Really pleased with what I found.........

[JonnyP]

I have always wanted to find an antler, I am often in places where deer go, but have never found one till today.
Question is, what do I do with it now ???
Any suggestions.............

 

[British Red]

I'll open the bidding Jon,

How about a head piece for a staff and then use the tines for some toggles? Beautiful piece - I might be tempted to mount it on a board and use it to hang my hats on!

Red

 

[RovingArcher]

Very nice piece. If it had possibilities, I might use it for a knife handle, but it is beautiful as it is and has very good character, so I would probably honor the animal by displaying it in my home in some way.

 

[Zodiak]

Thats a fantasic find, if it had been me I would probably still be there looking for the other one (I can't stand uneven things!)

I would be tempted to mount it on a plaque of deep red coloured wood with a little brass plaque saying where I found it. Is there a native deep red Scottish wood?

Either that hold it in my hand from inside my coat sleeve so it looked like a mutant claw and jump out on my Mrs when she comes home . That way she would go loopy and I would end up spending the night in the garden, so thats a double win really

 

[JonnyP]

Cheers for the suggestions........I do not like uneven things as well, would it look odd mounted on the wall on its own ? I like the idea of a head piece on a staff, as it would keep it intact and it does fit in the hand nicely. Perhaps I should make a try stick and mount it on that.........

 

[Marts]

Firesteel handles?

 

[Stew]

I would cut it in half.

I would use the fork section as the top of a thumb stick and I would use the other half as a handle of a knife.

 

[jdlenton]

very nice jon what species is it ? i found a very nice fallow antler not to long back I still haven' t figured out what to do with it

 

[jasons]

make it in to a head dress like ray

 

[Buckshot]

That's a very nice Roe antler - lots of knurling. Can't tell the age of a deer by the antler but It looks like it's from a mature buck. Six points is as big as a Roe gets.
You might be looking for a while to find the other one though !

Looks quite white, They come out of the velvet white but are coloured very quickly by the tannins in the trees they fray, dirt and anything else they decide to attack with them.!
Pot Perm in solution turns the antler brown on contact so if you wanted to you could create a bit of depth by pianting the valleys and leaving peaks white !

Whatever you decide to do I'm sure it will look great.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Big Steve]

It is a great find! If you are interested in trying out flintknapping, then the antler you found will be great for cutting up and turning into tools. You can use the tines for pressure flaking, longer straight tines as antler punches, or the body and crown of the antler as a baton for soft percussion. Along with a few locally collected (and free) hard hammerstones and a piece of protective leather (cheap offcut from you local saddler) to protect hands and thigh, you have the same basic equipment for a flintknapping kit that was used for at least 100,000 years by our Homo Sapien forefathers.... and that's all they had to rely on.

The antler itself was also used to carve into harpoon tips and other hunting weapons. A bimble through Tinternet will provide some intersting photos and ideas, as well as more info on the ancient skill of flintknapping. Give it a go.... we have only been using metals for a few thousand years, but were using stone since we started to walk upright on 2 legs. A word of caution: protect your eyes, wear long trousers (unless you think scars are cool) and don't knap flint in enclosed, unventilated spaces.

 

[stovie]

Hmmmmm! Nocks for my new ELB

 

[kaoss]

Jon. Best thing to do with that is to wrap it in brown paper.









Then take it to the post office, write my address on it, put on loads of stamps and give to the nice lady or gent behind the counter

No seriously It's too nice to cut up, use it as a talking point when you have friends round

 

[pibbleb]

Nice find Jon, you lucky so and so!

I like the staff suggestion the most! Although my little girl thinks the mutant claw is the winner.

Good luck with what you decide it's a nice piece so what ever you end up doing will look spot on.

Pib

 

[JonnyP]

That's a very nice Roe antler - lots of knurling. Can't tell the age of a deer by the antler but It looks like it's from a mature buck. Six points is as big as a Roe gets.
You might be looking for a while to find the other one though !

Looks quite white, They come out of the velvet white but are coloured very quickly by the tannins in the trees they fray, dirt and anything else they decide to attack with them.!
Pot Perm in solution turns the antler brown on contact so if you wanted to you could create a bit of depth by pianting the valleys and leaving peaks white !

Whatever you decide to do I'm sure it will look great.

Cheers

Mark

Yes it is a roe deers antler. It is only white on the inside, here is a shot of the outside............

I was told it is off a two year old deer, one main spike is grown per year, but am not too sure on that ???. Was also told deer quite often eat shed antlers......
Thanks for all the suggestions, pretty sure it is going to go whole on a staff of some sort...........

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Nice find !

Would make a great gothc candle stick holder

 

[JonathanD]

It's beautiful. I'd leave it as it was and display it on a mantlepiece somewhere. It would be a shame to cut up something like that, specially as it was a natural find.

 

[torjusg]

Don't know the scale of it, but I think it could make a nice antler hatchet blade. They are supposed to be quite effective (have been working sporadically on a big axe of moose antler for 6 months of so now).

If you are into the stone age stuff that is.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[SowthEfrikan]

Some very nice suggestions.

Here's a crazy thought: Why not return it to the place it was found so that others, passing by, can marvel and enjoy it, too?

 

[Buckshot]

Yes it is a roe deers antler. It is only white on the inside, here is a shot of the outside............

I was told it is off a two year old deer, one main spike is grown per year, but am not too sure on that ???. Was also told deer quite often eat shed antlers......
Thanks for all the suggestions, pretty sure it is going to go whole on a staff of some sort...........

That's more like it. Perhaps the sun has bleached one side? which way up was it when you found it?

Antlers are particuarlly unrealiable to use as a guide to age deer. It depends on so many other things. It could be from a two year old deer if the location is particuarlly good with lots of feed and nutrients avaliable or it could take a deer six years or more to get a head like that if it lives in a poorer area.
A much more accurate way to age them is by assessing the wear on the teeth and counting how many have erupted from the gum and what type. This also depends on the location though. As deer will ingest soil along with the food they eat a gritty soil will wear teeth quicker than a soft soil. The key is to find out what the conditions are for your area. Of course you need the deer present to be able to age by the teeth method!

Lots of animals will eat shed antlers, deer, squirrels, various rodents, rabbits etc.
It's a good form of calcium especially if there's not much occuring naturally.
It can be quite good fun trying to identify the animal by the tooth marks on an antler.

Cheers

Mark