Horns Drying Out, Cracking, and Splitting

[Sabre]

I have seen and heard on threads (here and many other places) before of people doing treatments to their horns. People feel that they get their horns back and they look all dried out and want to prevent further drying and cracking.

I have seen the threads on AH about different restorations people do, like the detailed one about putting on wax, melting it in, adding dirt and clay and other colorants back in.

My main question here is, has anyone actually experienced their horns cracking or splitting from drying further after they got them? If anyone has experienced that, do you have pictures of how bad it was that you could share? What did you end up doing from then on to stop it and to prevent it on future trophies?

 

[Vintageguy]

None of my taxidermy, African nor North American, has had any treatment applied and none have ever cracked. I know some spray their horns with things like WD-40 but I prefer a natural look as opposed to dark and shiny. A lot of people prefer shiny black horns on their kudu. Personal tastes.

 

[RR 314]

I am not home now, but I do have a sable that cracked substantially years later. I just wiped it with pledge on a rag several times a year, and perhaps should’ve done something different. However, it is the only amount that I have that has cracked. From memory, I would say that some of the cracks are a 16th of an inch. Perhaps a little bit bigger.

 

[RLL]

I have seen and heard on threads (here and many other places) before of people doing treatments to their horns. People feel that they get their horns back and they look all dried out and want to prevent further drying and cracking.

I have seen the threads on AH about different restorations people do, like the detailed one about putting on wax, melting it in, adding dirt and clay and other colorants back in.

My main question here is, has anyone actually experienced their horns cracking or splitting from drying further after they got them? If anyone has experienced that, do you have pictures of how bad it was that you could share? What did you end up doing from then on to stop it and to prevent it on future trophies?

An Nyala horn cracked on me. No idea why compared to all the rest hanging in the garage. Treated all the same.

 

[buck wild]

I wrote at least one of the AH articles about restoring horns. It has been a 20 yr obsession of mine

I think there are TWO things, maybe getting conflated here by use of our terminology.

"Cracking"- The first definition would be a literal cracking of the horns, that would show a separation or infer a splitting of the horn. In my observations, I have seen very little of this over the years. It would be an extreme reaction to heat, lack of humidity, poor storage etc. The little cracking I do observe more commonly would be at the base of the horns, normally in the area that isn't completedly hard yet and still sort of cartilage where it grows into the hide. This is easily fixed for mounts and slightly harder to disguise in euros. The horn edges can curl and split in these areas as they are thin, with little horn core support under the edges .


The second "cracking", and IMO probably what most folks are referring to, is the extremely rough texture of horns that did not exist on the live animal. In wildebeast and a couple others, kudu for sure, it can appear to be cracking. What I THINK is really happening is the dirt, debris, natural waxiness from rubbing vegetation is stripped during the boiling process. Too much heat, over-boiled, excessive cleaning removes this matter, thus leaving that look cracked dry appearance. This is where the waxing methods of restoration do best in returning to their natural state. I can take African horns killed here in Texas and rot them off the cores without boiling, and I have yet to experience the "cracking" I see from the stuff coming from Africa.

To answer you @Sabre , the horns should stop doing whatever happened to them if they are no longer exposed to additional boiling, extreme heat and in some areas, extreme low humidity.

 

[Sabre]

I wrote at least one of the AH articles about restoring horns. It has been a 20 yr obsession of mine

I think there are TWO things, maybe getting conflated here by use of our terminology.

"Cracking"- The first definition would be a literal cracking of the horns, that would show a separation or infer a splitting of the horn. In my observations, I have seen very little of this over the years. It would be an extreme reaction to heat, lack of humidity, poor storage etc. The little cracking I do observe more commonly would be at the base of the horns, normally in the area that isn't completedly hard yet and still sort of cartilage where it grows into the hide. This is easily fixed for mounts and slightly harder to disguise in euros. The horn edges can curl and split in these areas as they are thin, with little horn core support under the edges .


The second "cracking", and IMO probably what most folks are referring to, is the extremely rough texture of horns that did not exist on the live animal. In wildebeast and a couple others, kudu for sure, it can appear to be cracking. What I THINK is really happening is the dirt, debris, natural waxiness from rubbing vegetation is stripped during the boiling process. Too much heat, over-boiled, excessive cleaning removes this matter, thus leaving that look cracked dry appearance. This is where the waxing methods of restoration do best in returning to their natural state. I can take African horns killed here in Texas and rot them off the cores without boiling, and I have yet to experience the "cracking" I see from the stuff coming from Africa.

To answer you @Sabre , the horns should stop doing whatever happened to them if they are no longer exposed to additional boiling, extreme heat and in some areas, extreme low humidity.

Your thread is certainly one of them I was referencing when talking about the wax method.

I read that thread with great interest in the past. I quite like the natural look as much as possible. For instance, I have some that look fairly nice without any treatment. And I wouldn't mind leaving them be. However, I do worry about future cracking and/or splitting. And I sometimes wonder if leaving them natural is worth the risk of future splitting, weighing that against darkening them with a treatment.

I considered doing your wax type treatment, but I don't currently have any that require quite that level of restoration (I think I might in the near future on a gemsbok).

I would say my one and only critique of your method would be that I noticed on some of the ringed horn antelope, the wax fills in and covers up a decent amount of the natural vertical striations between rings on the horns. That is a feature I really like about those antelope. Though, I do find that method leaves the horns the most natural looking overall, especially in relation to color.

