Took my velvet buck in to the taxi for a euro. Said 450 bucks... Seems a bit steep to me. Anyone out there have any velvet bucks euro'd and what was the price? I'm thinking I might go back and pick him up and attempt a DIY euro. Possibly with a sous vide so the steam doesn't damage the fuzz. Anyone have tips or experience working with a buck in velvet and what to use to preserve him?
DIY Velvet Euro
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COEngineer
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When I dropped mine off, the taxidermist said I could put the antlers in my chest freezer and the velvet would "freeze dry" rather than paying him 100's for it. As far as getting the meat off the head, you would probably be looking at another chunk of change to do beetles (assuming they can tape off the antlers, so the velvet doesn't get eaten). Sous vide sounds interesting, but might be tricky.
if i had a velvet buck and wanted to keep the velvet i'd first and foremost not be wasting time.
if you don't have embalming fluid ready to go i'd just get it to the taxi and pay up. the freezer idea is interesting, but i'd still be too worried about messing up. maybe there are great ways to preserve velvet without embalming fluid but i'm not sure.
me personally: if i really wanted the velvet i'd hand off the skull to professional asap.
edit: i have no experience here. jsut what i've read. and i've read velvet is very delicate and can go fast if not taken care of carefully and quickly.
if you don't have embalming fluid ready to go i'd just get it to the taxi and pay up. the freezer idea is interesting, but i'd still be too worried about messing up. maybe there are great ways to preserve velvet without embalming fluid but i'm not sure.
me personally: if i really wanted the velvet i'd hand off the skull to professional asap.
edit: i have no experience here. jsut what i've read. and i've read velvet is very delicate and can go fast if not taken care of carefully and quickly.
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That's where I was at but when they said $450 I was kind of shocked. I'm doing the right steps so far, he went into the freezer the day he was shot. I just don't know if I can justify that much for a euro.
I've also heard this but that the blood is still in the veins and can attract bugs after a while.
If I did it myself I'd sous vide to macerate and get the meat off. Then I'd just paint it with some Bleach instead of cooking it in bleach. Less time in and around the liquid = less chance too #*^@#* up the fuzz in my eyes if I'm DIYing it.
SD_Prairie_Goat
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Guy might be able to freeze it long enough to freeze dry it all. That might take a year depending on freezer temp though. Not sure but I would think it would be a craps shoot trying this method. The reason the taxidermist charges is they have to basically embalm the velvet which I don't think is an easy process...
geetar
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$450 is exactly what I paid to have mine shoulder mounted but that was 10 years ago. Seems really high for euro.
But that's a shoulder mount. A euro?? That hurts.
geetar
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Exactly. No way I’m paying $450 for a euro
COEngineer
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My taxidermist is freeze-drying it (actually, he is sending to somewhere to have it freeze-dried). He said he doesn't like to mess with the embalming fluid and freeze-drying works just as well. I can only tell you what he told me, I am no expert on the subject.
SD_Prairie_Goat
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I tried freeze drying berries just throwing them uncovered in the -20 freezer. Three months later just a frozen berry, so I don't imagine freeze drying at home would work. But maybe I did it weird
For freeze drying to work don’t you have to pull the moisture out as well?
SD_Prairie_Goat
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Ya, but how do you do that? Most I read said to just let the freezer do the work, vacuum is the traditional way I think?
CouesKelly
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Check out a product called Velvelok by velvet antler technologies for a DIY method.
AvidIndoorsman
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With any thing DIY you could mess it up, but I’d go the Sous vide route and use acetone on the velvet.
Probably do the velvet first… might consider cutting them off the skull and reattaching them.
Probably do the velvet first… might consider cutting them off the skull and reattaching them.
Honestly no idea lol I just remember reading an article about freeze drying foods a long while back not antlers lol
I bought some velvet cure from Mackenzie taxidermy on line. Like @wllm1313 said. I’ll probably have to cure the horns before anything else. I plan on using the whole bottle.. I don’t want this DIY to turn into DIWhythefuckdidifucthisup
WYWINCHESTER
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DENATURED ALCOHOL. Hang them upside down and spray them a few times a day with denatured alcohol. Take an awl and poke some holes in the tips and let them dry. Keep this up for a few days. Mine have been like new for almost twenty years.
