European mount goat

[greybeard]

I'm looking into an out of state hunt, and checked with a taxidermist on a European Mt. for a Feral goat(if I get one). I'm sure that it's the best way to go , but I was thinking of bringing the head back with me and doing it myself.

I've done some  taxidermy so am familiar with procedures, but not horn removal.( I know antlers are different)

I've read how to do it, but never did it. Has anyone ever removed horns from a goat.

Some boil, some let them rot off...Any suggestions ?

[Dinsdale]

Horns you let rot to soften the horn bond enough to slip off the cores. Then you cut the core off closer to the skull leaving a stump so you can put the sheaths (horns) back on after cleaning the skull and inside the horn,

 

I've done a couple, some come easy, others can be damn tough.

[greybeard]

Dinsdale..  Thank you. Have you ever tried boiling them to loosen.

[G-Man]

I'd get skull cleaned by bugs, horns slide right off then as they eat the fleshy part away

[Dinsdale]

No on the boiling.....I do use simmering to clean up skulls with some washing soda mixed in.

I guess a 55 gal drum cut into a tray would work for a pot for cooking as it would seem you'd need to get the hot water right up into the cores to get them softened up.

My thought would be if its cold weather back here when returning, is to freeze it whole and wait if you want them to rot off.

I tried a steer in late fall and didn't get good bacterial and bugs to get it going. Just kinda lingered and never really smelled. By spring after I left it tied to a stump in the woods, both sheaths came right off. Hung it on my barn and a coon came and stole them! Damn critters. LOL

Edited August 14, 2013 by Dinsdale

[greybeard]

ok.. Got it,.. Thanks