2nd Flying Pheasant

I don't do many pheasants, so I'm definitely not the one to critique one. It looks great for a second imo. Only 2 things I see are:
I would have tilted the mount to angle up more.
And
I would have fanned out the tail. I see the tail is pretty banged up, but I still would have fanned it out to display it better.

 

For only the second flying pheasant you have done I would say you did well! Casual observation is either you are missing some feathers near the wing tips (right wing) or they are not symmetrically spaced like the left. I don't know how dry the mount is but if possible I would try to readjust the right wing to close up the gaps.

 

Taxi the neck skin forward more. Fan the tail. You might collect some extra tail feathers as possible so you can repair those shot up tails.
Nice job!
Jim

 

Not bad at all man , great for only your 2nd rooster .... My favorite way of fanning a Rooster tail is to detach it and fan it on a pc or card board that I bend a little so they're not flat ... let dry for a few days and it's ready
for my self it's much easier to work on a rooster without the tail in my way , it's about the last thing I do with a rooster mount is attach the tail back w/ a little liquid nails and long straight pin ....

 

I do around 30 to 40 pheasants a year. We have all done it, look at your reference photos your neck is pulled down a little to far. Look at your eyes, missing nictitating membrane in the corner of the eye. Your grooming around the neck is great and so is the centering of your eyes. Good Job. One note to remember when a pheasant fly's it's head is always horizontal with the ground, no matter what the body is doing. Again look at your reference photos. Keep up the good work.

 

Can't really say a lot that hasn't already been said. On fanning the tail there is different ways to do this. I personally take the tail completely apart setting each feather off to the side as I take it apart. Then with some hot melt glue I glue it back together paying attention to the center 4 feathers. You can either fan the tail or put it tight as on a standing pose. This will also get rid of the fat and grease that are around the quills. Another area that isn't discussed much is the wattles. Splitting them and painting them to make that pop in color... Your head and neck junction look pretty good...

 

hell ive seen people who's 200th bird looks alot worse than that. there is an only man and his brother here near me that does some of the worst work ive seen. but they have been at it so long and charge so little, that no one seems to care.