 

[Hunt anything]

I may be doing the 100% wrong thing but when the horns on my mounts start to lose their luster I wipe them down with Old English lemon oil. The smooth tips may shine for a day or two but will go back to the natural look pretty quick.
I for one don’t want my antelopes horns painted. The mahogany brown of a kudu horn or the black of the sables horn should look natural.

 

[Sabre]

I may be doing the 100% wrong thing but when the horns on my mounts start to lose their luster I wipe them down with Old English lemon oil. The smooth tips may shine for a day or two but will go back to the natural look pretty quick.
I for one don’t want my antelopes horns painted. The mahogany brown of a kudu horn or the black of the sables horn should look natural.

I doubt you are doing anything too wrong. Almost everything I have seen recommended and specifically made for treating horns seems to have some oil type material in it.

I have seen people recommend:
WD-40
Engine oil (I really can't think this is a great idea, but who knows)
Orange-Glo
Mop & Glo
Mount Medix Horn and Antler Conditioner
Howard Feed N Wax
Antler and Horn Conditioner (I don't know who makes it, comes in a white container from taxidermy supply companies)
Synthetic Car Wax
Carnuba Wax
Bees Wax

 

[kpoynter]

My Taxidermist, who had decades of experience with African Game recommended “Scott’s Liquid Gold” for periodic maintenance. I use a rag and wipe them down..

 

[Sabre]

One thing I wonder about with Euro mounts, since so many of the treatments have oil in them or are oil based, if it would eventually bleed into the skull and discolor. Like you see on some older firearms where the oil from cleaning the metal parts has gone into the stock.

 

[Wheels]

I have found a couple of coats of linseed oil liberally applied 3-4 days apart, allows the horns to expand and remove the cracks. It also restores color to overboiled horns.

 

[RLL]

I wrote at least one of the AH articles about restoring horns. It has been a 20 yr obsession of mine

I think there are TWO things, maybe getting conflated here by use of our terminology.

"Cracking"- The first definition would be a literal cracking of the horns, that would show a separation or infer a splitting of the horn. In my observations, I have seen very little of this over the years. It would be an extreme reaction to heat, lack of humidity, poor storage etc. The little cracking I do observe more commonly would be at the base of the horns, normally in the area that isn't completedly hard yet and still sort of cartilage where it grows into the hide. This is easily fixed for mounts and slightly harder to disguise in euros. The horn edges can curl and split in these areas as they are thin, with little horn core support under the edges .


The second "cracking", and IMO probably what most folks are referring to, is the extremely rough texture of horns that did not exist on the live animal. In wildebeast and a couple others, kudu for sure, it can appear to be cracking. What I THINK is really happening is the dirt, debris, natural waxiness from rubbing vegetation is stripped during the boiling process. Too much heat, over-boiled, excessive cleaning removes this matter, thus leaving that look cracked dry appearance. This is where the waxing methods of restoration do best in returning to their natural state. I can take African horns killed here in Texas and rot them off the cores without boiling, and I have yet to experience the "cracking" I see from the stuff coming from Africa.

To answer you @Sabre , the horns should stop doing whatever happened to them if they are no longer exposed to additional boiling, extreme heat and in some areas, extreme low humidity.

Here is the long split or crack that formed on the Nyala. I think the horn structure and composition compared to others is part of the reason along with environment…too high of humidity the majority of the year.

 

[buck wild]

@RLL That is one of the worse cracks I've ever seen. I'm sure you paid attention when you rec'd them back, but no way that was a "chip" already there to some degree? There actually looks to be a missing piece of horn.

 

[samson7x]

Anyone have a link to the waxing process referenced above? I can't seem to find it.

 

[buck wild]

@samson7x

Thread 'Re-conditioning Horns'

Nov 16, 2020

Here is how I get a little life back into those boiled, dry out horns that come back to us. These are my personal sable and roan horns rec'd recently. I took careful measurements before leaving and needed to rebuild approx 1/2 " of horn to each.

First I make a silicone mold of the bottom 3/4" of each horn. I can provide more info on this later if someone is interested.

I next taken softened beeswax and apply a liberal coating over the entire horn. This will fill the cracks and provide a natural sheen.

I use a low heat source (hair dryer, paint stripper on...

• buck wild
• Replies: 4
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[RLL]

@RLL That is one of the worse cracks I've ever seen. I'm sure you paid attention when you rec'd them back, but no way that was a "chip" already there to some degree? There actually looks to be a missing piece of horn.

Me too… There was no indication of cracks or signs of splitting on 12 skulls/24 horns when I picked em up locally, after dip and pack in SA. I knew they’d be over boiled, as it showed inside the noses but it was as expected. QC’d each one as I use to do as a taxidermist for 6 years, No other horns did this.

I noticed the splitting developed very small after being on the wall about 8 months or so and progressed to the current state after another 2 months. It’s almost like the torsion and tension in the horn, unwound, allowing the small split near starting near the base to grow upward.

I’ve thought about fixing it but it really doesn’t bother me too much. Now had a gone through the process to shoulder it, I would not be as apathetic…

 

[Sabre]

Here is the long split or crack that formed on the Nyala. I think the horn structure and composition compared to others is part of the reason along with environment…too high of humidity the majority of the year.

View attachment 678999

Wow! That is quite a split. It looks like a triangle chunk is missing out of there. Is it possible that is split down two vertical edges and a large piece came out?

 

[RLL]

Wow! That is quite a split. It looks like a triangle chunk is missing out of there. Is it possible that is split down two vertical edges and a large piece came out?

No missing piece. The outer horn sheath split and just unfurled…This is an Nyala specific problem. Never seen it like this on any other horned critter.