How do you do a tail fan mount?

[huntingnut]

I'm going after turkeys for the first time, and would like to do tail fan mount. I was curious if there is anything I need to do when skinning or plucking in order to do a mount. Any input would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Shawn

[tmike]

I'm going to try one this weekend. I'm going to pin it in place on a 1 inch piece of foam, then carefully trim the excess meat on the end and salt it. We'll see what happens. I've never done one either.

[Coasthunterjay]

i have heard of people pulling the feathers out and placing them how they like and then just throwing bondo on the base of the feathers to keep them were they want them, and then sandwiching two half circle pieces of wood on the outside of the bases before the bondo gets hard......

but i have a bok that will tell me how. ill take a look at it better and get back with you all.......

[huntingnut]

Thanks coast. Whats the name of the book, I could use some good reading material.
Tmike, did you skin out the whole bird or just the tail section?

[Coasthunterjay]

its the breakthrough bird taxidermy manual....

you can also google it and options will come up.....

And if you are an ebayer like i am try looking on there for little mounting kits. they have a really nice one that is made to prettty much fit in place and you can put the beard and a picture on it, looks really good. not tacky at all.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Walnut-Piture-Turkey-Tail-Mount_W0QQitemZ190212997884QQihZ009QQcategoryZ71130QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

turkey tail mounts are more time consuming than anything but very easy to do so dont be afraid to play around........

when ever you get a turkey and you get done with it lets see it mounted to see how it came out. I bet it will look great!

[Coasthunterjay]

here are some more bases you can try...

i think they have somwething similar to this at sportsmans, for sure at cabelas.... about 20 - 30 bucks for the bases.....



here is another good place to look at for kits....you are pretty much just going to cut the end of the tail, get as much of the fat out from the base of the tail, making sure you dont screw up the feathers and have them falll out and then glue in place....

try this website though....http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01003563/

This were i get alot of my cheeper taxidermy crap....

[huntingnut]

Thanks for the links, those are good looking bases.

[coastalghost]

Heres something to try sometime.  I did this to an oregon bird a couple of years ago and will probably do from now on.

If its a good bird that you want to save for wall "art" I skin them vary carefully. As you know the whole turkey is a beautiful thing...not just the fan.....irradescence etc. Skin out into 6 parts....2 wings, beard, fan, back plummage and both "sides" of breast plummage. I will then wash the parts in warm soapy water and rinse. Then I will take a hair dryer to it. It really makes the feathers shiney and fluffy Next where all the fan quills come together make sure you get all the fat/meat etc off...then spead on cardbooard borax the area you cleaned and "pin" in the position you want. Borax breast plummage and pin. Get all the meat off of the wings borax and extend wings and pin on cardboard. After a few weeks it will have cured....then I pin each section on the wall. Here is the outcome.....




This picture doesnt do it justice because of the lighting....but it is really beautiful and a good conversation piece.
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[Coasthunterjay]

here is the same thing that is in my opinion a bit nicer and a little more professional, if thats the llooks your going for and set up as a taxidermy mounting kit....about 45 bucks, looks real sharp, like the above except with a plaque.

But either way they both look good on the wall!

heres the link to the kit....
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01005402/

[coastalghost]

I like that one too.  Looks clean.  Kind of a shame to toss everything but the fan in my opinion.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Your wasting your time if you pull all the feathers out individually and bondo them.  If you are doing it for the first time than you will not be able to work fast enough setting the feathers befor the bondo kicks.

All you do is cut the tail off of the bird leave atleast 1 1/2" of skin and meat at the base.  With a knife skin the skin back exposing the meat.  With out damaging the skin remove ALL of the meat and fat from around the roots of the tail feathers.  Put borax on the meat areas while cleanig.  It absorbs the moisture and make the cleaning proces easier.

Than I wash and soak the whole tail fan in a bucket of Dawn Dish Soap and Water.  WARM water not hot water.  I would soak it for atleast 20 minutes.  This will help degrease the area.  Than rinse it off well.  Using the reverse option on a shopvac blow the tail feathers dry.  Make sure you blow the feathers from the roots to the top so as not to ruffle them.

Once dry rub borax all over the skin and feather root area.  let it set a few minutes and shake off the excess.  Now lay the fan out on some card board and pin them in the position that you want them.  Now mix up some bondo.  This is why we need the skin around the base of the tail.  Put some bondo between the skin and around the tail feather roots.  Keeping it inside the skin so it doesn't make a mess.  Depending on the pannal you intend to put the bird on with determin the thickness of the bondo.  

[tmike]

I didn't skin the whole bird, just took the tail fan, breasted it out, took the legs, beard and spurs. It would be cool if you could preserve the head. That thing looks like something from Jurassic Park. In fact the only thing I could see was the head when I pile drove it into the dirt. I could see that Flappy thing(what the hell do you call that?) hanging off his nose. I think I'll skip the bondo this time as I've seen one just pinned in place and dried for several weeks and it looks great. I'll probably grab a board from sportsmans so i can display the beard and the spurs also. I think some of them come with a little metal plate you can inscribe whatever you want. I'll post a pic. when it's done. Here's the FLAP!

[Gobble]

Real Easy,

Get a piece of cardboard and spread the fan out with nails or pins. Salt or borax the meat of the tail and use it liberaly. Let it dry for several weeks and you will have a nice mountable tail. You can get a wood mounting plaque at any sporting goods store.

Hope that helps

[tmike]

Is this what you are talking about? I have salt on it. Any more suggestions? or let it dry and see what happens?

[LongTatLaw]

looks like a nice start to me bro!