I'm in the middle of doing my turkey tail I got lost in there skinning the tail up to the oil glands. i've about cut the skin in to along the row of feathers that run along the glands its about 5 layers of feathers from the main tail feathers. how many rows of feathers do you leave on the tail? or have i ruined the tail? or do you remove the small feather layers and put them on later? the last one i didnt skin up to the tail like this theres a lot of meat and fat in there that probilly needs to come out or do you leave it in there? thanks.
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I usually leave about three layers of feathers but the meat try to get as much of it off without wrecking the tail and cover the meaty part with salt for about 30 days and about 15 days in change the salt
Sounds like you're making a job outa this one. Get the Van Dykes catalog and order a turkey tail mounting kit. It's really the best on the market for the price. STAY AWAY FROM SALT. Salt isn't a preservative or a bug proofer, in fact, many people actually remove the feathers completely and staple them to a board for display. I only leave the primary tail feathers and the single row of guard feathers in front of them. I remove all the skin from the rear. Lay your fan out on a flat surface after you wire brush all the fat from between the quills, rub DP into both sides and then tape the feathers symetrically. Once taped, cover the front and back side of the quill tips with a fast set epoxy or Bondo (in a pinch). Press flat so the adhesive clamps the quills down. After it kicks, you can remove the tape and dress it up as you like.