Heres a few pics of the freeze dry machine being loaded up this past week. In this batch we have a lot of velvet axis antlers along with a few velvet whitetail racks, one gator gar head, a cotton tail, a field mouse, 5 rattle snakes and some habitat.
The bottom pictures are of some antlers we just took out of the machine a few weeks ago that all turned out looking just like they did when they were on the animals. As you can see on the axis shoulder mount, the velvet does not shrink any in the process and retains all of is original color. By freeze drying your velvet you can rest assured it's going to look just like it did when you killed your trophy no matter what stage of antler growth that deer is in.

Thanks for posting the photos. I dropped an Axis off last week at my taxidermist and I wondered how the freeze dry process works. I've got several questions if you have time. When did this process get to be the norm for velvet antlers? I'm wondering how the claim that they will last longer than injecting them is valid if this is a fairly new process? I hope its all I've heard it is because I'm really hoping my axis will look like he did in the field. The man I'm using may have taken the horns to your place for freeze drying, I hope so as you look like you've mastered the process. Thanks again for sharing the photos. Baker

Freeze dry taxidermy work has been around for longer than most people know. It's just not that common because the machines are expensive and in case of velvet antlers the process takes longer than injecting. As far as I know, I'm one of the only taxidermist in the Texas hill country with a freeze dry machine, I know of a few others in Austin and Dallas but they mainly specialize in floral arrangement and thing like that. Freeze drying your antlers will give you long lasting results if kept in a dry environment and if they are properly treated to prevent bugs from getting to them. By injecting antlers you are more or less creating raw hide for lack of a better term. The freeze dry process removes all the moisture from the antlers and leaves you with a product that will not continue to shrink or decay over the years. What taxi did you drop your buck off with? Maybe I can let you know if the antlers are at my shop or not.

I had a Axis in velvet done last year on a Euro mount, it was almost as much as a shoulder mount because it had to be stripped and put back on. Is freeze drying more cost effective or does the cost of the machine negate any labor costs? I want to say I paid $375 for the velvet Euro at Rhodes.

BTW awesome work.

I took it to Cory Burris in Castroville he comes highly recommended and his work that I've seen is beautiful. I posted a photo of the buck I took this week on the exotic board. Thank you for the reply and the link to your website. Beautiful work, Baker

Texflip, injecting the antlers is defiantly cheaper than freeze drying. In the case of your euro, if the velvet was stripped and replacement velvet added then that is most likely why it was so expensive, there is alot of man hours involved in doing it like that. I charge $150 to freeze dry a set of velvet antlers, $250 to do a velvet euro mount. Next time your in the kerrville Ingram area swing by the shop and I'll be more than happy to show you the process and let you see some of the freeze dry taxidermy products.

Sounds like a plan.

I saw your buck on the exotic page, great buck. I hope the antlers end up at my shop, I'd love to freeze dry them for you. I didn't recognize Cory Burris' name so I'm pretty sure they are not at my shop but as long as he's having him freeze dried I'm sure you'll be more than happy with the end results

Thanks for the follow up and the info on the freeze dry process. I'm not really a velvet guy but I've seen a few that look great! Take care sir, Baker

Beautiful work