Will he like it?
Wisconsin
A friend of mine shot a buck with his bow in November. He didn't have much time to look him over, but was pretty confident he knew the deer. His shot was true, and after he took up the blood trail, was a bit bummed out that the buck had broken his main beam and his G2. Not two days earlier, he was still holding on to his clean rack. He was talking to me about paying for a European mount, and pondered whether he'd also get the beam and tine fixed. Well, I've done a few European mounts, and attempted a tine replacement on a deer of my own, but I mistakenly used the wrong colored Apoxie Sculpt, and used natural versus white. Natural was not going to work, unless I painted it, because the tine I wanted to replicate was basically ivory colored. Well, after learning from that mistake, I took on the task, and figured what better Christmas gift could I give him?
I first drilled two tap holes and wired the "beam" to length, comparing it to the other side, and ran another wire for the G4 tine. Bending these wires in the right position was quite the undertaking, because I used 3/32 galvanized wire for optimum support and strength. Once bent to my liking, I glued in both wires. I wrapped the wires with thin annealed wire so the Apoxie Sculpt had something to hold on to, then put a base of sculpt on the wire and allowed it to harden 24 hours. The next day, I sculpted the remainder, including the indents left behind naturally by the arteries that feed the antler while in velvet. I basically mimmicked the other side. Again, allowed it to dry 24 hours, and today I added the stain. I used black walnut (oil based). Once enough coats were added in the right spots, I burnished the stain to reveal the polished undertones you naturally see to match the other side.
Let me set the record straight. It was a learning experience, and if your taxidermist tells you some exorbitant fee, it is not easy, and takes several hours to pull it off adequately where even Mitch Rompola would be satisfied lol. So yeah, several hours in the antler repair, on top of the skull mount. I'm happy with it, and seeing how it's a Christmas gift, I know he can't complain lol.
Absolutely impressive my friend!
Great work Pete. I’m sure he’ll be more than pleased.
Looks great Pete, he should like it.
Beautiful work Pete, He will love it . Very impressive buck too
Very nice repair! You are clearly very talented doing this type of work.
Yep, my brother does those and also makes replicas, it is amazing what people can do that looks great!
Nice job. Part of the beauty of working with anything natural is that it is all unique and never has to match exactly. Mission accomplished!
I'd say you did a very fine job Pete. Congratulations and I'm certain he'll like it!
Good job Pete…. Can I send a couple your way?
Pete - Great job. I know he'll love it.
Thanks everyone. My friend was very surprised and very pleased. I think I made his Christmas.
There's alot of different things you can do with them.
