questions about mounting a bird

Chris Finch

Chris Finch

Well-known member
better to try to figure this out now then to get a nice looking bird and have no idea what to do.
Here are some of my questions:
what damage to the bird can be fixed by the taxidermist?
such as a broken bill, or a foot
do you have to bring it to the taxidermist right away or can it wait in the freezer for a while?
can blood be cleaned off of the feathers?
the white parts are usually covered
what do you guys look for in a bird that would be a good mount?

thanks for the heads up
hopefully will get a nice sprig or woodie for the mantel next year
 
Blood can be cleaned off as long as its not realllyyyy bad.
These days, a lot of guys use plastic bills, so a shot up bill is not a problem. Not sure about feet.
The big problem is broken or missing feathers. Hard to put feathers back after they are gone.
Being in the freezer is not a big issue if you wrap it well. But even wrapped well, most guys I have talked too say "get it to me within a year".

What to look for? Well, that depends. A "first" bird is sometimes a mounter even if it isnt "perfect". My first can was missing one tail feather but he is on the wall. Luckily, my first GE was a nice mature drake.
But overall, you're looking for excellent bright colors, no busted wing feathers, etc.. Something that says WOW.
In divers, usually ou want really white whites & dark crisp blacks. If you ever compare an early season greater scaup to a late season one, you'll easily see the difference.
Bright red on redheads and a good maroon color on cans.
 
my buddy had a perfect drake mallard but the bill was cracked, I think he only hit it with 2 pellets. oh well we will know for next year
 
Simple steps to help out the taxidermist:

1. Wash gently with a bit of cold water to get rid of the blood and mud, do not rough house the feathers and break them. Pat the bird dry. Waterfowl only...NOT FOR UPLAND BIRDS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!

2. Open the bill/beak and stuff a cotton ball or two down into the throat leaving some in the bill/beak. This prevents blood from running all over during thawing etc.

4. Straighten the feathers into a natural position.

5. Cut one leg off from a pair of nylon stocking (or use knee high).. No not the good ones your wife uses or you might be in the dog house. Place the bird head first toward the toe of the stocking. The stocking keeps feathers and wings where they belong.

6. Place in plastic bag. Head first. Place in freezer

7. When frozen. Wrap in several layers of newspaper, maybe 1/2 inch thick or more.

8. Zip lock bag

9. Back to the freezer.

It will last more than a year this way, but the sooner you get it to a taxidermist the better.

Bills can be fixed. Legs are harder to fix.

Matt
 
MattnBarb- I've heard of the panty hose trick, but when we had some pros (taxidermists) out on Adak last month they said don't do it. It compresses the feathers too much. I am not a taxidermist. Plus it was their birds so who was I to argue.
Any other taxidermists out there with their thoughts on panty hose. (For birds)
I'd like to know for my clients in the future.
Panty hose does keep you warm though. I used to wear them commercial fishing years ago before polypro. Husky-gal sizes.
-
 
I used to skin birds for a local taxidermist. I am sure that the panty hose compresses the feathers, and so does sitting in a freezer in a plastic bag and the wife rummaging around stacking stuff on it. I just know that when skinning birds and prepping, the birds that had some care before freezing were in much better shape for mounting. If you think you might have problems with excessive compression causing breaking of the fibers, use the upper portion of the leg. The idea is to minimize anything that can reduce the quality of the mount. I used to see birds brought in that had been fairly beat up and people asking "can I get that mounted?" Sure anything can be mounted, but you can not replace missing feathers, broken feathers, fix nasty rips, missing skin and so forth without some impact on the quality of the final product. So do you want a FrankenDuck or a nice mount?

A few links

http://www.wildturkeyzone.com/articles/dressing2.htm

http://www.runningbuck.com/tips.html

http://gamebirdtaxidermy.com/3.html

http://www.southdakotahunting.com/community/articles/prepare-for-a-trophy


Many times the skin of waterfowl is washed fairly vigorously in soapy water or even solvents for cleaning and degreasing before mounting....but you have to be careful with that also.
 
I used to play taxidermist and even won a few masters division ribbons at the World Championships along the way. I say no the pantyhose but it's not that big a deal. The biggest threat to any frozen birds are two things. Freezer burn, and broken feathers. Blood, and dirt aren't that big a deal unless it's a lot and caked into the feathers. The way I like to care for a bird is to skin it, clean it, wash it and freeze it in a solid block of ice. I've kept birds for 5+yrs doing this. Since most guys don't know how to do that. I recommend wrapping the bill, eyes and feet in WET paper towels. Tuck the head under the wing place in a plastic bag (bread bags, zip lock bags, we used to buy special freezer bags that were 12' wide by 24" long) and squeeze as much air out of it and put it in the freezer. Most birds will keep for a year or better this way. The bills will be replaced, the feet will be taken off and injected so if they're too shot up don't worry. The eyelids and the skin around the bill is the biggest worry. If that area freezer burns there isn't much to do other than replace the bird. Unless it's a have to have mounted bird look for mature plumage, and no large shot holes especially in the wings and tail. Those too can be replaced but it all adds time and we know what time equals.
 
DO NOT USE PANTY HOSE!!!!

Broken wings, legs, bills are no big deal... feet are repairable... or cast/resin feet can be used in the worst case... feather damage is the biggest concern... Blood.. not a big deal...

I have mounted birds that have been in the freezer for 6+ years.. Personally ... what I would tell you is freeze the ENTIRE bird in a block of ice. That bird will be as good the day it comes out of the freezer as the day it goes in. If you don't freeze it in a bock of ice, then you should freezing it in plastic freezer bags.. get the air out to minimize freeze burn.. You are alway better off getting it to a preservationist as quickly as possible.
 
Yeah you can not fix freezer burn... Sure you can fix all sorts of other stuff but most of the clients that came into the shop where I skinned were looking for a reasonable cost in a mount...we did not fix it because of the extra cost...maybe that was wrong but that was what the clients were told. Deer shoulder mounts were under 200, elk 350, moose 500, pheasants 65, ducks 80, geese 100 and so on..this was the early 80's and we were cheap. For rugs I do not remember the pricing. I was paid per critter skinned, fleshed, salted and shipped out the door to be tanned. For the birds, they were skinned, fleshed and cleaned up then sent to the partner that did the birds. Occasionally I would do some of the form shaping (ear buts, eye sockets etc) and sewing on deer and elk. It was not world class competition stuff, it was production work and at times I was frustrated with the quality of the final product as it was not that good. The owner was in it to make money so that extra effort was not taken or allowed.

One odd note that sticks in my mind is how tired I became of skinning things like 75 whitetail jacks in an evening for jackalopes to be sold at a sport show, or 30 aerial gunned coyotes that the belly was turning on... Stinky!!!

I did this between classes at USU and studying, paid for school.

I have a sage grouse male that has been in my freezer for 4 years, not skinned, I think it is trash basically. Should have skinned it and sent it off to be mounted, but we were moving to another house at the time so it became a casualty of no time, then forgotten until recently.

As far as panty hose I would like to know what damage is done? I am sure if you cram the bird in tight you could muck things up. I can see where freezing in wet paper towels around the eyes and bill would prevent freezer burn damage. Never tried to freeze a skin in a block, but I do that with trout if i keep a few for eating. One more item I do tuck the head under the wing.

Matt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top