Who makes thier own feathers from scratch?

[Dairy King]

Well, my goose huntin buddies are getting me some geese this year, and Im going to make my own feathers. But...what tools do I need and how do I do it? Got any websites?

[JimPic]

http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcherywebpage

[LBR]

You can strip them, but I prefer to leave a quill--lots easier to chop. Stripping seams to work just fine for scissor trimming.

Splitting and grinding the quill is work. You can get a kit from Great Northern, which consists of a jig, drum sander, and instructions, but it's not cheap and you need a drill press for the drum sander.

I send wild turkey feathers to Raven Archery to have them ground--20 cents each, if I remember correctly, and return shipping. Jan does a great job, but she stays backed up a while. It's worth the cost and expense to me--I don't have the time to devote to it.

Chad

[Alpha Capo]

i picked up some nice owl feathers out in the woods.
and would like to make fletch out of them...i might take your advice LBR

[LBR]

AC, although most people couldn't identify them as fletching, it's VERY illegal to use owl, eagle, hawk, or any other raptor feather--even buzzard. To even have them in your possession requires a special permit, even if you just found them on the ground.

I forgot to mention you can split and grind them by hand, but it's a lot of work. When I did it, I used a utility knife or an x-acto knife to split the quill (careful or you will ruin the whole feather). then I cut them to length (plus a little extra for the chopper) and put them in a straight fletching jig to sand the quill down by hand. If you have time and like to tinker, it's no big deal, but it's time consuming and aggravating to me.

Chad

[Alpha Capo]

I'm not worried about no stinking feather police[:'(]....thats a very old school law...but its still on the books... so i guess i'm a potential felon now.
oh well... i'll take my chances... if i see i nice feather im taking, it it aint doin no good on the ground[8D]
thanks for the info Chad

[JimPic]

it's an old school law but very enforceable.My buddy found a dead red-tailed hawk and took the talons off and made a band for his quiver.A game officer saw it and not only confiscated his quiver(and all his arrows)but gave him a pretty stiff fine-i forget how much it was--so be careful

[Alpha Capo]

just goes to show you....game wardens have quotas too.
i'll bet he didnt destroy that quiver...he probably kept it for himself!lol

[gelarson]

AC that is pretty narrow thinking and an offensive attitude. The game laws are there for a reason and with all the poaching and the black market sale of Raptors there is big money to be made. Personally your attitude is all the worse because you now know the law and choose to ignore it!

It is attitudes like this that give hunters a bad name!

What other laws do you ignore......?[:'(]

[PAstew]

Remember, possession of illegal raptor feathers is enforcable up 1 year in prison and a $5,000.00 fine. Remember the lady that made a dream catcher for Hillary Clinton? She used Eagle feathers she found on the ground and was fined $5,000.00 for her troubles.