Macerating Velvet Antlers

[Antares]

Anyone ever macerate the velvet off antlers? I got a nice velvet buck last weekend. I was stripping the velvet with a scalpel and pliers, but it was going slow and I was worried about putting a lot of knife marks in the antlers so I threw them in one of my macerating buckets with an aquarium heater. I assume the velvet will start sloughing off in a week or two. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.

 

[butcherboy]

Yep, I’ve done it many times. Comes off pretty clean. I still degrease the antlers as well as the skull before either coloring the antlers or applying artificial velvet. I just sold all my flocking equipment to another taxidermist since I’m ending my Taxidermy business and focusing solely on my commercial meat plant.