alright what the F? are these birds just cursed? took my time, handled it like a double edge razor, made sure everything was perfect and this little @#$%%$# still don't want to lay right.....
please tell me everyone has had a problem with this little buger..
anyway I got to have a beer
Thanks all
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yep..they a b-tch...I've done two of them now...I dont count the first one(trashed) and the second one was the LAST one...I know that they are gonna be people telling you how many that they have dont or all other sorts of things but as for me...I wont do another. Takes to long and it probably is gonna go south and I dont need the hassle!
See, even when I write about them I have problems!
Ok pal. So it didn't go so easy. Here are some things I've learned about these clowns. First weigh the woodcock. If its under 9 ounces it's better to go the freeze dry method. Heavier birds are okay for conventional mounts. Skin head via the bill incision. Some people do not skin the head. They just take the eyes and brain out and treat by injecting preservatives but I've always skinned the head.
Woodcock feather tracts have a way of disappearing before your very eyes. To overcome this I first take several spare woodcock, skin out each feather track separately, and pin dry/preserve on cardboard. I will use these where needed in the mounting of a good bird. I've done
over a hundred mounts and less than twenty were made of only that one birds feathers. Sorry, I better stop before I write so much no one will read it.
I've only done 1 and all and all, it turned out ok..just ok..We told the customer straight up that there were no guarantees with this mount, that this was going to be the first one we did and they were suppose to be really hard to do and that he was welcome if he liked to take it to another taxidermist, basically we were hoping he would but we got stuck with it LOL...The skin as you know is ultra thin..my biggest problem was when I inverted the head, the skin ripped a good 2 inches long..
Hope not to do another one anytime soon and I'm definetly charging more..
TJ