Flyin' gobbler!!!

[Buckhole]

Well, I decided to try and mount a turkey myself. Let me start off by saying I'm not a taxidermist, I only play one on TV. Just kidding, I am interested in taxidermy though, and maybe someday I'll actually take some classes or learn from a real taxidermist. I only have some old books on Taxidermy and with a few frozen Tom turkey skins in the freezer + being laid off from my job, I thought I'd give it a go. Not much to lose.

Anyways, with a few tips from John at WTC Taxidermy over the phone, (Thanks!) I went ahead and gave it a go. This was a Tom that my Dad shot a few years back, and I used a fake head that I painted myself. I know a real freeze-dried head would look better but I'm limited in knowledge and accessibility to doing the freeze-dry option. I've never tried doing anything like this so be easy on me...I've seen the work of the pros on here and I can appreciate their beautiful work. These taxidermists earn every cent, and I got a taste of the time and effort involved let me tell you!

The board the bird is mounted on is from my grandpa's old barn from Arkansas that my Dad provided for me to use. Kinda cool that I could utilize it for the mount. I took the mount over to my Dad today and he was happy to have his turkey mounted and will enjoy seeing it on his wall. I'm open to feedback, good, bad and the ugly. It was a lot of fun to do and thanks again to John for the pointers! I may have to try some more and improve on this.

[Aneoakleaf]

Hi Buck, We have 3 full mounted turkeys in the house and that looks better than any of them!
I love the full flight. The tail looks right as well as the rest, but I am just a hunter and seen that at 3 yards in real life

[Michelle_Nelson]

Buckhole

Now keep in mind that you are still learning and that no matter what your first mount is never going to be perfect.  With that being said that bird looks GREAT!  There are a few things that stand out to me but for a first mount you did really well!  Try a freeze dried head next time.  They do sell them un painted. 

[Buckhole]

Thanks you guys! I will have to look into these freeze-dried heads you mentioned, Michele. I didn't know you could buy them. You mentioned some things that stand out and I respect your opinions, let me know some areas I can work on. I'm always open for suggestions.

Thanks!

[BLKBEARKLR]

Buckhole, sweet job for your first ever. John is a great guy to talk to also, and he makes it easier to understand everything.

Couple things that I noticed

1. Feathers, on both wings you have some of the downy feathers sticking up, just get some tweezers and go row by row and you can cover them up.

2. Tail feathers, on your secondary row you have a gap look at pic #2

3. The head painting that you did was good. Like said look into buying the freeze dried heads, there are a number of places to buy them

Good luck and have fun with it....

Joe

[Buckhole]

Great tips! I noticed that secondary feather too. I was able to move it over when I hung it on my dad's wall, it looks like it will stay put, I might have bumped it hanging it on the fence. I will try picking the pinfeathers out that are sticking up. Unfortunately, my Dad hit part of the wing when he shot it and the feathers are missing more on the right side where they cover the "shoulder" part.
I really appreciate the feedback.   

[boneaddict]

I mounted a grouse as my first bird then tackled a turkey.  Sort of like going from a whitetail to a moose.   You did a great job.

[WCTaxidermy]

Hi Buckhole, great job for your first bird mount.  Not a lot of people would have tackled something like a turkey for their first. Your Dad must be proud. 

I don't know when you finished mounting him, but if the bird is dry, there is really not much more you can do with it.  But if it is still wet, I would suggest to stay with the grooming on those feathers.  I would not pluck those downy feathers out if the bird is still wet.  Insted groom the feathers around them so they lay in place better.  Also if the bird is still wet, try pulling the beard forward away from the body some more to show it off a little better.  Again great job!  Talk with you soon.

John

 

   

[alecvg]

Wow!  That looks great!  I hope I can get a turkey mounted like that in the future.

[Buckhole]

Hi Buckhole, great job for your first bird mount.  Not a lot of people would have tackled something like a turkey for their first. Your Dad must be proud. 

I don't know when you finished mounting him, but if the bird is dry, there is really not much more you can do with it.  But if it is still wet, I would suggest to stay with the grooming on those feathers.  I would not pluck those downy feathers out if the bird is still wet.  Insted groom the feathers around them so they lay in place better.  Also if the bird is still wet, try pulling the beard forward away from the body some more to show it off a little better.  Again great job!  Talk with you soon.

John



 

   

Thanks again John. I just finished up with the bird Saturday afternoon and he's all dry. I worked with the feathers to try and groom over the downy ones when it was wet, but it looks like I could have done better. I noticed that as I was mounting it, the top of the wing had some missing feathers and it was exposing the downy feathers. Now that it's dry, is there a way to get the beard to stand away from the body a little more, or is it too late?

[Michelle_Nelson]

You mounted the bird a week ago?  How much caulk did you use?  The struter I did took around a month to completely dry.  I'd still be grooming the feathers if I were you.

[alanger]

Thats a great mount. good job buckhole. some feathers may be sticking out but it adds character. they arent perfectly groomed in the woods. looks great to me for any mount.

[Shootmoore]

Frikin impressive if you ask me.  I have always been impressed with the art of taxidermy!  I'm a stick figure artist myself.

Shootmoore

[Buckhole]

You mounted the bird a week ago?  How much caulk did you use?  The struter I did took around a month to completely dry.  I'd still be grooming the feathers if I were you.

No, I just finished it yesterday, it has been drying over 3 weeks or so and it feels all set. I can still try to groom the feathers, but they are pretty set. I'm going to try and see if I can arrange the feathers some as John was saying to see if it covers some of the downy ones. It actually looks pretty good in person, I'm happy with it as a first mount and my dad is happy to get his turkey on the wall.

Thanks for the nice comments from you all, I appreciate it.

Damon

[Michelle_Nelson]

I must has misread your post.  When you said Saturday I thought you ment you mounted it a week ago.  Yes, after 3 weeks of trying everything should be pretty close to set.