I have mounted about 25 deer, 2 geese, 10 ducks. I have someone that wants 3 pheasants mounted. I bought a video by Pete Gierke. I watched the video but, he does not show wattle splitting, which I would say should be like splitting a deers ear. Cut from the inside to the edges. All the ducks I have mounted had preformed necks attached to the body. Im thinking about trying foam tubing. What size do I use for pheasants, and do you put a smaller tube on the bottom for the throat? I was not pleased with the video. He did not show how to cut the sprigs off for tumbling. He DP'd the bird and dried it with a hair dryer. Any suggestions? Thx Eddie
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If youve done ten ducks you should have no problem with pheasants I find them much easier. I use 3/4" foam most of the time for the neck and wrap a 1/4" for the throat. Also wrap a crop out of cotton at the base ans disperse it up the neck about 1/3 of the way. Its probably past the fact but ive been pleased with the Dave Luke Video series from Rhinehart. Good Luck.
Foam is more forgiving in pheasants than waterfowl but I prefer to wrap all my work from cotton. I sometimes still use foam under the cotton but never by itself. Try rolled cotton from beauty supply stores, it comes in a spool much like thread only 25 or 50 feet at a time. On pheasants you can roll cotton in your hands like making clay snakes then use tweezers to build out your throat working through the beak. Go ahead and cut the tail out, rebuild and reattach with bondo and wire. good luck
I would say splitting a waddle is very similar to the teqniques you use in deer skinning. I also have had some difficulty finding good info on splitting, all I can tell you is take your time and you will sorta see a separation line in the skin where the waddle is. Then take a very sharp exacto knife and slowly work down the waddle, pereodically checking the opposisit side to see how much further you need to go to get to the end. I fill the waddles with some clear caulk at mounting time. You will most likely put some very small holes in them but dont worry the caulk will fill them, just go slow and make small cuts little by little. hope this helps you.