I took a nice 8 pt this year but bleached the lower part of the antlers boiling the skull cap. Hair dye put some color back but also turned purplish. Any suggestions for a dye to restore the chocolate color at the antler bases?

probably too late, but try wood stain

Walnut hulls rubbed in I think would do it

Most taxidermy supply carry a wipe on wipe off antler stain. If you get it to dark use some acetone to lighten it.

Wrap the base of the antlers in foil next time and that won't happen.

Oil paints, if you can't find a shade to match mix some together.

I heard shoe polish

Old masters gel stain works

Get raw umber colored oil paint. Thin it down some . Apply a very small amount to a paper towel and proceed to rub it on. Add more where you want it darker. If you get them too dark fine grit sandpaper will lighten them back up.

I did a European mount for the son of a buddy of mine. He shot the small 8 pt rack all to pieces with buckshot.
I repaired it back to close to the way it probably looked like using epoxy made for antler repair. About 1/3 of the rack ended up being epoxy. It was too light in color so I got out the Crayola Crayons and used several colors to match the rest of the original rack. Once I had it the different colors where I wanted them, I blended the edges of colors carefully smearing the margins with my fingers. The dad thought that I found another rack to replace the shot up one until I pointed to the two 00 holes in the skull.

Brown shoe polish

Liquid pine tar and rub the antlers on a cedar branch. I seal them with Skidmore's Liquid beeswax wood finish.

Walnut hulls or coffee grounds will work.

I used Potassium Permanganate recommended by a couple taxidermist.

I use provincial stain for the bases and Early American stain for the beams and tines
I rub it on with a rag and immediately wipe it back off. Apply more coats as needed

Potassium Permanganate

Call a taxidermist

Don't know if it works or not, but is highly toxic!

Like wetdog said. Provincial minwax.

It works. It’s what most taxidermist use. It is toxic. Wear gloves and don’t drink the stuff and you should be all right.

It’s readily available, almost anywhere.

Now I like that tip….thx