Elk Horn -- Scale Material? What to do?

harleyguy02

harleyguy02

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Jun 2, 2009
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Soooo.. I have this father in law....he owns 12,000 acres in North Dakota. It is on Fort Berthold Indian
Reservation. (Bakken shelf property)

So he decides 15 years ago he wants to raise elk. What started out as a small hobby with some elk is
Now 100 head. Probably 40- 50 of them are bulls and 25 of those are mature. I would guess 10 to 15 of those are north of 315"

What usually happens is this. he picks up the sheds in the winter and spring and throws them in his barn.
Then over the course of the next few months they get stolen. He does not live at his ranch full time..

Anyways..

Here is the questions I have.

1. Are these horns of interest to any makers?

2. Does it make sense to cut them into rolls?

3. Stabilazation ?

I won't say I have unlimited supply.. But I will say I have acess to a large supply with no middle man:)

I would appreciate any feedback or direction.I just want to help him realize some revenue from his herd.
I have a small pile that I will post pics so you can see the size..
This is not a for sale post, rather a please help me post.

elk horns.jpg
 
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Elk antler can make very nice knife handles.
Stag has been used for hundreds of years without stabilization.
 
Theres is absolute value, espicially if there being picked up and stored, ive been givin some preety bleached out sheds , and they jusy hang in the shop, heck there is a huge popularity in shed hunting, ive been around some individuals that appreciate knowing its a shed! There is a way to cut, moisten, and flatten elk into nice knife scales, maybe someone could chime in on that process! GHaile
 
Thanks everyone..

I am thinking about cutting the antlers in 4.5 to 5" rolls.. Does that make the most sense size wise? I want the best size for the maker, plus want to avoid waste.
 
I suggest cutting them to lengths of 5" to 5&1/2". That will allow the maker a little room to trim the ends to the proper angle for each particular project. I would also offer a few whole sheds for sale so the makers could cut their own rolls and scales out of them. Although you may want to cut them in half to save on shipping. If you have enough to make a dealer membership worth while, I bet you could sell them here if the price is right.
 
That is a good size. On some of the more "moderate" sized ones, start measuring from the crown upwards. That way
you will have sections with the crown intact. Many makers (including myself) like the look of the elk antler with the
crown intact. They will be large enough that you should be able to make use of most of each antler. I was given a
good sized quantity of sheds about 4 years ago by a friend and am just now using up the last of it. Your supply is
apparently much greater that mine was, so, you should be busy for quite a while. Best of luck.

Bob

Ditto what Darrin said.
 
If you start selling them, I'll be ready to get some. Maybe, like 1 mid sized whole horn, and a roll or two. Depends on price. But yeah, You have the market.
 
Todd, I had missed this but ran across it after our phone conversation.

First off... that's just crazy- 12k acres and ~100 elk :eek:

My personal experience with elk. The number one reason a lot of elk antler won't work real well for knife handles is too much pith and too little enamel.

So with that in mind, the big, huge beams can usually be cut by a maker into scales to be used on a full tang blade, framed handle, or sometimes a mortised handle for a hidden tang blade.

The small to medium sized tines are what will usually work best for a hidden tang.

The eye-guards are usually VERY solid with very little pith.

I would say your best bet would be to cut the antler into 6" chunks.

Very cool stuff! :)
 
I bought some elk from a forum member last year and it worked really well, I suggest making them long 6"+ due to the uneven nature its hard to get a 5" section for a full tang unless you have a bit of extra to work with. I think the ones I got were 6 - 8". I did not stabilize but did dye to give them a bit more contrast and color, overall they work well and look good.
 
Thanks guys!!

I located a Band saw and am shooting to have them cut on Friday.. 6+ inches sounds good to me.. Rather too long than short:)

I will get whatever membership on BF I need to sell them..

It will be a big pile of rounds.... These are primo pieces that never got chewed on in the field.

My father in law told me last week he has enough sheds to fill the floor of a 2 car garage.
 
I messed around with elk antlers a while back.
The ones I liked best were spike sheds.
That way you get the crown at the end, the rest tends to be straight and about the right size to fit your hand.

The real money in elk antlers is to the chandelier makers and taxidermists if you get a trophy size matching rack or atypical antlers.
 
Elk antler makes great handle material. Here are a few I have done

DSC_0308.jpg


elkantlerbowie.jpg


seismograph%20Damascus%20and%20elk%20antler.preview.jpg


The second shot was from an old bleached out set of antlers I got from a neighbor down the street. He had them hanging on his trailer and I stopped to ask if was getting rid of them. They were checked and bleached white. I stabilized them with nelsonite and filled the checks with black superglue. Makes them look pretty nice.
 
One thing to consider is aclimating it to the users enviroment to avoid shrinkage espesially with scales. I made a friend a small skinner this spring with a elk shed from last year and the scales shrunk almost a 32nd all around over a months time or so. like any natural material it will move a bit never really had a issue with rounds or crowns but definately watch the scales. Still love the stuff :)
Chris
 
I'm hoping this is the proper place to ask this question....

I'm having s pair of hunting/skinning knives made for my son and I, that will have deer antler handles. Will these handles need to be sealed, or protected from blood staining them during the skinning/butchering process? The gent making the knives says there should be no issues, but then, he's selling knives...... and I flat don't know....

Thanks
 
I have never had a problem nor have I ever heard of one. Unless you were using very old material that was not sealed then you might. If it is antler that is in good solid condition then you might want to put a light coat of wax or mineral oil on it and this will help seal out any moisture. Normally antler that has been worked properly is very stable and stain resistant.
 
I like to have it amber dyed at Culpeppers and use it on small knives. It makes great slip joint scales but even on small knives there is some pith but that can be filled with super glue. New sheds will shrink badly so let them sit in a dry shed for a year. I never actually pay for elk because its so plentiful here in Washington State. Sambar Stag is better in all ways except elk has some nice fine pattern texture. The brow tines are like popcorn stag, awesome. My major complaint is I cant command high end prices with elk like stag will bring.
 
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