After you remove the meat and possibly make a mount of the tail and the beard, do you find uses for the rest of the bird . . . or just trash it? It seems a shame to throw most of the bird away-considering how attractive they are. Anybody have some realistic suggestions for the remaining feathers?

I fletch my arrows with the wing feathers... Andmake calls from the wingbones.

I use a lot of the feathers. I glue some to picture frames and what not. I do throw the majority of them away though.

I've got feathers in vases at home, a couple at work for decoration, people like them so I've passed some around to the ladies at work, and I've been thinking of making my wife a dream catcher using them. I'll keep thinking about it, cuz im just to lazy to go out and get the rest of the stuff... Maybe if the craft dept at wally world was closer to the hunting and fishing dept....

i feel the same way.....im thinking about caping my next bird....just for something new on the wall....but ill still end up wasting half the feathers on the breast...capes just use the tail and back..maybe wings...but i do hate to see that big ole pretty bird in the garbage bag.....

Have to agree..... I use the wings for fletch. I send them off to Gateway and have them cut and every season I re-fletch or make new hunting arrows.[8D]

The small feathers can make some dandy fishing lures.
I even pick up the feathers from where other hunters,
Left them after putting there tom in there truck.

They are to pretty to leave behind.

I figured some people might use wing feathers for fletching. I don't have to tools to make fletching here. What's involved with getting Gateway to do it? And how much do they charge?

i have used a few that i found to make flies for fly fishing, they seem to work alright, or ive just got stupid fish.

if the feathers are in good shape, you may find someone to pay money for them for flytying. check with a flyfishing shop in your area. see what they say.