Getting metacarpal meat out

[robolson]

Does anybody worry about the metacarpal meat/tendons on ducks?  It's a small area I know, butI started thinking about this the other day since it's generally taken out on turkeys, pheasants and geese, but what about ducks?  I started out just injecting this area with formalin and then was shocked to find out how much meat this area had on big ducks like mallards and such.  I then started to make and incision and clean the area in the skinning process, then borax it and sew it up during the assembly/mounting process.  I’ve gotten pretty good at hiding the incision, but the barbs of the feathers around it usually separate from each other, leaving them with a matted, not-so-smooth look.  I try to keep these feathers clean and dry, but it is difficult.  Any thoughts on this?  It is nit-picky I know, but I’m one of those people that just hates to leave Any trace of meat on a mount.  Heck, I even drill a hole through dove and quail ulna bones to get the bone marrow out!(I do this on all birds actually, and usually the radius bone also on teal-sized birds and bigger).

[SteveP]

rob,
I just inject that area well with Balmex before I start any skinning. That seems to help get the salts into the meat and evaporate the water some before mounting is done. I do the legs then also.