Nicely done benp. The first bird I ever mounted was a wood duck, I was probably around 12 years old, and way above my ability. It was still in my dad's house when he died in 2017, it was about 45 years old, black marbles for eyes. At the time I had a taxidermy book written by Richard Schmidt, the local museum taxidermist at the university. My dad taught in the next building and took me over to meet Mr. Schmidt. It was a real eye opener. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4928792M/How_to_mount_birds. He was an old German man with huge hands and even then it impressed me with the specimens he had of quail and killdeer chicks in the museum.
June Workbench
- Thread starter Michael McCord1
- Start date
Thank you Don, the first thing I mounted was a blue goose "shoulder" mount. The breast up with a dial rod for the neck and clay for the head with black marbles for eyes and kept the real bill.
A friend who was like a second granddad to me gave me a book about taxidermy after that and the first true mount was a wood duck for my brother. He still has it and that's been around 17 years ago. The book was really outdated for modern taxidermy with wrapping the bodies and necks and using the real bill that I don't know of anyone doing unless it's for museums with odd birds.
Oh the memories, Tow to wrap necks (raw burlap) and excelsior to wrap bodies. It was always a big score when something was shipped to the house packed with excelsior. Using a spoon scraper that was hand fashioned with a file to give it teeth. I did a lot of deer heads and largemouth bass being in Southeast Kansas. I still have a pheasant mount from 40 years ago. It must have been a 70 yard hopeful shot and only one pellet, but in the right place. I started calling my shot the near miss method of specimen collection. I hand carved my fish bodies out of foam 50 years ago, if I had only known where that would lead. Eventually I started doing fish reproductions, carved with sugar pine.
B. Heitman
New member
I've had the opportunity to bag two mallard/pintail hybrids in my hunting career.
Had both of them mounted and gave one to a friend. That hybrid decoy you made is such an accurate depiction, it's scary. Absolutely beautiful, beautiful work. Two things immediately catch my eye... the subtle, ultra realistic blending of colors (shades) transitioning through the head and the semi curl of the tail "pin".
Hard to believe that mortal man can so accurately reproduce Ma Nature......
Had both of them mounted and gave one to a friend. That hybrid decoy you made is such an accurate depiction, it's scary. Absolutely beautiful, beautiful work. Two things immediately catch my eye... the subtle, ultra realistic blending of colors (shades) transitioning through the head and the semi curl of the tail "pin".
Hard to believe that mortal man can so accurately reproduce Ma Nature......
My son, Caleb painted all the pintails, I painted the cross. The only thing I did on the pintails was the heads on the hens. He had the cross for several weeks and sent it back to me. I keep stretching him with stuff, but so far he's sent back the cross and a canvasback hen, and yesterday another hen canvasback came back to my bench for painting. He has a full time job as a dental lab tech, so his plate is pretty full considering that we've just got over the threshold of 400 decoys in the past 12 months. That doesn't count nearly 400 flocked and painted plastics that we've done, probably 75% of them are painted by Caleb. He gets better every day. He finds some of my quirky carves both fun and trouble. He's a production painter, he thinks I'm terribly slow, but hey, I'm old.
bob welsh
Well-known member
nice work all
here are some coots to add to the spread mostly pine and cedar scraps that didnt make the cut for other carvings All hollow and painted in oil.
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William Reinicke
Well-known member
That’s a gang of coots!!!
The best shooting of my first season, '83, here in Southwest Louisiana was with a fellow who left a standing, probably 100+ spread of coots, poule d'eau here, out and placed just six or eight duck decoys between their raft and his boat blind each hunt. Was an eye-opening "first" that began my own affinity for their employment.
bob welsh
Well-known member
I've seen that myself and that was an inspiration to build this rig. I've got 31 completed with parts of 25 more getting ready. I'm in SWLA also where I run a 200 bird rig of GWT that I made during covid. works like magic.
If I ever get back to Mobile, I will buy every old Flambeau coot I can get my hands on. Never need painting, light weight water keels that self-right with just a touch of wind.
I think I kept 1 dzn when I moved to Tampa, I would need at least 3 more dzn to rebuild the rig I had before the move.
I think I kept 1 dzn when I moved to Tampa, I would need at least 3 more dzn to rebuild the rig I had before the move.
Carl
Are there enough coots and gadwall or redheads wintering there to make putting a rig like that together useful?
Are there enough coots and gadwall or redheads wintering there to make putting a rig like that together useful?
I'm definitely out of my league in this crowd. Once confided to a Slidell carver friend, who'd come our way for specks, that when I retired from guiding, I could happily hunt out my duck days over a couple pairs of mottleds and a pair of green-wings. Next trip he gifted me band-sawed cut-outs of two teal heads, bodies and keels with pre-drilled holes for the dowels and eyes that came with them. Seemed almost like cheating after having watched him rough a decoy out, pretty much down to the sanding, from wood blocks with a pencil, hatchet, pocket knife and shapes-all(?) rasp while we sat on a tailgate shooting the breeze.
But I proceeded to teach myself that I'm no carver. And I'd still not have that little personal rig had that dear friend not given up on my carving it, as well, and blessed me with it.
So, my hat's off to those of you who can and do tackle making a few, much less your hundreds.
Not sure about now, there were (barely) when I left 7 years ago!!
But either way, if I were back, I'd keep plugging away at it.
200 greenwings? Thats a heck of a teal rig! Post up some pics if you have any, I'd love to see them.
William Reinicke
Well-known member
im guessing a 200 decoy rig is a set it and forget it rig? Id hate setting and picking up that many before and after every hunt.
I know a guy here that use to tie 120 geese and 250 ducks a good bit. He hunted open water, what we call bush blinds. He might have left it all out sometimes if the weather permitted and if he planned to hunt the same blind the next day but I know he picked it up daily a good bit too. When the blackheads were around they would eat that rig up but I think everything did. Another guy that passed away a couple years ago that hunted the same area had a similar rig. He hunted out of a 25ft Parker if that tells you how many decoys he could carry.
bob welsh
Well-known member
here's a pic of probably half of them with big ducks mixed in . When i made them I documented the build on here so the original post is in the archives. I set the rig the day before the season and pick up at the split then reset it when the season comes back in . Texas rigged on 36 inch mono and i have set it with three guys in 20 minutes for a day hunt. It wasn't bad.
