need two for most applications.

If I ever got into the scam market I will package baking soda into a spray and call it scent killer spray. Or just rebottle some water and pinesol mixture and sell it as mount cleaner.

How you preserve the velvet is determined by the state and age of the rack ,if it's bulbous and bloody and fleshy ,it must be freeze dried. If it's sort of fleshy and bulbous but also sort of hard underneath ,it can be injected with alcohol and bit of formaldehyde or formalin,if it's hard velvet it's fine to just dry on. The velvet you see sometimes in October whitetails,the strips of it that sort of peels off like a bandaid . And in some cases the velvet gets stripped off the bone if it's in the half way or 3/4 state and then replaced with artificial velvet

Would something like this work?

 

[taxidermybycam]

If I were to buy denatured alcohol instead of velvalok, what proof do you recomend/does it matter?

Would something like this work?

That's exactly what you want. It depends what stage the velvet is in whether you want to freeze dry or just alcohol the rack. I personally soak rack fully. You can place the rack. In garbage bag. And then place garbage bag sealed up and no leakage in rubbermaid tote of water then the water will "squish" the alcohol and save alcohol and space if that makes sense. Similar to sous vide a steak . I can get by with 2 quarts of alcohol usually on a mule deer ,by placing the bag in water . You don't wanna mix alcohol and water tho

 

[Joshk358]

I used the velvet preservation stuff from Mackenzie taxidermy..pumped the antlers full of it hung upside down to let it drain. After that, I froze the antlers. Laziness or maybe forgetfulness. I left them frozen for over a year and they look great. These were from a couple beauties from the Texas hill country. An axis and a fallow deer.