i have a great bird do do far me and i want to use the real head and not have it freeze dried.
i know it has been done good and poor results.
just need to know what to use like borax, what to do to the head mostly.
i have done 2 birds with very good results, but not with real heads, always used artificall one, and i want to do the real thing.
can anyone tell me to start to preserve this head.
any info would be very much appreciated.
Thanks Mike
beachmichael@sbcglobal.net
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WHY? If you have a great bird, why would you even consider a method that time forgot and always looked substandard? It just doesn't make any sense at all to me why anyone would want to use the real head without freezedrying.
BUT you can always inject foam as in Injecta Cast.
I have only mounted one turkey, it wasa hen, but I didn't have any trouble using the real head. I used the video "how to mount a standing turkey" and in it the guy does a good job of showing how to do it. All you need is some borax and potters clay, it really wasn't that bad, the hard part just getting it turned back inside out, but that didn't take but 5 to 10 mins. Then once done you just have to set the eyes and airbrush.
I would go with a good freeze dried head. Travis is correct also in that you can skin out the head, but the problem that you encounter is that you have to turn every one of the bumps and waddles along the turkeys neck and head, (not to mention the snood or dew bill) and on a gobbler there are a slew. After turning each waddle, you HAVE to go back and fill each one of those voids with clay (a real pain in the @ss) or they just shrink up and look plain butt ugly. I found that out from experience. I have never tried the injection situation, but from the sounds of it, it does not work very well either. You are so much further ahead going with freeze dried. If it were MY bird, thats the route I would take. What ever you decide, I wish you the best!
Mac