# Youth Hunt Success



## OldMick (May 24, 2010)

I would like to start by introducing myself as a long time lurker, first time poster. My post is for 2 reasons- 1st to share my son's success today and 2nd, to thank all of you collectively for the discussions and advice that have helped us slightly inch up this amazing learning curve of turkey hunting. 
A question for the group- He would like to do a fan/beard display to hang in his room. He is holding the fan together in the picture but it actually has a 2-3 feather gap. Are there any recommendations on what can be done to help it display well. Thanks!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Welcome and congrats!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

OldMick said:


> A question for the group- He would like to do a fan/beard display to hang in his room. He is holding the fan together in the picture but it actually has a 2-3 feather gap. Are there any recommendations on what can be done to help it display well. Thanks!


Lots of opinions out there on how to do this, but heres what has always worked for me.

If he's only wanting to keep the fan, from behind it feel up where the bone meets the pelvis. Snip this off with a pair of dikes (wirecutters). Now you will want to skin carefully up a short ways and remove as much meat as you can. Dont disturb where the larger feathers attach. Go careful, take your time. Once the major meat is removed, get a large piece of cardboard and a bunch of pins. Nails will work as well if thats all you got. With the fan upside down (you want the rear end facing up), put one pin/nail through the center of the bottom of the fan, where it was cut off, in the bottom center of your cardboard. Now with help from your boy, spread the fan out into a half circle. Put pins behind the tailfeathers, 2-4" from the center of the fan, to hold them in place. With your missing feathers, you can arrange others to fill in the holes. Just get it how you like it and add pins until it stays in that shape.

Once satisfied, get some borax (your wife probably already has some) and cover the area where you removed the meat off the tailbone. Borax will dry it out and preserve it. If you have some form of taxidermy preservative, inject it around the tailbone (I keep a bottle on hand called Preserves-it for velvet antlers, birds etc, its similar to formaldahyde but less dangerous).

At this point put the cardboard in a nice flat out of the way spot where it can dry out. Give it a month or so then carefully remove the pins and shake out the loose borax. Mount however you want.

The beard, you cut off below the roots of the hair near the skin. You can put it in a cup with some borax added to help dry it out... I injected mine with preserves-it. Let that dry out as well.

Tex or some of the other professional taxi's here will probably chime in with a few more to-do's they use, but for the most part it really is just as easy as removing as much meat as you can then pinning it where you want and letting it dry.

-DallanC


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Oh and nice bird!


-DallanC


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Sounds like good advise from DallanC. Congratulations on a fine bird! Maybe someone on here will have a few extra tail feathers they will give you to put into your display.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Tail Fan Instructions From A Pro. 

Yes, I am a taxidermist and I approved this message. :mrgreen: 

1. Clean all the meat and fat off the feather butts without taking the connective tissue between the quills. (easier said than done, a wire wheel works the best.)

2. Wash the tail in HOT water and dish soap then rinse thoroughly.

3. Use a hair dryer and blow the tail dry.

4. Preen the feathers out nice and fan the tail out the way you want it on a flat clean surface. Place a small piece of waxed paper under the area to be glued. (quill butts)

5. Use bondo or hot glue (bondo works best) and put a good amount on the quill buts covering them completely. While the glue is still hot preen the feathers again so you get them just how you want before the bondo/glue sets up. 

6. After the bondo/glue sets up and cools completely, turn the fan over and repeat the process on the back side of the quills.

There you go, your all done, its clean, hard, and will last forever. Do it any other way, and you'll have a bug farm on your hands.

Good luck.

BTW, I charge a minimal fee and offer a nice cedar plaque for this service.


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## OldMick (May 24, 2010)

Thanks guys!


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## silentstalker (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice job!!


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## nickpan (May 6, 2008)

Nice!


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