Antler Staining after losing the Velvet

[AZ4life]

I am looking for some help on how to stain my antlers. I killed the buck August archery on the AZ strip on a 100 degree day. We obviously lost the velvet :/ My potential problem is, as you can see in the pictures, there are a bunch of darker blochy blood stain areas or something in the antler that I'm pretty sure would make the stain job look funny. Does anyone have any experience with this. Would you treat it like painting and do a white primer or something first, and then stain the antlers to get it to be all more uniform? What stains do you like best? Thanks

 

[quest]

Go down to Home Depot and buy some small cans of wood stains. I like Walnut or Mulberry. You can look at the pics on the can to match up what color your after. Start slow and a little at a time put it on with a cotton rag wipe off excess. The blood color on your antlers will at to the stain. Thats how I do it.

 

[preacher]

Potassium permanganate is the best thing to use. Apply in coats to get them the color you desire. I've used it on multiple antlers that my beetles ate the velvet off of. They turned out great

 

[KNOPHISH]

I have used brown shoe polish on a euro mount that looked pretty good.

 

[mightyhunter]

I have used various oil paints cut with a half and half mixture of lacquer thinner and boiled linseed oil. The colors I use are Titanium White for a base coat. After that a combination of Ground White, Burnt Umber and Vandyke Brown. All can be purchased from Hobby Lobby or any craft store.

 

[Tractor]

I recommend using acrylic paints and rub on with finger using water to dead down the color to your liking.
I get a little nervous using heavy stains or lacquer because if it it not done right its hard to go back on the color

 

[bonecollector777]

Use mud! Find some dark dirt mix it up with water and cake the antlers and let it dry. Then scrape off the mud with a brush and put a light coating of linseed oil on it and they will look brand new

 

[Bvickers]

Hi I was curious what meathod of antler staining you did and how it turned out. I also stripped the velvet off my buck and need to color them. Thanks

 

[4corners_sportsman]

Use wet coffee grounds! Just get a good amount of wet coffee grounds in a container, get a handful and massage it into the antler. Try it out on a white shed to see if you like the results. That is the method I use and it looks the most natural compared to wood stains.

 

[mmwb]

I can't help you on the color, but that is an awesome buck. Love the character.

 

[MIG]

The best thing I have found is using fresh coffee grinds and letting them sit until they are dry. It looks better than stains/paints/mud. Use a dark roast and make sure the grinds are still moist and warm

 

[wytex]

These were just as white and were done kind of like the animals do it. First a light layer of liquid pine tar then rub with dirt and bark mixture. Then rub them down with a green evergreen branch to coat with some sap and seal the color.
The color can be easily adjusted as you rub on the dirt bark mixture.

 

[hornkiller]

Before you go throwing a bunch of junk on your beautiful rack you should get a few sheds that are the same color and find out how/What looks good to you using what others have said!

 

[tinehunter]

I have used Boot oil to bring out the color, just warm it up and start working it in. I'll send pics of a 118 1/8 inch shed I found that was all white. Looks great.