I have a friend that has a pheasant in his freezer that he was going to have mounted but never did. It is from this year but it is not in a bag or wrapped up at all. It looks pretty good except for the feathers that are on the bottom side of it where it is laying. Can I still mount this bird or will it be freezer burnt? It is in an old freezer but it seems to look pretty good. Let me know you thoughts.
Chad
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How does the beak/head and feet look? If it's freezer burned, they will be dried out/shrunken a lot. Someone gave me a Lady Amherst pheasant about 5 years ago. It had been in their freezer a long time, too, just loosely (very loosely) wrapped in newspaper. It was pretty freezer burned! I decided to try to mount it. (Keep in mind it sat in my freezer for 5 years!). I wrapped wet paper towels around the head and legs while I skinned it out. I believe I then washed it, re-wrapped the head/legs and put it in the fridge overnight, then mounted it the next day. I've read you can inject Windex into freezer burned areas, too, to soften them up. And there are other products out there for that purpose. (Sorry, can't think what they are named...).
Good luck!
It should be ok,best to wrap I think
Just take it slow around the eyes. I just did a wigeon in similar shape. The skin on the head will sort of adhere to the skull making it harded to skin. But overall no problems. I mounted a grouse that was tossed into a freezer ina grocery bag for two years and it turned out great.