turkeys

so the turkey hunt is sneaking up quick here in utah about 3 weeks for limited entry.this will be my second year hunting turkey. last year i had a general season permit and had 6 or 7 opportunities on turkeys.i opted for archery equip and just couldnt quite get the shot i wanted on them as they were very spooky after all the pressure on them.i belive i could have nailed a few with the shotgun but i just love the challenge of archery.this year i have the earlier limited entry tag, i feel ill get better opportunities on them.they seem to be a bit less weary and more rutted up during the limited hunt.So if i am successful, I am wondering what the process is to mount a beard and tail on a wall plaque. how do i remove the beard and what do i need to do to preserve it? second what is the process of removing the tail feathers and is there any preservation methods i need to use? sorry for the dumb questions and any info would be great thanks!
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model70
I have cleaned up 2 turkey fans in the past and both were fairly simple. I just cheated and bought the tail mounting kits. To cut off the tail just take a sharp knife and cut at the narrow area where the tail meets the lower back. Be sure to pluck out a handfull of extra feathers from the lower back area to use after the fan is dried. You will need to clean out all of the fat and meat out of the tail and treat the fan with Borax. I pinned the fanned out tail to a half sheet of plywood and let it dry for around a month. After the fan is completely dry you can glue some of the feathers you plucked out of the lower back to fill in any bald areas near the center of the fan. To cut off the beard just grab the beard and feel where it starts just under the skin and cut. If you have any excess fat on the beard you might want to trim it off. I haven't treated any of my turkey beards in the past and none of them have fallen apart. Actually it is probably a good thing I haven't treated them.... my dog decided to eat one of them!
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The Ox
cool! thanks for the reply seems pretty simple! have any pics of your finished product? what did yiou do with the spurs?
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model70
I did not even think of the spurs way back when. Now I cut the spurs off big toms but they usually end up in jar along with some rattlesnake rattles and badger claws.
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DeadI
Very cool, If I ever hunt turkeys and get one this is what I will probably do with mine. I don't know if I would want a full bird mounted they are not cheap.
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ridgetop
Ox, your going to love hunting to early season. I did it last year and it was a blast seeing them all strutting and all. Also, that plaque really looks nice.
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Tonoonyi
Calling them in is just about as much fun as you can have. I love to call them in just to take pictures even.

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The Ox
model70- thats sweet! makes me much more excied to do a fan and beard mount
ridge ya i worked in an area where there were a bunch of turkeys and they were going crazy i was screwin with them for weeks it was fun!
pretty excited to go stick a turkey
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