I have thebeard fromtheturkey I shot yesterday, what do I do to keep bugs from eating the base, where the skin and some flesh is?

borax should dry it and keep buggies out. just to calm you down bugs wont destroy it overnight. Ive got a lot of beards that are old and in great shape.

Borax? What's that? Are there any average things, like WD-40, gun solvent, etc. that would work?

I use plain old table salt. I make sure I cover the meaty part of the beard. It will take it a week or so to dry it out. Make sure you put some card board under it, then cover it with salt. Ive never had one go bad. Then after its dried, I cut off the shotgun shell I used to kill it with, at the brass. Then I knock out the firing pin and take hot glue and one of those small hooks that ya can hang stuff on and hot glue it into the hole where the firing pin came out of. Then once the beard is dried, I put the beard in the open end of the brass and hot glue it. Then once its set up and hardened, I hang it up... Just remember you have to keep the brass polished up for it to keep for years, It will corrid if you dont...

first off congrats on the bird!! Borax or table salt work great. Be sure and trim as much meat and fat off the beard without cutting into the part that holds it together. Borax is a laundry booster, you can find it at walmart or other stores in the laundry soap section. it will say 20 mule team laundry booster borax on the box. and the good news, a box will last you the rest of your turkey hunting careerI prefer the borax over the salt. It is also used when mounting the tail feathers.

Borax is the best. 20 Mule Team Borax in the laundry section, in a soap powder-lookin' box.

Oh god I'm getting old, I actaully REMEBER the "20 Mule Team Borax" commercials on the Black and white TV (LOL).

Okay, so do I only powder the Borax on the flesh part of the beard? or all of it?

Okay, I did the flesh of the beard with Borax, now what do I do? I got it on a piece of cardboard, do I put it in a sandwich bag? Or do I leave it out somewhere in a cool, dry place?

Just tell me whatI need to do.

Next time just pop the beard out. This way it has no skin or meat on it.

All you have to do is grab hold of the beard real tight and then take your hand to the breast so you have some slack. Then give a hard fast tug and it will pop right out. Don't worry it wont fall apart. Give it a try