Submitted by RICK on 4/22/99. ( )
I've never dealt with mounting a turkey. I had a friend that brought me a turkey and asked me to put the tail, beard and feet on a plaque. I can only assume that you first rid the tail of any remaining meat. What then? Do you salt the skin or just borax? Do you spread the tail features out and tack? What about the skin...do you fill with clay? And the feet...I've heard you can just let them dry but then I also have heard that you inject them with formaldehyde...? Please help...I'd rather learn how to do this the right way the first time. Thanks!
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This response submitted by Mike R on 4/23/99. ( )
.....browse thru the Bird Taxidermy Forum, the subject has been covered there. Good luck.
This response submitted by Dean on 4/24/99. ( MrWhytail@aol.com )
Rick
What evr method you try or use on a regular bases just make sure that it is done right, because nothing smells worse than rotten meat. I'll tell you a way that I do turkey tails that eliminates ALL the meat...cut the tail off of the bird....fan it out as it will be displayed... remove the masses of meat with a scalpel/ knife then remove each quill from left to right and lay them in the order they wereon a piece of waxed paper.make sure there is no meat on the quills ,spread out the fan evenly.mix up bondo with alittle fiberglass resin catalize it and pour it on the quills.......in less time than it took me to type this you'll have a beautiful tail mount.Because believe me it took me a few minutes to type this....ha ha .Good luck
Dean
This response submitted by Bob C on 4/25/99. ( bobswildlife@webtv.net )
I use deans method but I dont remove each feather( I have no patience) I leave all the feathers attached with some of the back skin and back feathers. Remove the tail bone and all meat possible , then clean with a wire brush. You can use a hand held wire brush and it works just fine. Rub some borax into the skin and feather roots. Now spread the tail on a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap and card it in place with strips of card board.Lift the back skin to expose the feather quills. Mix some bondo and cover the exposed quills,make sure you force it inbetween the quills. I then take the back skin and cover the bondo and kinda push the skin into the bondo.Let the bondo harden and your all set. Bob C
This response submitted by Kurt Caddy on 4/25/99. ( Kcaddy@sbuniv.edu )
Just a beginner who is wondering the best techniques for skinning a turkey for mounting. I want to attempt a flying mount. Do you use a breast incision or a back incision or neither? Are the good resources on how to mount turkeys. Any information will be helpful. Well I need to get tp the woods to get a turkey first and worry about skinning later! Thanks
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