Thread: Removing tahr horns

I managed a 13inch bull the other week and have decided to euro mount it.

I have boiled it for a good couple of hours yesterday and I still cannot manage to get the horns off. I've tried bashing, hammering etc. Previously with some chamois I have euro mounted one had the horns come off easily and the other two were stuck solid, I didn't understand why then either.

Any tips? I'm pretty keen to do a good job of this one. I don't have a microwave...

Keep them fully submerged on a low boil, welding gloves or tea towels handy to pull while they're still hot. Takes a wee bit off patience, beer helps

Ok thank you, submerging them in boiling water wont damage the horns? I read something somewhere that suggested it might.

Originally Posted by bosh

Ok thank you, submerging them in boiling water wont damage the horns? I read something somewhere that suggested it might.

At a low boil I've never had damage, that said I don't leave them for long. Once theyve been on the boil for 20 min pull them every few mins to check, youll find they get looser and looser until they give up. Each head is different.

If you leave them long enough, they'll fall off by themselves

I have two chamois skulls that I can't get the horns off. One has been dead two years and one 9 months, so leaving them long enough doesn't seem to always work. They were both boiled up straight away rather than left to rot though...

Seems a long time
I hung mine in a tree over summer and within a month or so the horns had fallen off

Buried my tahr head in garden for 4 or 5 months in summer time.Only skull,hair n horns left.Maggets n worms cleaned the rest out. Horns came out real easy with one wrist twist.

Put it in a sealed plastic bag with a splash of water and sit it outside for a while, horns will come off easy as and doesn’t damage them. Submerging horns in boiling water always causes discolouration and often splits them around the base

I've got the same issue at the moment. Read somewhere on here that you can leave the head in bucket of water for a week or so and that'll do it (bout 3 days in and it's well whiffy).

Can anyone confirm?

Cheers

You could borrow my dog, had a 13 3/4 Tahr head blown off the wood pile while it was drying. She had no trouble removing the horns in no time at all and chewing them up. Might not be what you’re after, the dog survived.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh dude. Fuck that's rough