huntnma

i was wondering if anyone has dried thier tails out in the oven on a real low temp , just to help the drying process out......i went to mount the other tail and it is still not cured.....the other one dried really quick, this one is just taking forever and i seem to have no patience......'m skeered i'll dry it out too much and the feathers will become brittle.....so i need advice on a quick dryin'.....if there is one, i have taken the blow dryer to it, helps , but it's a very slow process.......i know , i'm goofy....thanks

Phil J.

Just my opnion here, but to be honest I don't know why anyone tries to preserve and mount the tails with the feathers still intact to the dried meat? I've posted many times on other boards and described how taxidermists do it from an article I cut out many years ago, to me there's no better or satisfying way to do it.

All it amounts to is removing each individual feahter from the meaty tail area one at a time by cutting them away and removing the meat with tissue. As you remove them lay them out as they were in the tail fan. It's not that hard and the results are excellent, and you don't have to worry about any drying meat or bugs, ever! You only need to save about 3 or 4 layers of the secondary tail feathers also, do the same with them one at a time. Start with the primary tail feathers and lay them on a table and weight them down so they don't blown away. Then do the secondary feathers and lay them to the side also, in a separate place. Once your done with that put wax paper behind the primary feathers and put 2-3 layers of quick setting fiberglass (boat repair fiberglass works fine), then you can use a glue gun to attach the secondary feathers to the primary's once they dry (within hours). You can then order a plaque or make your own, it's as professional as it gets, and relatively easy.

Your's might be too dry to try and remove the feathers from the meat, but give this a try in the future, I guarantee you will be pleased with the results, I do this for all of my birds and have done it for friends, they love the results.

Mr. Longbeard

Seems like to much work to go threw when all you have to do is fan it out put some salt or borax on it and let it dry for a couple of weeks. I make my own plaques so I really don't have any trouble getting my fans to fit in my plaques

huntnma

well thank you both.......
i tried it once without the bone , but when did it , i didnt leave any skin, it was like a puzzle putting that bad boy together, had to staple them in place......as ya'll can see by the ones i have posted that i love as many feathers as i can possibally get when i do the tails....i have to do everything when it comes to my turkey tails,so i can make em fit , lol.... i wouldnt feel right if i went and bought something that i didnt make.....i'm just getting impatient.....i have taken a hammer to the bone and smooshed them before and that helps, it's too late even if i wanted too now...it's almost done, just a lil bit left.....i like the salt and borax mix for drying, guess he was just a lil more meatier than the first one......all in all it's not a hard process, just a lil time comsuming ......thanks again for the advice.....but i still need to know if anyone thinks it'll screw my tail feathers up if i cook em, lol......

JW

Ma...I posted hw I do it lotsa pages back. Once mounted to a board I will leave it all summer long in my basement and mount it this next fall or winter.

I have never had a mount or feather move.

I use just slat and lots of it. I then treat with an aerosol insecticide and put a little insect dust in my mount plaque where the tail meets the road! ;D

I never have had a problem with bugs.....and shouldn't that is my business!

JW

Adrian J Hare

This is the way I do it !

Go to your local auto parts store and get a small container of Body fill and hardener.

Take your fan and skin the tail base out leaving the skin and quills still attached, you have to scrap every quill off, in the middle part there is a large bone that is between the midle quills , take and cut it out, in the end you have a pocket with the quills.
Add Borex to the pocket and then Fan the tail on styrafoam, Mix up a small container of Body fill add the hardener and scoop and place it in the pocket/Base of the tail, make sure you get the body fill on all sides of the tail base.

Once filled , take your hand/fingers and lightly push the fill around and flatten it on the wall side of your tail, so that it sits flush on the wall.

In 10 minutes you are ready to put it on the wall, Make a plaque , the area you are going to screw the tail too needs to be cut out , to allow the body fill to become even with your place. You can take another small peice of material like (Paneling) and glue and screw it over the opening, this gives you a indent area for the base to sit , and screw the tail base to the paneling. You are ready to hang the Tail on your wall ...BT