lobi1

Had a cool evening last night. Took my 8 year old up in the treestand with me. He has been out with me a few evenings over the past few years but never got to be there for a kill. A deer came in within 10 yards of us and he was amazingly quiet, I was afraid he might get too excited and spook the deer. It was only a young one with long spikes but I decided to take it so he could experiance more than just tracking and field dressing as he has in the past. Interestingly the antlers were still in velvet and should have been clean for over a month here in Michigan. I thought doe right away but couldn't be sure until I found the deer. We had a nice short track with a heart/lung shot. I went right to the hind legs and took a peek. As suspected, it had a hoo-hoo and not a winkie. Everybody has heard of this but not many get seen. As in the case with my other boys, if they are up in the tree with me when I shoot a buck and they help track/dress it out, then the rack is theirs for their bedroom wall. Tiny rack but my boy couldn't be prouder because it is cool.

My question is.. How do I preserve the velvet? Is there something I can treat it with to be sure it won't be falling off in the future?

jmbuckhunter

Call a taxidermist to be sure. But I think they need to be injected with a preservitive.

24/7 hunter

ive heard of covering the antlers in sawdust for a few weeks i think to absorb the moisture, but i know that there are taxidermy products that would be a better choice

Piebalddoe

The velvet shouldn't be full and filled with blood like the antlers in the mid summer. Hard to explain, but it should be dry for the most part. So you don't need to preserve it or anything. If you're mounting the deer, bag the cape up in a few layers of garbage bags, and freeze it until you are ready to take it to a taxidermist.