Use Of Polished And Shiny Buffalo Horns Vs Horns Painted Flat Black????

SDHowler

SDHowler

New member
I am looking at selling some water buffalo and American buffalo horn howlers and wanted to get your thoughts on the polished style horns and those that would be painted with a flat black spray paint for a dull finish? I have included some pics of these horns for your thoughts?

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The above pics show a couple of polished horn howlers, both are shiny and glisten in the sunlight.

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The above pics show a couple of horn howlers, that were painted using a can of flat black spray paint. Producing more of a flat finish.

I recently purchased both style horns and the polished water buffalo horns may look nice, but the glistening or shiny surface of such horns is likely to scare off your oncoming coyotes? Any thoughts from those of you using horn howlers would be appreciated? I will be selling some of these horn howlers singly in the few weeks.
 
I personally like the polished look - some of those horns are just so beautiful that it would be a shame to cover up their natural character.
 
THANKS for your comments, I just hate to have coyotes getting educated with the callers using such polished horns for their howling. Yes the swatches of white over the black sure do look nice with these horns.
 
Get your horns smooth and ready to polish. Then take scotchbrite pad and go over it with smooth even strokes. Or better yet if you have access to a media blaster. Use a soft abrasive at low pressure really gives a nice matte finish. In fact, I am building one now for use with my car stuff. I will be able to turn the air down for just this reason
 
Are you buying these horns pre-polished?
And are you putting any kind of clear-coat on them?


Personally, all of the horns I work with are raw, straight from the cow. So, I am doing all of the sanding & finish polishing myself.
I also put several layers of clear-coat on the final product inside & out. (before final install of the 'board, of course)
IMO, this not only gives the horn a little protection from the elements...it also seals in any remaining natural odors.

I use DEFT brand exterior clear lacquer, for wood products. And most times it is the "Gloss" version. Granted, this does make my horns even shinier than without the clear-coating.
{I started using the DEFT several years ago, after being told by former HOB "HuntNCarve", that, that is what he uses.}

However, at times, if requested, I will use the "Satin" finish, which gives the horn a dull, non-shiny appearance.

While I think your use of flat paint is a great idea, I would be concerned that over time & with a lot of possible "clinkin' & clankin'" on a lanyard...the paint may start to chip.
But, obviously, I could be totally wrong about that.
 
Thanks Will for your reply, I use 3-4 costs of TRU Oil on the wood barrels that I turn for my calls and it works GREAT. The water buffalo horns that I purchased were polished and this sure saves a lot of work cleaning up from raw horns. As you mentioned a satin finish with a dull non-shiny appearance would still allow the horn to show its natural black and white coloration.

If the flat black paint finish is used on the horn and starts to chip, the horn can be given another coat of the spray paint.

Most callers cover up the shiny finish on their gun stocks for good reason and this shiny finish needs to be dulled on the call barrels also. We don't need to educate our predators any more.
 
Horn calls are my favorite type of call for style (although I don't call with them much), and if I'm 100% honest, and relatively blunt: I'd never buy a painted horn.

In regards to my thoughts on the 'glare' from a horn scaring off a coyote: It's BS.
 
WOW these are some great looking horns with the carvings and paintings. Some of my smaller horns that I have are in the 5-7 inch range.
 
Thanks Will! I don't get over here too often. But I do see your work from time to time. You seem to have things covered and are progressing nicely. Keep up the good work!

HuntnCarve
Dave
 
Thank you Dave. Coming from you, that certainly means a LOT to me.
Yes, I feel I have come quite aways from where I started. But I still have a lot of that hill left to climb.
 
THANKS for all your comments guys. With the water buffalo horns that I have, I feel that they may not be thick enough to carve out a lanyard ring. I have seen that some horn crafters have just drilled a hole in the horn and then made a knot on the inside and outside of the horn with a length of parachute cord with a 1" black split key ring for attachment to the lanyard. I have also looked at some nylon push rivets to fasten the cord to the horn? As Will mentioned, these hills we face are difficult to climb, but that’s the only way we learn. I surely appreciate any ideas you guys may have.
 
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