Shane Smith....

Not that I know of but you can learn right from him or John Beard. I won't mount a turkey any other way anymore, unless they come up with an easier better method.

 

I bieve he shows some of his method on his web site. Like how he skins his birds etc. Then there might be something that he did for McKenzie while using his forms on youtube.
You can also sign up for online zoom classes with John Beard which teaches Shane Smith and John Beard's "Freedom Method" of turkey taxidermy. From what I have heard, they will likely not have the Freedom Seminar this year due to Shane's health.
Tell John that Taz sent you if you decide to reach out to him. In my humble opinion, there is no better way than the way John and Shane have laid out and that zoom class is money well spent because you get to see every aspect over and over and in real time, dealing with real life issues. He is a good teacher. Good luck.

 

Haha! We were typing at the same time I bet.

 

Sign up to John's class. He will teach all that to you. 3Bears and I have both invested in the class, and I'm sure he would agree, it was a good investment. That being said, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but out of respect to John, 3Bears above, and the others (myself included) who laid out that kinda hard earned cash to take the class, I'm not at liberty to give out that info. Google Birds Only Taxidermy in Dickson TN. John Beard will gladly teach it to you. Good luck.

 

Looks like the classes are $2000.00 now

 

You think it's bad on here you should have tried to learn something from someone 30-40 years ago! No videos, the forms sucked, the eyes sucked, no forums, the chemicals could kill ya and really no help at all just the hard way. I understand your point to a point but like every time a person asks a question you may or may not like the answer. After your response good luck asking for help on here in the future but like you said you might not need it. As a side note don't learn taxidermy on your kids first bird. Turkeys are tough birds to pull off. Tail, beard and feet on a panel might be your friend. Good Luck and stay safe

 

I’d like to make a couple suggestions to help you. Either order Tim Jordan’s DVD from Headquarters Supply or subscribe to Sterling’s Taxidermy Insider online courses. Though neither of them do things exactly the way Shane Smith does, they are both excellent sources of training for turkey taxidermy. I personally like Shane’s techniques best, but you’re not going to get all the details of his method without paying for it. As Crittrstuffr mentioned, a turkey is not the ideal specimen for your first mount, especially your child’s first bird, but I’m not gonna try to talk you out of it. Instead, I suggest that you do your homework, spend a few bucks and hours for training, and set aside about 18 hours uninterrupted time to do it. About 8 hours to prep, wash and dry, then 10 hours the next day to mount. We wish you the best.

 

It's not a trade secret Newbie. It really does not matter what you replace the meat in the drumstick area. Just as long as it holds the shape. I use an epoxy putty like epoxy sculpt to rebuild the lost meat in the drumstick area. Goodluck.

 

Newbie
Ive been doing this since 72
And back in the day not a single soul would help you
Big secrets in every shop, this site has been a great help to many folks, me included, I’m still learning new stuff everyday
You can’t expect someone that pays a couple grand to give away what hey paid for
Wrap your legs with poly fill for a start
I wrapped bodies for years
Try new stuff, see what’s available in supply houses
Good luck

 

Or buy the foam drum stick inserts , that’s what I use .. Turkeys are a PITA ..simple as that .. Ton of work .. Be sure your feather are dry and fully fluffed .. Everyone has tricks they use some I guess are secrets still , I guess when you pay 2 k per class you might not wanna give out free info and that’s your preference .. personally if I knew I’d tell ya ..
And unless you plan on doing Turkeys for a living 2k for one zoom coarse might not be smart … There is a lot of great info on this forum if you search around .. most often these guys help out when they can .. cus yrs ago nobody would help you out , trade secrets stayed secrets … but that was 10 yrs ago ..people are far more willing to share info now .. My buddy did a 4 week coarse with Stephan yrs ago and he quit mounting birds but teaches me everything he learned although he didn’t pay to go to the coarse .. he let Stephan mount his At the time first Blue Phase Ross ever killed .. it traveled around the country for a few yrs .. good trade off I thought .. don’t know what he paid for the mount .. not full price I know that much .. it won a few blue ribbons as well ..

 

First bird I would put it in the freezer until you have the right materials first, double bag it.

 

Just like crittrstuffr said … I started Taxidermy back when there was no help , either a video or books and these forums were NO help cus back then people weren’t interested in helping others learn they just wanted to show off … It was all the hard way no doubt compared to technology now .. from inverting the heads and sewing under the throat , to crappy bodies to hazardous chemicals … Yup learning on your own like I did is much easier now than back then .. I’ve been mounting birds for a long time close to 30 yrs and the Turkey is one that unless you have help on your first few , they are nothing but a huge PITA imo .. they’re expensive to have mounted because they are a PITA no matter how good you are they’re a lot of work .. myself I hate mounting them for the most part … it’s not the mounting part that I hate , it’s all the prep work and time involved .
As far as mounting your kids first , I’d find one to learn on before starting your kids trophy , like said above , don’t mount a kids trophy for your first bird .. it’s not something you can say .. think I’ll mount a Turkey this weekend and never do it again .Anyways good luck with it ..