Can you Taxidermy AND eat a turkey?

[djnoodle]

I don't want to be presumptuous, this spring will be my first time ever turkey hunting. However, if I do manage to bag a bird, can field dress him in a way that will allow me to make some kind of a mount (either DIY fan/beard/spurs mount, or possibly full body professional job) and remove the meat so that I can eat it?

Probably a dumb question, just sitting at work, dreaming about hunting.

[turkeydancer]

see the 3rd turkey topic in "pink" (above) about bird care for taxidermy posted by Michelle Nelson ... if it doesn't answer your question I would send her a PM  ....

[washingtonmuley]

Yes you can.

[tonymiller7]

A diy for beard, fan and spurs is very easy.  I always skin my turkeys anyway, so you just cut off the butt flap (tail fan), and cut off the beard ( make sure you leave plenty of skin attached) and use a saw to remove the leg sections where the spurs are.  Cut as much meat off the butt flap as possible and dry the beard skin and butt flap with salt and/or borax.  Then mount as you choose, I also use a coat hanger to push out all of the bone marrow and tendons out of the leg sections as possible and dry them as well.  Mount as you please.  Not in the way of getting at the meat at all.

[irishevox]

yes you can.

[djnoodle]

This is good news.

How would I go about this process? As far as field dressing the bird, and then removing the meat without damaging the carcass, or whatever you call the portion of the bird that gets mounted?

[MtnMuley]

Personally, I'd figure out what taxi you are going to use and let him/her know of your intentions.  They will tell you how to go from there.     If I were in your shoes, I would have a cooler with ice with you, then gently put the bird in there whole and tuck the head under a wing.  No sense of putting it into a bag and make sure the feathers aren't all ruffled up.  Then I'd either freeze it until the taxi was ready to skin it or take it there and have them skin it at that time--hence having your plan with the taxi worked out.

[Jonathan_S]

I personally would not recommend eating a turkey that has been taxidermied   

[djnoodle]

  some peoples' kids...

[Jonathan_S]

some peoples' kids...

I'm just looking out.