Cape Mount
 

Hey All
Working on my buddy's first Tom doing a cape mount for him.
I will take pics as I go and post them along the way.
Thought it will kill the next 6 weeks waiting for the opener!!!!!!!!!
Treebeard
:party0005:

Great I just finished day 1 and I am getting faster each time as I am about half way done so much for 6 weeks lol

Ok I thought I would show my first cape mount I did, I really didn't know what I was doing but I like it but I have learned some tricks along the way. I no longer salt the tail and pick all the fatty tissue out of the quills as it takes weeks some times to cure. Also if you don't pin it right during curing it will dry funny like the other picture of my first tail. It is very hard to get the feathers all spread out. The only reason I am sharing these pics is so you understand the reason why I do it the way I do.

I forgot to take some pictures of the cape being washed this bird took a mud bath in the only puddle in the field and was a mess. So the first pic will be of the cape washed and then moving through the drying process

Looking pretty pathetic
 

Using a hair dryer it takes a while but dont give up
 

Lookin like a turkey again
 

Clean as much meat off as you can
 

Pour the salt to her
 

Just plain old table salt
 

Like I said dont be afraid of the salt now we wait for a few days
 

This may be a stupid question,what part of the turkey is the cape?The back feathers?The last turkey I cleaned I skinned and that looks fun to try.

Have you tried Borax? We used to put it on snake skins and pin them and place them in the attic to cure. Don't know if it would be better than salt or not. I am wanting to try caping one this year myself. I've seen some impressive capes with wings attached but that is probably outta my league.

I use borax, does a good job.

I basically skin the bird from the back of the wings including the tail up to the back of the neck if that makes sense. It is all of the back feathers. Just skin as much as you can and you determine what you want. The first pic I showed was my biggest bird which was 26.5lbs and I skinned him from the back of the wings from neck to tail. Hope this helps!
Treebeard

Please don't take this they wrong way but I had to say something. It seems that from your pics you are leaving a lot of meat and fat on the skin. The use of salt will help preserve this but only the borax treatment will somewhat bug proof it. You should attempt to get all the meat and fat off and then borax it. I don't know about you but I like salted meat and would never eat meat with borax on it.

No offense taken I find it easier once the salt has taken the moisture from the last bits of meat and it pulls nicely from the skin. Borax is the next step in the curing but it is a good point and someone may not understand that so thanks for raising it. :)
Take care
Treebeard

Thanks Tree now all I need is a test subject.LOL

Frozen tail
 

This is the part that the lady of the house hates
 

Boil the tail for about 20min and then pull the feathers out of the meat in order
 

Take a piece of styrofoam and mark out the numbers 1 thru 18 for the tail feathers
 

Lay out the secondary feathers mark them abc how ever many upi need
 

Then lay the tail feathers the same way to dry
 

After the feathers boil for 20 or so min they will pull free from the meat. I pull the secondary tail feathers first from left to right. Then I pull the main tail feathers next from left to right. It wouldn't matter which way you pull from but you have to lay them in the same order. I used to tape each one with a piece of masking tape and write the number on it so it wouldn't get mixed up. I now mark the numbers and stick each feather by the quill into the corresponding number so I don't lose track this is very important when putting the tail back together. The next pics will explain better I let the feathers dry for a day as the quills are soft right now and don't stick into the Styrofoam board very easy when soft.

Insert feathers in order I have never saw a Tom with more or less that 18
 

Secondary tail feathers mark with letters so not to confuse
 

Allow to dry
 

I used to tape and number each one I find the board easier and quicker but both work!
 

thanks for showing this

I have saved all my fans and All I have a few I dried with just salt. They work very nicely on my decoys. Just keep them dry and if they get wet dry them out. I do give each tail a small shot of Raid House & Garden at the start of use and the end of use to put them away. I never had bugs and I still have my 1, 2, & 3 tail fans on the wall and they got there some 26yrs ago!

Or go purchase that Primos Tail Mount Bracket. The plastic bracket is easy to use and folds up nicely so you can insert the tail inside the body of the decoy to prevent damage. I have 2 tails - a jake and then a tom and those tails are as old as when that B-Mobile came out on the market. They have been stomped, pecked, plucked, hailed on, snowed on, rain on, peed on (don't ask!:() - put through the mill! I replaced one tail feather so far.

But each year before use they all get a spritz of Raid House and Garden - tucked in a plastic bag to which I seal for a few days and then at the end of the season - same thing and they are stored flat between 2 big sheets of cardboard and then put in a plastic bag.

No bugs! None!

JW

who makes the tail fan mount in the second picture..... I am working on a fan mount right now and thats the mount im trying to find with the turkey gobbling in the middle.

I just bought it at our local shop I will go back and see if they have another and tell you who makes it
Treebeard

Good looking work, Treebeard!

The Fan with the wooden plate is absolutely beautiful

Thanks AmyRose and the wooden mount is a Quaker Boy product