DIY mounting boards are done

[Scott M]

This was actually a pretty simple project that got dragged out forever. I wanted some nice boards to display some DIY mounts of grouse fans and pheasant skins. I had a few pheasants tucked away, and I got some help gathering a few grouse fans this fall. Over the winter I had the fans spread and dried, and my 6 month old pup decided she wanted her first taste of grouse, and wouldn't you know it, she wrecked the only chestnut red fan I had. Those being quite a bit rarer than the gray morph, I was a little teed up. Luckily, shackbash had an extra chestnut fan he was willing to part with, so he sent one out to me. Shack, if you're reading this, thanks much, and the next one I shoot has your name on it!

So I once again had my skins and fans, but not being the handiest tool in the garage and not owning a router, I had to go looking for some help in getting some nice wood boards to mount to. Enter boilerguy. Boiler sent up a whole freakin' box of boards. They all looked really nice. I took a few, and mounted the skins and fans, ordered some engraved plates with the species common and scientific names, and now have a pretty neat looking final product. BG, there is an extra mount with your name on it, and shack, if you would prefer a pheasant, I've got one of those too. I tried to save the better specimens.

I'll once again be giving this a try this fall. It all sort of stemmed out of me wanting to have some grouse boards to put up at the family cabin smack dab in the middle of grouse country, but then it moved into some grouse work.

I don't pretend to be any expert on this, but it is pretty simple. Keep your grouse and cut out the fans and on pheasant work the skin off slowly with a good knife, but go SLOWLY! It gets tricky around the wings and legs. 50/50 salt and 20 mule team borax soap seems to work great on preservation...They've been in my garage all summer and I haven't seen any bugs in them, knock on wood. I have to worry about my dog more than the bugs

It was a good project to show what you can accomplish with a little help from some friends. Good luck to all the small gamers this fall, hope you get some birds and give a little DIY mounting a try.

The pheasant skin is free moving...once on a wall it will hang down straight

[charliepete]

Chise....in central Wisconsin the red's are a lot more prevalent than the gray's. It all depends where you are hunting I guess. Good luck on your project. I'm working on covering an entire wall of my garage in grouse fans. I only get 15 or so a season that are big enough and in decent enough shape to hang up, so I'll be at it a while.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Been waitin a long time to see these!!!!

Sharp lookin to say the least. Nice work, dude!!!!

[muc33]

Nice stuff!

[Shack]

Quote:

Shack, if you're reading this, thanks much, and the next one I shoot has your name on it!

Do not worry DC31~ It was pleasure and I glad it went to something other than hanging on the wall in my garage

I hope to get a couple more like that myself this fall

Looking very nice by the way!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Nice work Da Chise!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you do the full body skin mount of a pheasant?

Did you just salt it down afterwards?

[Scott M]

Just so there is no confusion, I'm using the word mount to describe putting the skins up on a plaque. I'm not actually creating a 3D, skin on form mount.

I usually start my cuts on the keel bone on the breast (the big bone that bisects the breast meat). I'll work down to the vent and up the neck to the head. You have to go slowly along the legs, back, and head. That is where you are most likely to rip the skin since it adjoins to bones in these places and not as much flesh. If you work slow enough, you can use your fingers and only occasionally need to use the knife.

Finish by salting down liberally. Sometimes a second rub of salt is good, especially if you have a bird with a lot of fat under the skin.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Thanks, man!

I think I'll give that a whirl this fall. It looks like a great way to display a bird!