So how do I go about removing them to keep from bleaching them?

Put in a black trash bag with a few ounces of water and tie shut. Leave in the sun for a few days and they will slip right off. Gonna stink though!

the skull is pretty clean already and have it submerged in trashcan full of water on back porch. When I say clean there is no tissue left and pretty white just want to slip horns off to get underside aired out and dried.Will keep checking it daily to see if they are ready...water is gamey!

I have a friend who killed a Big Horn in Montana that put his skull in a large plastic tote filled with water. He did change the water daily till the horns slipped of to be cleaned.

Texan Taxidermy is right, it's gonna stink, but that is the safest way to do it.
I don't recommend you pry on them either, the horns can get pretty soft and rip., once they start loosening up, you'll be able to wiggle them around a bit, One way to break the suction is to "Drop then on the top of the horn while they are still on the skull. Think about it, a Ram slams those things into another ram and they stay intact BUT DO NOT PRY up or out, you'll hear the suction break loose, then the horn should slide off.

Little Tip: if your planning on remounting this to the skull plate, take a very small drill bit (Size of a pen head) and on the back of the horn at the base, drill a small hole through the horn and into the skull cap.
What this does is when you go to remount the horns, it gives you the precise location the horn originally sat on the skull cap. Makes for a more symmetric line on the mount.
my 2 cents

Good Luck
rich

GOT them off! Yahoo or yuk,your right about smell.I am use to it done a few euro's but the fermented horn thing was different. I slipped horns off and put skull in my truck to steam off a little here at work.I sat the horns outside my shop and my mastiff found them (like they were lost or something)he was so proud of himself...I wasn't! Good thing I noticed that pretty quick! Thanks for help guys!

Congratulations!!
Im not sure what most people do, but I usually fill the horns with BORAX for a while, seems to help with the smell and dries them out pretty good.

I put some bleach to soften smell,ran out of Borax but will get more. Working on reconstructing elk euro that dad shot in back of head...bad idea! Am leaving JB Liquid Steel lines where have had to repair to remind him what not to do. Will fill brain cavity with wood shavings and epoxy and set bracket to wall mount rather than plaque...6x6 rack ain't lite!

boil them off

I rotted the horns off a red sheep I shot so I could send them to my taxidermist. That, by far, is the worse smell I have ever experienced. To make matters worse, one of the cores had broken off and left a bunch of puss in the horn. My dog thought this all smelled great though.

The best way is to boil them off.

DO NOT boil the horns. Bag them or macerate them but don't boil them.

Mike is correct...
Absolutely do not Boil....you will impregnate the oil and grease from the fat and meat into the horns and permanentaly change the color to very dark. Sheep horns are naturally dry looking and this will ruin the look in my opinion.

Also if you boil you can change the shape of the horn if boiled too long and they will be hard to get back on the core corrrectly.

Eric Wietfeld
Kodiak Taxidermy
Kodiak, Ak
907-486-4883

I got them off and skull is just hanging out in sun light for now...airing out horns and just have to epoxy them back on.Need to get in gear and finish my oryx skull now.What do I wipe the oryx horns with to clean and bring out the true black color? Was thinking furniture polish?

RLoving,
Use WD-40. It will replace the oil and give it a natural shine.

Cool! Got some of that!

I'm thinking that the bleach isn't a good idea either. Everything skull that bleach got put on, became brittle and broke easily.

Horrible idea. Just sayin.... Unless you like smell of Wd40 and dust collecting on the horns like flies on crap!

Hate to let you guys in on a secret, but sheep stink.

Sheep not so bad goats are the ones that stink!

I'm not going down that road. Point being when an animal stinks to begin with, normally it does not smell better after it is soaking in water for weeks. And sheep stink.

Sorry don't mean to disagree, but the WD-40 smell will not be there. And it collects no more dust than regular mount on the wall. All it does is put the oil lost back in the horns so the don't look so dried out, but everyone had their own opinion.

That is wrong wd40 is horrible idea I have been around taxidermy every day for the last 25 years and there is no reason to spray wd40 on horns.

I know you haven't been doing this that long and I am sure someone told you it was a good idea like fleshing with a power washer which is the craziest thing i have ever heard but it is not!

Well I guess you know who I am then BMD. You can have your way and I will have mine. All I try to do is help people on here. There are so many ways to do taxidermy, some methods work and some do not. What is most important in the long run is that the customer is happy and we do quality work and provide good quality service to our customers. I enjoy this field so much and put a lot of heart into my customers trophies. It does not make me less of a person. I enjoy making people happy. Have a good day.

I am not knocking you or doubting you believe it, but I truly believe that the wd40 advise is not good or I wouldn't have said a word. Guess we will have to just disagree on this one.