I just put a pheasant together for a show and used latex caulk for the first time and I must say it gives the bird a softer look if that makes sense. I mount alot of birds and I am happy with the results, but using the caulking made feather placement even easier. Anyway, my question is how long on average should it take for the bird to dry? The show is the first week in August.
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You will be fine Matt. I hope to see you there. I have a few I will be taking as well. See you soon.
using the caulk that contains silicone.it will cure faster(couple of days) i have heard some horror stories that the regular non silicone caulk can actually hold enough moisture under the skin to rot it by not curing in a timely manner.
Matt, it's usually a non issue in ducks, pheasants, etc., but you don't want to use too much caulk, or it'll take forever to dry. Blake's right - make sure it has silicone in the caulk (but not straight silicone). On bigger birds like geese and turkeys try to not get it much more than 1/8 inch thick. Not only will it take too long to dry, but you can add a lot of weight to a mount. Idiot that I am, the first time I used caulk I tried to completely rebuild wing and leg muscles in a turkey with it. A month later the outer half inch of caulk was dry, but the turkey weighed almost as much as he did before I skinned him. That's a little bit of exaggeration, but you get the point.