# Staining Horn ???



## Death_From_Above (Jul 29, 2004)

What do you do with Sun Bleached Horns? Can they be dyed again with something? Stained?

Some of you remember my recent posting about my taxidermy issues. Well my buddy just got his 8 point Euro back and the horns have obviously sat outside for a long period of time because they are basically bleached white. I told my friend I thought he could dye them but wasn't sure. Figured this would be the place to find out.

Simply amazing ... I won't say the name of the taxidermist in fear of my thread being deleted, but if anyone looking for a not so good taxidermist in the Sand Lake Area PM me and i'll give you a straight answer!


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## Brian Jones (Jan 11, 2009)

Death_From_Above said:


> What do you do with Sun Bleached Horns? Can they be dyed again with something? Stained?
> 
> Some of you remember my recent posting about my taxidermy issues. Well my buddy just got his 8 point Euro back and the horns have obviously sat outside for a long period of time because they are basically bleached white. I told my friend I thought he could dye them but wasn't sure. Figured this would be the place to find out.
> 
> Simply amazing ... I won't say the name of the taxidermist in fear of my thread being deleted, but if anyone looking for a not so good taxidermist in the Sand Lake Area PM me and i'll give you a straight answer!


 Yes the antlers can be stained, you can either order antler stain from a taxidermy supply co. or use a combo of walnut and light oak wood stains. This will take come experimenting to make it look right but, yes it can be done.


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## duxdog (Apr 13, 2008)

Yep, what Brain said. Just use some wood stains and keep adding/wiping off til you get the desired tone/look.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Another way is to do like the Ojibwe. Use a moist tea bag and rub on.


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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

I would recommend practice on an old shed antler before moving to the trophy.


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## neil duffey (Feb 22, 2004)

oddly enough i believe i read something on taxi.net that said the guy used what the deer use to get them that color... dirt. he said he moistens a little dirt, and rubs it in real well, and then uses a rag to clean off the raised area's.


iv never attempted to recolor a rack... and i have no clue if that actually works, but if your in the experimenting mood, let us know if it really does work.


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## Paul Thompson (Jul 16, 2007)

Without going through all the trouble of ordering from a supply company, go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some walnut stain, and some paint thinner. Dab the stain on heavy at the bases, go lighter at the tips, take a rag of thinner, and wipe off the high spots around the base of the beams, and wipe off where ever you want it lighter.
Tea Bags take forever.


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## Brian Jones (Jan 11, 2009)

Paul Thompson said:


> Without going through all the trouble of ordering from a supply company, go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get some walnut stain, and some paint thinner. Dab the stain on heavy at the bases, go lighter at the tips, take a rag of thinner, and wipe off the high spots around the base of the beams, and wipe off where ever you want it lighter.
> Tea Bags take forever.


I said that, crackhead!


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## Paul Thompson (Jul 16, 2007)

Brian Jones said:


> I said that, crackhead!


You didn't say "tea bags take forever" ol sonny boy.
Each day I wonder if I ain't a crackhead, or just cracked.


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

lol..yep you can walnut and thinner like they all said ....i did that by guess and gosh years ago ,,,still looks nice on the wall


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## Death_From_Above (Jul 29, 2004)

Thanks guys...i'll stop at lowes on the way home and see what kind of trouble I can get in. Guess i'm not going to ruin it any worse than it currently looks. 

I do have a few sheds i'll see how it works on them prior to the real deal. 

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it works out.


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## Fur-minator (Nov 28, 2007)

I have stained several antlers. Most were just at the base where the boiling process whitened the natural color. I did practice on sets that I found first. I did a European mount for a guy that shot a dark antlered Texas buck. When I boiled the flesh off there was a line where the color was mostly gone.

I used an Antler/Horn conditioner from a taxidermy catalog to bring out the natural dark color on the entire set. Then I used an antler stain to match the base to the antler.

In the first picture you can kind of see where the color was gone. 





In this picture you can see the natural color of the rack with matching bases.


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