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Turkey Skin Rug

themedic

Junior Member
755
0
OHIO
Last spring I attempted to make a turkey skin rug by skinning and borax/salting the hell out of my toms feathers. I then sandwiched it between two plywood sheets and put it in my garage rafters for the summer to dry out. If the mice wouldnt have chewed the tips off a few of the feathers I would say it was a complete success. It still looks pretty good though and hung it in my man cave. It was actually pretty easy. If anyone wants a little more detailed process on doing it just let me know.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Is that the bed I get to sleep on the morning before the big hunt?

That's pretty cool. Looks like a hell of a lot of work though. I've never been a huge fan of full-mounted turkeys either, they all look the same [which is also probably why I love Huntn2's so much).
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Looks good Corey. I need to worry about seeing turkeys while hunting before I worry about how to display one. lol
 

themedic

Junior Member
755
0
OHIO
Thanks for the replies guys.

Mike, pretty simple:
To start the process I skinned the bird. Just like skinning a deer or any animal, the skinning process is much easier when done while the body cavity is still warm. The first cut I made was at the xiphoid process, this is the bony point just under the breast. This area is void of feathers and easy to locate. From this point cut a straight line all the way to anus/tail fan.

The next two cuts are from the underside of the wings back this the first cut. This is done by following the featherless line that runs from the wing tip all the way back the wing bones and finishing around the belly of the turkey. When done, these cuts should open the turkey up resembling a giant “t” or “x”.

Next I hung the turkey and skinned it much like a deer, going around the legs and carefully skinning all the way down to the turkeys head. To make the process easier you can fillet the legs or simply remove them. The underside of the turkey will not be seen on a rug so you can be kinda reckless in this process.

Its important to note that if you do happen to cut a hole through the skin, don’t worry about it. With so many feathers on a turkey, you can’t notice a couple missing feathers and the feathers stay in place even with the occasional hole.

Once done skinning, I laid the rug out and trimmed the edges until the rug was evenly shaped and visually eye pleasing. I removed a large portion of feathers, that don’t resemble feathers, around the belly, flanks and also trimmed the feathers under the beard. This helped the beard and entire rug lay nice and flat.

I then used a soft bristled wire wheel to grind off any residual meat and fat. HOLD ON TIGHT and be careful not to let the drill or wire wheel rip the rug out of your hands. I found it was easier to work in very small areas and keep the area grinding balled up tight. It was a labor intensive process and very messy.



Next I applied copious amounts of table salt and Borax laundry detergent. The salt and Borax combination dry out and preserves the skin. Hopefully, before it can rot or spoil.



Next I laid the rug out on a sheet of plywood, tacked the wing feathers and tail fan open and arranged the rug in the general shape I wanted for completion. Then, laid another sheet of plywood on top of the rug and drywall screwed the two sheets of plywood together. Thus making a turkey rug and plywood sandwich.

I then placed the plywood sandwich in the rafters of my barn and will let it cure and dry out. Hope that was clear enough. Here is a pic of the wire wheel I used
 

themedic

Junior Member
755
0
OHIO
Thanks for the replies guys. If anyone tries this........one more step I'm going to add this year is putting some 7 dust on the turkey skin while it's drying in my garage. The mice really chewed off the wings tips and I think this would stop them from doing that.