After YOU (not our four legged, tail wagging friends) have retrieved your bird, ensure bird is expired. DO NOT WRING ITS NECK, simply lay bird on its back and apply pressure to the chest area with your knee, be careful not to wrench or pull any back feathers out. Then inspect it to see what the plumage is like. Late season birds are best for mounting purposes. ( Late November & on). (DO NOT SKIN-OUT, GUT or BREAST YOUR BIRD!) This goes for ALL birds. One issue I see is hunters using too big of shot size while hunting. Ducks do not need be taken with "T"'s or BBB, or BB's, lessen your shot size "5"s or "4"s is plenty, you'll have a fuller pattern and kill more birds! If bird has many pin feathers (these are new growth feathers, this happens every year. You will see this mainly with earily season birds), then this may not be the bird of choice for you, however they can be done sometimes with ok results. Most times the best pose for these would be a flying pose, but that will be determined when you bring your bird in. Now, after you have inspected your bird, wash in CLEAN COLD water, then pat dry. Wrap head & feet in damp cloth (not paper). If you have access to your favorite dates panty hose " beg them for a pair" maybe in exchange for dinner or flowers or something! Now put bird in pantyhose with head folded on its back or under wing. Then double bag bird in thick plastic bag, preferably the zip-lock freezer type. If you have a larger type bird (goose or turkey) put bird in large trash bag & roll up, removing as much air as possible. "Air is you Enemy here!" Do this twice. This will help slow down freezer burn. The pantyhose will ensure the head-neck & wings do not get broken while shuffling things around in your freezer. If you do not have access to any pantyhose thats fine, just wash bird(s) off with cold water and bag them up with freezer bags. Then get to your taxidermist as soon as possible. (DO NOT WRAP BIRD(s) IN NEWSPAPER!!! Futhermore, if your bird has any shot up wings or feet, I can use wing feathers and feet from another bird.
Now for Turkey's (Full body mounts for Fall Season Turkey's are not recommend due to "moult") (DO NOT SKIN YOUR TURKEY!) Things you will need have with you while huntin turkey's: 1.) Paper-towels 2.) Plastic bags, one big enough for just the head, and another very large one for the whole bird. 3.) Rubber-band 4.) Panty-hose (optional) Recommened if you cannot get yer bird to yer taxidermist right away. When out huntin, if possible make a head shot, and try not shooting through the tail if fanned. After bird is down, stuff a paper-towel in its mouth. Then wrap head with paper-towels, put its head in yer small plastic bag. (You will need a rubber-band to hold this on). Please carry bird by feet only. Let bird cool in shade for about two hours. Do not leave your bird in the sun. After bird is cooled place in panty-hose, then place bird in bottom of large trash bag and roll up so all air is pushed out. Put yer bird in a CHEST freezer. Do not leave your bird in a Frost-Free freezer as this causes freezer burn.
If you have questions regarding any of these processes please feel free to give me a call or send an e-mail.
There you have it! Happy hunting, Quack, Quack, Honk, Honk, Kee, Kee, Gooble, Gooble..............BANG!
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Flight-feather Taxidermy
Bo Nielsen
Quality Bird Taxidermy