I HAVE SOME DOVES TO MOUNT SHOULD I USE A BRASS "TOOTHBRUSH" TYPE WIRE BRUSH TO GET IT READY? AND DO I NEED TO CUT A RELIEF TO TURN THE HEAD?
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No one's answered your question, but I'm sure it's because most of us are in shock over it. Doves are about the most impossible bird to mount there is. I've done only 3 that looked well enough to charge my customer. They are incredibly thin skinned and the feathers fall out in bunches. The head will allow the skin to be inverted, but YOu'd better be ready to reinvert it very quickly as it dries quickly. I don't even like the thought of sewing a dove body, much less the neck of one.
Brings back memories of a mount I did of a flock of 5 flying doves many years ago. We had a very cold winter in Maryland back in the late 1970s, with a period of snow, followed by freezing rain and then below freezing for about a month. At our hunting property on the Eastern Shore, various birds, including doves, looked for food in some areas around our farmhouse where the wind had scoured away the snow, and starved/froze to death. I picked up a half dozen of the doves (it was during the late season)that were in perfect condition and didn't have a spec of fat on them. Skin was relatively tough, feathers perfect, and they made gorgeous mounts. Haven't handled a dove that mountable since!