grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 13, 2013 13:35:11 GMT -5
I have been working on stripping old varnish and restoring the finish on several Mule deer racks I inherited from my dad and Granddad. Have two finished so far.One was from 1942, (one with metal tag) and the other from 1953. Thought the hunter types might like a look at them.   |
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herchenx
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Post by herchenx on Nov 13, 2013 19:13:22 GMT -5
Pretty impressive!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 13, 2013 19:29:10 GMT -5
Heirlooms man. I would treasure those. Yes they are giant but i figure you Dad and Grandpa really treasured those. Part of the family heritage.
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 13, 2013 19:41:59 GMT -5
Yeah, they sure are. Here is my Dad in the early 50's just back from a good day.  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 13, 2013 19:56:17 GMT -5
Man those guys have some thick hair. And they are giants. Hard to believe 60 years ago...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2013 20:05:54 GMT -5
Great racks Bill and you have them looking great.
Jim
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 13, 2013 20:10:01 GMT -5
Nice racks.......The oldest ones I have are from the 40's and my greatuncles from the early 60's I think,both mulie too....
What kind of finish did you use?
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 13, 2013 22:01:17 GMT -5
Mike, My elders had brushed copious amounts of varnish on their racks. It had darkened substantially over the years and were imbedded with dust. I soaked rags in paint thinner and draped it on them until it softened the varnish. then I used a scotch brite pad dipped in more thinner to take it down. the thinning and cleaning resulted in restoring the natural colors of the horns, which the varnish had served to protect. As I am sure you know, old racks that have not been varnished get cracks and bleach out. If I an dealing with such a set of horns I use a bit of thinned walnut wood stain to restore a natural color. I then spray two thin coats of semi gloss polyurethane. In a couple years it all mellows together well and the horns should last a long time. Here are a couple that are ready for the poly. This one I wish I could say I shot, but I found it while fishing in the spring. It looked to me that he had been wounded and sought the comfort of a beaver slough in which he expired. The head was still complete, I saw points sticking out of the water that had only recently thawed. If he would have died on land, coyotes, bears, porcupines and other critters would have chewed the rack. It was a bit bleached out, and I have used a little of the walnut stain on it. I am sure there are more professional ways to do it, but I like doing stuff on the cheap.  Another of my Grandfather's, from the 40's ready to spray.  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 14, 2013 6:32:47 GMT -5
I am guessing those are mule deer w/your Dad
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Post by rockpickerforever on Nov 14, 2013 10:45:17 GMT -5
Wow, you did a great job restoring those ol' racks. Looks like a lot of work... Now they're good to go for another sixty years.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 15, 2013 0:42:53 GMT -5
Cool,I wrote the recipe down.......
When I lived in Montana and North Dakota,I did alot of Shedd hunting(dropped antlers)...Made $1000's of dollars from the hobbie...Also traded and bought antlers and horns.....
Sold most of my collection here in Oregon after we moved. I still have some nice Mulie,Whitetail,Caribou,Elk,Moose,Raindeer,Pronghorn,Buffalo,Fallow deer antlers and horns,that I will keep...
I have one nice whitetail skull and rack that is nice,but if I do get rid of that skull,it will go to James.....
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 15, 2013 0:45:48 GMT -5
Thumbs up on your way of staining,I like it......PS:How far are you from the Crazy's.....I've seen some monster mulies taken from that area!
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 15, 2013 8:57:07 GMT -5
Mike, I am an hour west of the west slope of the Crazies, takes closer to two hours to get to the east side. I am next to the Crazies sister range, The Bridgers, which once was known for large Mulies too. Too close for too many hunters, since the late '90s, 80% of the bucks are killed before they are 3 years old. Those racks my elders passed on to me, came from the Crazies, and from the Boulder which lies south of the Crazies, closer to the Park. The Crazy Woman Mountains  Funny you mention horn hunting. . . In my younger more reckless days, I hunted horns where it is very good hunting, in early April when they shed. Fresh Elk sheds weigh around 15 lbs. per side, there was a guy in Ennis that bought them. At the height, they were bringing $7.75 / lb. Me and a partner would camp rough for a couple days, collecting and stashing. On a good trip we would get over 300 lbs. That was great money in the late 70's early 80's. We sometimes found winterkills, and got Ivories from them. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 15, 2013 9:25:15 GMT -5
My weird wife and her skull collection. Thanks for the thoughts Mike.
