Moose Racks

[Unshaven2897]

I was fortunate to be gifted three moose racks. The big one is right at 48". Here's what I'm trying to figure out: The front and whatever can be seen when mounted to the wall has some kind of coating on it and the back is unfinished. It is unknown how old it is nor what the finish is that was applied long ago. The finish darkened the rack somewhat but I don't think it was tinted. Should I apply anything to the backside or just leave it?

As for the two smaller ones they are around 30 and 36" and unfinished. Whether is is advised to add a finish to the back of the big one and applying a finish to the two smaller ones, what should be used?

 

[BearBio]

My taxidermist used paste shoe polish on my elk racks. If you get to East Wenatchee, they are the two at the east end of the gun counter (east wall) at Sportsman’s Warehouse (Name is Greg Van Stralen). They're facing each other in a bugling pose. One is a Tule Elk and one is a Rocky Mountain.

BTW: Ever see a spike moose?? Wife and I saw one just east of the east entrance to Yellowstone Park. West of Buffalo Bill's old hunting lodge. Very comical=looked like "Satan's horns"!

 

[Unshaven2897]

Chatting about this stuff w/wife this morning. She brought up elk/moose hybrids in MT and ID that she saw when she was in an internship toward her degree in wildlife biology. She specialized in endangered fish stuff.

 

[Hilldweller]

BearBio, never heard of ‘em so I googled it. Damn! Those are some scary lookin’ antlers !!

 

[Alan]

I was fortunate to be gifted three moose racks. The big one is right at 48". Here's what I'm trying to figure out: The front and whatever can be seen when mounted to the wall has some kind of coating on it and the back is unfinished. It is unknown how old it is nor what the finish is that was applied long ago. The finish darkened the rack somewhat but I don't think it was tinted. Should I apply anything to the backside or just leave it?

As for the two smaller ones they are around 30 and 36" and unfinished. Whether is is advised to add a finish to the back of the big one and applying a finish to the two smaller ones, what should be used?

Leave the front alone since it’s already stabilized. For the backs, I think a thin coat of clear matte polyurethane or spar urethane will protect them from drying and cracking long-term.

 

[BearBio]

Leave the front alone since it’s already stabilized. For the backs, I think a thin coat of clear matte polyurethane or spar urethane will protect them from drying and cracking long-term.

Keep an eye on them for vermin!

Irish elk (now extinct):

 

[Unshaven2897]

Thanks Alan. I've set them aside for now. This is a winter time project.

 

[Hilldweller]

Uggg…me want one !!

 

[BearBio]

Uggg…me want one !!

If you mean the Irish elk racks, you have to go to Ireland, dig in the bogs to get them. Along with "bog butter" and "bog people"

Bog butter: "Bog butter is an ancient waxy substance found buried in peat bogs, particularly in Ireland and Scotland. Likely an old method of making and preserving butter, some tested lumps of bog butter were made of dairy, while others were made of animal fat."
"Bog butter is technically edible, but caution is advised. This ancient substance, found in peat bogs primarily in Ireland and Scotland, has been preserved for thousands of years. Some samples have been dated back over 3,000 years and can still be consumed when retrieved. However, while it may be safe to eat, the flavor and texture can be quite different from fresh butter, and it is often described as having a complex taste that intensifies over time"

Bog people:

"Tollund Man is the best-looking and best-known member of an elite club of preserved cadavers that have come to be known as “bog bodies.” These are men and women (also some adolescents and a few children) who were laid down long ago in the raised peat bogs of Northern Europe—mostly Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland and the Netherlands. Cashel Man, the community’s elder statesman, dates to the Bronze Age, around 2,000 B.C., giving him a good 700 years on King Tut. But his age makes him an outlier. Radiocarbon dating tells us that the greater number of bog bodies went into the moss some time in the Iron Age between roughly 500 B.C. and A.D. 100. The roster from that period is a bog body Who’s Who: Tollund Man, Haraldskjaer Woman, Grauballe Man, Windeby Girl, Lindow Man, Clonycavan Man and Oldcroghan Man."

 

[Hilldweller]

"Tollund Man“. I think I saw something on him recently. (Probably a rerun from years ago)
As I remember it there was talk that he might actually have been a ‘king’ of sorts, and may have been ritually sacrificed due to crop failures, animals dying, or some other malady.

Are there bogs in the States??

 

[BearBio]

"Tollund Man“. I think I saw something on him recently. (Probably a rerun from years ago)
As I remember it there was talk that he might actually have been a ‘king’ of sorts, and may have been ritually sacrificed due to crop failures, animals dying, or some other malady.

Are there bogs in the States??

Yes, but not like northern Europe. Bogs here are created when a meadow becomes a marsh and the marsh dries up. The scientist who discovered/notated the process for his doctoral dissertation. While doing so, he contracted a fatal liver disease and was in very ill health when he presented it for his final approval. He failed. He wast the University of Mississippi (?) and roomed with E.O Wilson and Robert MacArthur (Two very famous biologists). He was on his deathbed when MacArthur took it upon himself to re-present his Ph.D. research. The committee approved his Doctoral and MacArthur rushed to the hospital to tell him. He died the next day!

A real trivia fact: The University of Mississippi converted an Army hospital to a campus after WWII. The three of them were dormed in a converted padded cell!