Not an ameteur taxidermist, but a local wants me to do the tailfeathers, beard, and spurs on his turkey, and I've not done one before. I saw someone borax, card and pin the tailfeathers once and it wasn't rocket science. Any tips, suggestions or places I can get more information? Thanks a million. Gobble! gobble!
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
Dale,
You should be ok w/ doing this type of mount. My best advice is to click the search button to the left and you will find a fountain of knowledge. Type in "Turkey Fan Mount" and modify your search to what you need. If you have any specific questions feel free to e-mail me.
Good Luck,
Brady
okay this is what i do and i know some guys out their that do it differently. skin the tail out , you want the main tail feathers and at least the secound row of feathers too. now flesh all the meat out of the feather quills and get ride of the tail bone, if you feel around with your fingers you will find the tail bone , us a knife and cut on either side of the bone then tear it out with plyers. get as much meat of as possible then on a colapsed card board box big enough to lay out the tail on lay the tail out open , i use card board strips and staples of pins will work. borax the quills good and wait till it dries. after drying i will also put on some bondo to keep it together and it will last years. some guys take ever quill out seperaatly and then bondo them together but it takes alot of time to get them back to were they are supposed to be and realy not worth the agervation to me. the feet just cut off were the feathers meet the scales, i run a wire down the foot a little ways and add some borax inside the foot also, you can also inject the feet with resin to keep them plump, let them dry. the beard is easy just cut the beard from the hide you will see how it is connected flesh alittle and also borax this. other than that the hardest part is attaching it to your plaque. good luck