Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How do you clean elk ivories?

fresh USED coffee grounds?...

Agree with Mule Deer and Alamosa. The 2x4 method knocks them out with very little flesh attached. Just make sure you knock them from the front towards the back. Not side to side like a buddy of mine did to a bull of mine last year.

Then carry them around in your pocket with a handful of coins. They will polish up as you go about your day.

I had a professional guide this year tell me to scrape the tissue off and put them in a tin of dip or chewing tobacco and that would bring out the colors relly good. That's what I intend to do with mine. He is 52 years old and has guided elk on the 3 Forks ranch and the Hill Ranch for many years so I guess he knows his stuff.

fixt....

I've put em in a container of salt for a couple weeks. When they come out the meat is dry and flakes right off.

You mean that I've got to add a2x4 to my pack that I haul around the mountain now? Dang it! I'm trying to go lighter not pack more stuff.

I was shown the same method last year in New Mexico. A stout stick & a rock works too.

I'll attest to the 2x4 removal method as well. Now, how about some suggestions as to what you guys are doing with them after they're cleaned up.

Have seen some jewelry designs but could use some specific ideas and suggestions as well as contacts on who does the work. Tried to talk to a jeweler about it here in Virginia and got a look like I was crazy!

Clean the tissue off of them the best you can, then put them in a cup full of Coka Cola and let them set for a couple of days. It will eat all the tissue off of them and clean them, but it will let them retain their color within the ivory. I have done this many times, and it works better then anything that I have found.

Toby Joe

Peroxide or bleach with turn them white, and they will not retain any of the color. To take them out of the elk, wrap some paper towel around the some pliers as to not scratch the tooth, then grab ahold of them and turn them sideways. They come right out with very little tissue attached.
My clients have killed 15 bulls this year, and I pulled every ivory out of every bull with this method, and used the coke cola to clean them. You can put a piece of meat in a cup of coke cola and within a few days it will completely dissolve.

Toby Joe

There is some adds in the SCI magazine of some jewelers that specialize in elk ivory. Im fixing to send some off to be done for necklaces for my boys. Will post some pics when they are done.

Toby Joe

Also several ads for specialized ivory jewelers in the back of Bugle magazine published by RMEF

My method for cleaning them off is to put them somewhere simple where I'll forget them, and then when I find 'em the meat is all dried and comes off easily.

Sometimes that's in the secret pocket of my hunting pants, where they ride around for a while before my wife washes the pants at the end of the season. That doesn't hurt the color, since she never washes any of hunting clothes with bleach.