I got some really nice ivories from my first bull I took this year, but I had a terrible time getting them out of his head. I used a knife and cut down both sides, then I tried to pry them out with my hands. No go. I grabbed a pair of pliers and got a good grip and tried prying, twisting, yanking them out. I ended up messing them up pretty bad with lots of deep scratches and gouges. My son ended up getting them out for me, but I'm not sure what to do with them now. I think I can sand the scratches smooth, then re-polish them, but the color will be gone. Maybe I can soak them in strong tea, then polish them to bring the color back. Any suggestions?
I'm thinking about making a special obsidian blade knife, and inlaying these into the carved Elk antler handle somehow. That's only if I can get them looking good again.