backcountry?

[Sundance]

thanks

[bowtech721]

I dont know about preserving the velvet but there is probably some way... i do know though that artificial velvet is available and looks and feels very realistic. Something to look into if you dont want to mess with them in the field

[Ridgerunner]

I've never seen a buck in velvet on the high hunt, not saying they dont exist but most are hard horned.

[Alan K]

Probably a little late for velvet. 

I killed a spike in velvet the year before last, on Sept. 1 here on the west side.  I All I did was cut the horns out of the skull plate as always and they velvet is still on there just fine.  I don't know about a large buck, but I didn't need any preservative on the spike. 

[muleyhunter]

I hope you do get a buck in velvet at that time of year. When I bow hunt a lot of them has rubbed the velvet off towards the end of the first week. Not saying they all do. If you do get one the best thing to do is not to handle the horns as much as possible and as Bowtech stated there are artificial ways of having them done. The velvet will shrink some after it starts to dry out. There is a chemical called velvet tan that you could use to help keep them from shrinking so bad. Best thing to do is to use it as soon as you cape the deer. Hope this helps.

[carpsniperg2]

yeah hard to say most times around here it is off by mid aug

[BLKBEARKLR]

First assess the antlers.  are they from a fresh kill?  are they still soft?     Basically antlers are soft bone marrow with an outer lining of skin.  The skin of which grows hair or what most of us call "Velvet"   from the very second that animal dies,  the blood begins to clot.  Not any different from you or I.   If the antler is still in it's growing stage or just about finished, the tips will be very soft and moveable.  In this case you need to make a small puncture in every tip!  do this with a large syringe or small knife tip.  Hang the antlers upside down on on something and inject them at the base in the Main Veins,  you will know where they are because the fluid will flow freely thru them.  Also you can watch it go thru the vein.   Continue this step on each point's base,  and milk out all of the blood until you see only fluid.  You can do this using the velvet tan or somesay with just a simple water/salt combo. Good luck up there and I hope it works out for you.

Joe

[halflife65]

Unless it's a very small buck (given antler restrictions, probably not likely) you're probably not likely to run into any deer with velvet.  They are usually done by the first week of Sept.  I shot a 4 point on Sept 3 last year and it was hard horned.  I shot at a buck about 4 years ago on Sept 1 (shot right over the top of him)  and he had little shreds of velvet but it was mostly gone.