When I have free time I make things

About two years ago I was hiking in east county of San Diego with some friends. In the middle of our hike my friend who is behind me says “hey did you not see this deer skull when you ran by?” I have to admit I missed it, I don’t know how but I did. It looked like it had been sitting and rotting there for a couple of months. I ran back up to where my buddy was holding head of the deer by the antler. He wanted to leave it there but I had to bring it home. I contemplated bringing the whole thing home but I knew my wife would not let it near our apartment. So I decided to break the antlers off the skull. I figured it wouldn’t be that hard since it had been sitting in the desert sun for months, but I was wrong. After smashing the skull against a boulder for 10 minutes I was about to give up and then one antler broke off. I decided to bring the one antler home and leave the other attached to the head. I’m still kicking myself I wish I had both.

Some time in November I was hunting in near Pine Valley, CA with a buddy. We saw a couple of deer but none we wanted to take. Where we hunt we have to hike about six miles somewhere around mile four I saw something shiny half buried in the ground under some brush. I dug it up thinking it was some kind of shiny rock I could bring home to my kids. To my surprise the little bit of shiny turned into a decent size hunting knife. (I did not give it to my kids) It was rusted almost all over with a leather handle that was falling apart. I brought it home and cleaned the knife up. The leather was not salvageable so I decided I would save the blade until I had time to make something out of it.

I finally had some free time the other day and decided to put my two cool finds together.

I cut the antler to where it felt comfortable in my hand and then I cut the handle of the knife down to fit inside of the antler.
I drilled into the antler until the knife fit in the antler snug and then I glued it in the antler. I then sanded the antler and stained it with a wood stain. I sharpened the blade and just like that I have a new hunting knife.

Now I just need another free moment to make sheath.

#hiking #outdoors #diy #hunting