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RE: preserving beard and legs
 

i use plain ole table salt on my beards and on the feet well i havent tried the salt thing my feet just get thrown away along with my spurs, two years in a row i lost my spurs[:' (] but anyways table salt works good on the tail and beard

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

I cant believe you throw away your spurs... I hate to throw any part of a wild turkey away but never the spurs or beards!!!!!!!!

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

Last year I started doing the beards in the lower picture. As far as the feet go I wire them on a board standing up until they dry. I' ll then put a light coat of varnish on them. I use the varnish in a spray can, not as messing and it drys fast.

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

I use Borax to dry the beard and tail, and I cut the legs about a 1/2 inch above and below the spur and clean out the bone marrow and put them in borax. Trim all of the flesh you can off of the tail and beard, being careful not to cut into beard or tail feathers. You can use a small glass jar for the beard. Put borax in the jar, set the beard in flesh end first and pour in enought to cover the beard up an inch or so. Same fo the spurs.

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

I don' t do a thing to my beards. After cutting them of my bird, I try to leave some skin on the tip, then just let them dry in a place where bugs, or mice can' t get at them. After a few months the beard tip gets rock hard, and I then trim off the excess skin with a sharp knife. As far as the feet go, I cut them off at the leg joint and let them dry for a few months, until they get rock hard as well. I then cut of the spurs with the use of a band saw, this makes the best cut and you can get close to each side of the spur. I also leave the skin on the spurs, never had a problem with it staying on. The whole key is letting the feet dry rock hard for a few months!!
One thing I have seen first hand is the results of beards being pulled off the bird. The beard strans will fall out when handling them when doing it this way!! So don' t pull your beards off the bird, cut them off!!!! By leaving some skin attached to the end of the beard, this after drying will go a long way to prevent the strans from falling off your beard!! Just a few tips!!;)

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

Trust me I wasnt happy when i threw them away i kind of forgot about them it wont happen again they are comin of this year

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

just cut them off and inject them with formalin ( formaldahyde).

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

Borax of salt for the beard. Let legs dry and saw the spurs. Use a set up like
mk-m-gobble' s second pic (nice collection by the way. All from N.H.? Beards around here in Maine tend to be much thinner.). I make a wood tail display with five small shaker style pegs on it to hang the spur/beard combo off of.

RE: preserving beard and legs
 

I don' t do anything to my beards. Just cut them off with a little skin attatched and let them dry out. Have had some for over ten years and they are fine, not stink and don' t rot. I don' t save the spurs.