I'm new to this so don't kick me with both feet. My second bird this year was pretty decent so I wanted to attempt a simple mount. Following an experienced (I still wonder about that) friends advice, I caped the bird out, but the wings off, and of course the beard and feet. I wanted to mount the cape and fan on old barn plank with the wings to the side. So following the "experienced" friends advice we tacked the wings, fan, and cape to some cardboard in desired position and salted them, salted them, and threw a little more salt on them. Yeah, you read it right, we did not flesh them like we should have and we used salt instead of borax. It has been about a month and the salt appears to be pulling the moisture out. At times I can almost pour water off of them. What I need to know is what can I do about cleaning them up now (getting meat off) and have I messed up by using the salt instead of borax. I realize that I should have read all the good information you guys have posted about a month and half ago. I know that I have not done what I need too but don't kick me when I'm down (and take off the steel toe boots). Next years turkey season is a long ways off and the cape, fan, and wings look good right now. Are you guys tired of reading, Okay. What do I do know. Thanks for any advice.
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Wash your cape with Dawn. Then rinse a few times. Hopfully the flesh around the tail base and elsewhere will soften up. Go over the cape with a wire wheel if you have to (back skin is pretty thin). You can also scrape the tail base with a wire brush. Once all that is done, position how you want, and put borax all over the flesh side. When it's dry epoxy the tail base and attach to your board. If you have questions about any of these procedures you can search for the topic and find out more about it. This is also just my opinion, I'm fairly new to taxidermy but I have done my share of research and that is how I would go about it. Good Luck!
Joe T