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homemade turkey mount

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
couldnt afford to have it done, so I had to do it myself.drie the tail, beard and feet. A few bits and pieces from the craft store...

I didnt notice it was crooked until the picture came up in my album, but just shorten one of the drop cords a little and it will be just fine.

 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
give us a play by play on how ya did it , would be an interesting and educational thread

first step was drying the tail and beard, I cut the whole tail, flesh, meat, and all from the bird. Then I took a pen knife and trimmed all the fat, and meat away so all I had left was the skin holding the feathers in place and could see the tips of the feather bases. I got a large piece of cardboard and spread the tail out on it the way I wanted and poured a very generous amount of salt on the base of it. tacked it in place with some small hooks I had laying around and left it sit. I used the salt to dry the fleshy part of the beard as well. After a day or 2 I removed the salt because it was saturated with oil from the fat and put more on to finish drawing out what oil was left. I placed a heavy book on it to keep it flat and let it dry for about a month.

I went looking for a plaque to mount everything on and foud that even for just a basic plastic one I was looking at about 30 bucks. I knew I wanted to be able to include the beard, feet, feathers, as well as the permanent tag and a photo. couldnt find anything I liked so I went to the neighborhood craft store. I found both pieces of wood in the picture framing department, and some rawhide and beads in the jewelry making area. all total I believe I spent less than 20 dollars and still have enough beads and rawhide chord to do several more.

I arranged the photos and tag on the wood where I wanted them and glued them in place. after that a couple coats of varnish. next time I think I will try to do a little more elaborate frame around the photo to make it look more proffesional.

after the varnish dried I placed the tail on the back of the round plaque where I wanted it and used some small insulated staples to secure it in place. I used the same staples to attach the rawhide to the back of the boards as well.

I had to experiment a little with tying the feathers and beard to the rawhide. I found that slipping the tip of the feathers up into a bead and placing a drop of super glue on it made for the cleanest appearence. slide a few beads on, tie a knot to hold them in place, and then wrap some chord around the bases of the feet and beard to cover the "meaty" spots where they were cut off of the bird.

I have a few Ideas in mind for the next one I do. I also made sure not to make any attachments too permanent so that if I decide to change something i dont have to worry about destroying thr tail or beard if I need to take it apart.