I'm not sure how many of you guys have seen a lot of the Phil Robertson "Duck Commander" Movies, but i saw one duck that was just really cool. It was a Blonde Mallard hen. They also had a duck called a Mule duck on there half pintail/mallard. I thought to myself damn i'll never shoot any kinda duck like that. Then opening day of this season what do ya a Mule duck just happened to fall dead in our decoys. But I still want a Blonde mallard. So is it possible for me to take a regular old mallard hen and after i have skinned and fleshed her out to take blonde hair dye and dye the feathers i would like to be Blonde? I'm wondering about the skin if the skin will be ok after that. I imagine it would be fine considering people use the stuff. And i really dont care either way if it works or not. If it does work that would be cool if it dont it was an experiment and i can live with that. So if anyone of you guys have ever tried to dye a waterfowl feathers i would like any info possible.
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Dont know. I think the feathers would fall out, but why would you want to? Thats cheating! If you are an avid duck hunter as I am assuming you are, why would you want an imposter hanging on your wall? I think its pretty acceptable to touch up a bird that may not be in full plume but this is going too far. Half the fun of getting a duck mounted is knowing that you harvested it, and being proud that you finally got that particular bird. To me thats just like mounting a tame duck and telling everyone you shot it. I know a guy who had the largest hen mallard I have ever seen mounted and he bragged about how he harvested it and how big it was. I found out later that it was just a tame mallard that had not been clipped. Were is the pride in that?
Just my opinion and as a taxidermist I would never to it for a customer.
See if you can locate someone near you who raises and/or shows call ducks. They are nothing more than a small mallard derivative that is raised for ornamental purposes. (They are excellent fliers, BTW.)
They also come in quite a few different colors, any one of which, in theory, could also occur in a wild mallard. In nature the mutants don't usually survive, but in captivity they are prized and propagated.
There are some lighter colored varieties as well as white frosted ones and some that are solid irridescent green/black from head to tail. I don't know the official names for all of the various colors, but somebody who raises them will. There are sure to be some blonde-looking versions. Looking up call ducks with a search engine should provide some pictures, too.
The prettiest blonde duck I have seen are the Apricot woodies.
Where can I i fin and apricot woody and is there a price or are they wild?
I read recently read where someone used oxy fresh- that stuff sold on TV by that guy who has drank to much coffee, on a teal, and it turned a lighter shade of brown. Should work. Or try hydrogen peroxcide. Good Luck
Yep that was me.. I bleached a teal with Oxyclean. (unintentionally, however) Apricot Woodies, are rather plentyful through various breeders. I don't think they are too high on the price chain either.
John C.. Have you ever seen a Silver Wood Duck. Talk about neat looking. They look like they came of a black and white copier yet with all the striking patterns of a normal drake. They are just subtle shades of grey, silver and white. Magnificent birds. Quite expensive too..
Jon