Amazing that you guys can collect sheds in theses amounts.
Bet you got to cover a lot of ground.
Like the name of your mountains. You got Crazy Woman and we have War Woman.
And the name "Crazies" is quite interesting.
Think you guys had anything to do w/that name?
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 15, 2013 10:02:07 GMT -5
James, Interesting story with the naming. It is translated from the Crow. The name given by them in the 1800s was the Crazy Woman Mountains, after an early white settler whose children and husband were killed by the Indians. She stayed on alone in the wilderness for decades, living in a small cabin. She had no fear, having gone mad the Indians left her alone and even began to respect/fear her and think she had/was "bad medicine". This story was noted in one of the mountain man movies, might have been Jeremiah Johnson.
So that's how those mountains got their name. At some point around the 1990s the word "woman" was dropped due to feminist disapproval.
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grayfingers
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 15, 2013 10:13:48 GMT -5
The Elk concentrate in winter, and in early spring are found on certain exposures on certain types of ridges where they shed. If one knows where they are it is still a lot of hiking/packing but can be quite fruitful. One has to be loaded for Grizzly bears though, they are coming out of their dens hungry as hell and take a dim view on sharing winterkills. Once, we found around 30 elk that had all died in a creek bottom strung out over a quarter mile.(cold snap) We had the fever, and were rushing along too fast. (Cows have ivories too) We were confronted by a big fella, he stood up and looked very tall. We backed up slowly until we were out of sight. Even with a sidearm, one feels pretty spooked in a very primal way. We were much more careful after that.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 15, 2013 13:50:52 GMT -5
James, Interesting story with the naming. It is translated from the Crow. The name given by them in the 1800s was the Crazy Woman Mountains, after an early white settler whose children and husband were killed by the Indians. She stayed on alone in the wilderness for decades, living in a small cabin. She had no fear, having gone mad the Indians left her alone and even began to respect/fear her and think she had/was "bad medicine". This story was noted in one of the mountain man movies, might have been Jeremiah Johnson. So that's how those mountains got their name. At some point around the 1990s the word "woman" was dropped due to feminist disapproval. Yes it was on that movie..........Great stories come out of those mountains...My buddy in Roundup,is a third generation trapper,born and breed in the Crazies! He is in his late 60's now,crazy as a bedbug,but a guy you want to cover your back in any situation... He has a snare company and sells about anything that people would buy..LOL |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 15, 2013 20:33:47 GMT -5
Moose and bear would make me nervous. Atleast we are safe if we stay out of the water. You guys are not on top of the land food chain.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 15, 2013 20:57:42 GMT -5
The Elk concentrate in winter, and in early spring are found on certain exposures on certain types of ridges where they shed. If one knows where they are it is still a lot of hiking/packing but can be quite fruitful. One has to be loaded for Grizzly bears though, they are coming out of their dens hungry as hell and take a dim view on sharing winterkills. Once, we found around 30 elk that had all died in a creek bottom strung out over a quarter mile.(cold snap) We had the fever, and were rushing along too fast. (Cows have ivories too) We were confronted by a big fella, he stood up and looked very tall. We backed up slowly until we were out of sight. Even with a sidearm, one feels pretty spooked in a very primal way. We were much more careful after that. Your knowledge is a lifetime in learning. And training for those areas is unforgiving. I imagine the weather would get you faster than the animals. Like a wind change and your frozen. |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 15, 2013 22:43:31 GMT -5
Bear and moose aren't bad,its those dang cougars that I don't like......
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