# Preserving a bloody arrow



## heilman181 (Mar 24, 2006)

btcruiser said:


> I shot a black bear this past fall and want to save the arrow I shot him with. The arrow is all bloody and has bear hair on it. Question is, do I have to do something to the arrow to preserve it and the blood on it? I want to keep the arrow and broadhead to display with my half body mount. What do I do...if anything?


I have no clue if this would do anything, but I wonder if a spray can of clearcoat would work?


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## bsk72512 (Dec 12, 2005)

That is a good question. As the blood dries it gets darker and you can if left on its own still see it years later. I have an arrow I took my first moose with and the blood is still evident 9 years later. A light coat of an acrylic clear sealer sprayed on might preserve it longer. Good luck on this one.

2C


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## btcruiser (May 26, 2007)

The blood is already getting darker as time has passed. If you touch the arrow, blood does come off now. I thought about spraying it with clear coat, but is it worth the risk that it will damage the arrow or existing blood? Has anyone tried this technique?


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## bsk72512 (Dec 12, 2005)

Acrylic is water Based so no damage to arrow, If you shoot it with a semi dry coat first it should hold fast the blood. Let it dry and the give it a finish coat.
I would try a small spot on the arrow to test.

Semi Gloss would show best I would think.


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## TLong (Jan 12, 2009)

I wonder if you were to frame it in like a shadow box type deal, if that would either slow or stop the fading? Then you could put the "shadow box" under your mount or just hang it. Not sure about the acrylic. One of those "It looked good on paper" type things.


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## btcruiser (May 26, 2007)

I don't think a shadow box would do the trick, unless it's air tight. I think I'm going to try the acylic today and see what happens. I'll post my results later for everyone who might want to do this in the future.


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## bsk72512 (Dec 12, 2005)

Reason why I said try the acrylic is I once had to do a Long Eared Owl Mount. The bird had been hit by a car and the Vole that it had killed was still in its talons with blood on them. Bird was very clean and needed little to no washing basically white gas to give it shine once mounted. I used the water based clear on the talons to preserve the blood look as I also mounted the Vole in its talons using the same death holes created when the owl grabbed him. 

Again Try a small spot first to see if it will work.

Good Luck


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## btcruiser (May 26, 2007)

The acrylic clear spray worked great. The only thing I would change is I would use the matte finish instead on the gloss. The glass makes the arrow look fake, the matte would have made it look more natural.


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## scrapewatcher (Apr 14, 2009)

btcruiser said:


> The acrylic clear spray worked great. The only thing I would change is I would use the matte finish instead on the gloss. The glass makes the arrow look fake, the matte would have made it look more natural.


spray a light coat of matt over the simigloss and it will distort the simigloss and it will not look so glossy.


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## Fletcher43 (Aug 30, 2005)

*blood*

should have put some deer (or bear) blood on a different arrow and did some good old fashion experiementing!!(something to think about)


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