I have a 2 part question. I have seen some postings on here that some of you remove the tails on some birds, I'm just woundering what advantage this is giving you like on pheasants and ruffed grouse. Also I've seen that some of you use caulking on the manikins you use, is this to keep the skin from drying to tightly to the manikin keeping the feathers nice and fluffy. What type of caulking is used for this. Thanks
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I use Latex caulking from Wolly world. (.88 cents a tube)It locks your feathers in place so in the future you will not have feathers pulling from drying. I remove the tails from all my turkey and I cant believe I went 5 years not doing it. If you have ever tried to pin a tail fan on a turkey you will know what I mean. Cut them tails off and set with bondo, It will be the best move you could ever make. I dont know on smaller birds, I do only turkeys. Hope this helps. God Bless
first timer. i've been doing turkeys now for about 8 yrs. how you usening the caulk? the times i used it get it al over the feathers.. but it does make the bird look a lot better with the feathers were thy to be . looking for some help. got 1 more to do , it is a strut going to do it next weekend.. will be fleching & washng this weekend. so i looking for some help here . lol
The last three issues of the Breakthrough have mounting methods by Cally Morris. They have great detail on the how to do's. I make 5 different cuts in skin in five diff. areas, one being on eack side of the chest where your feather track meets your wing set on a strut mount and squirt 5 to 7 times on each side of chest then set chest, I also put caulking in neck before placing head on form, I also make a cut under each shoulder pad I call them and inject 4 to 5 squirts under shoulder pad and back it up with a cotton ball, I then proceed to make a cut in the middle of back feathers and inject 3 to 4 times there the whole time working it around the back feathers then proceed to set the feather roll on back. Once you learn how to use the caulking you should be able to sit a feather roll on a back in a matter of minutes. The chest always takes time for me because of the look that I am looking for. I recomend you get the last three issues of Breakthrough and It will explain in detail with pics. Hope my two cents help. See ya and God Bless