I killed a turkey and want to have it mounted so I froze the whole thing. I would like to know if I can eat the turkey breast after the taxidermist removes it if I cook it that same day (so it won't be frozen again). I wasn't sure if the meat would be spoiled being that the guts were not removed immediately. The bird was placed in the freezer within 30 minutes of killing it. Any advice is helpful. Thanks
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The problem is that where the taxidermist will skin your bird probably wont be sanitary. Our customers want meat back all the time , but I wont let them have it because my shop is not sanitary.
It seems a waste but it is not worth taking the risk of eating meat.
I've dressed a ton of turkeys as a hunter then as a taxidermist and haven't cleaned one in ANY place that I would consider sanitary. I have cleaned and ate my own birds after freezing with no bad results. I have also dressed out turkeys for customers who wanted the bird mounted but also wanted the meat. I would only do this for a customer on a freshly shot bird and would not clean it as close as I would if it wasn't going to be mounted. I use sterile scalpal blades and wipe my table down before starting. I don't see that there would be any unnecessary risk. Each to his own.
McDonalds served a billion coffees before one dork spilled it in her lap and sued them. You bring a turkey to my shop, you get the choice, have it for dinner or have it mounted. Only one choice per family.
I'm sure the taxidermy shop is not approved for food handling or preparation. There are laws governing this.
My picnic table... My truck... cooler lid... back porch... my workbench .. All covered w/paper all those years. I never thought about having them inspected. I wonder what all the other hunters do to get them sanitized. Rolling my eyes
If YOU die from salmonella or botulism after YOU butcher or clean your game, who would you sue? The government doesn't really care what you do to yourself, but when you do it to others is where the trouble starts. If that doesn't bother YOU, it sure doesn't bother me. I'm still not letting a hunter have any meat from an animal I'm mounting. If he wants to skin it out and take the chance of screwing up his mount, that's fine with me as well, but if I skin it, he ain't gettin it.
Its not that hard. Just breast it out. plenty of direction on this site ansd many books on how.
Just remeber, that what the turkey looks like before it gets to the taxi determines abourt 90% or better how it will look when you get it back.
So make a straight cuts, and you should be fine.
Rob