Turkey Fan Question. An Update.

[DonBo]

I pulled a couple turkey tails out of the freezer so I could do fan mounts of them. They have been in there a few years and now the meaty part that holds the feathers seem to be freeze dried. I can not fan out the tail.

Do you think I can just soak the meaty part in water to soften them up? Any other ideas? Anyone else had to deal with this before?

[Lund79]

I pulled 1 out from this spring and the prior years bird earlier this winter. I also had a little freeze dried section on the latter tail. Let the tail thaw out and then you will be able to work with it. A little trimming will need to be done anyway which should take a good portion of the dried section off. Mine turned out great.

[sticknstring]

If it's completely thawed out and you're still unable to spread out the quills with all the meat removed, then you could get a piece of foam, (craft store)and shave it into the shape you want it and manually stick each quill in and make a fan that way. It's actually not a bad way to since you have zero chance of bugs and don't get the borax/salt mess. I just threw two fans in the garbage bin that were sitting in the garage, a mouse must've got in and decided to have a few snacks...

I think my next display will just be a piece of bark wrapped in a cone and then just fill it up with turk, pheasant, grouse, etc feathers. They look pretty nice. One Eastern and one Merriam on the wall is plenty.

[DonBo]

It is certainly completely thawed. I'd rather not cut this one apart if possible, it's from a 5-bearded trophy bird. I'm gonna try soaking it and see what happenes, a little water sure can't hurt the feathers.

[bluehat28]

Donbo put a little borax in the water it might keep the flesh from rotting.

[Sturg]

I would pluck the feathers, clean the shafts with a brass wire wheel on your drill. Pluck them one at a time and lay the fan out as you go. I put them on a piece of tag board with a horizontal line drawn across the board. I also run a line perpendicular to the horizontal line at the horizontal line's midpoint. I use the lines to align the tail feathers. I staple a sandwich baggie centered over the intersection of the lines. I cutout a piece of window screen the actual size of the fleshy area of the tail section holding the tail feathers and lay that over the plastic baggie and staple it in place. This way you can balance the tail feathers equa distant at the intersection. Once they feathers are arranged, I drizzle Gorilla glue between the feather shafts just over the screen. The glue will be hard in 20 minutes and you will have a perfect fan. Sounds complicated but it is not, and the results are outstanding.

[Shoot2Kill]

I would pluck the feathers, clean the shafts with a brass wire wheel on your drill. Pluck them one at a time and lay the fan out as you go. I put them on a piece of tag board with a horizontal line drawn across the board. I also run a line perpendicular to the horizontal line at the horizontal line's midpoint. I use the lines to align the tail feathers. I staple a sandwich baggie centered over the intersection of the lines. I cutout a piece of window screen the actual size of the fleshy area of the tail section holding the tail feathers and lay that over the plastic baggie and staple it in place. This way you can balance the tail feathers equa distant at the intersection. Once they feathers are arranged, I drizzle Gorilla glue between the feather shafts just over the screen. The glue will be hard in 20 minutes and you will have a perfect fan. Sounds complicated but it is not, and the results are outstanding.

That's a great idea!

[DonBo]

I soaked the ends of the fans in water over the weekend and it loosened up the quils just fine. I'm on my way to a nice mount.

Sturg's idea sounds interesting.....

[Nightcrawler]

Don Bo IF you get another turkey this year take care of it right away.

I use an old cork board for pining down tail. NC.

[DonBo]

Don Bo IF you get another turkey this year take care of it right away.

I use an old cork board for pining down tail. NC.

Great advice, and I know better, but I AM a lifetime member of the procrastinaters club.

[DonBo]

Here's the finished product:

Complete with FIVE beards!

A buddy made the plaque for me, just for this once-in-a-lifetime trophy.

[sticknstring]

Get those spurs on the plaque and that'll be one fine display - nice bird!

[Hoyt4]

Great advice, and I know better, but I AM a lifetime member of the procrastinaters club.

[sticknstring]

Make sure to save 1 or 2 fans for a DSD strutter decoy. I wish I had one on order.

[Code-Man]

Nice job! Looks pretty good for doing yourself! Wish I had talent like that! I still screw up Stick Man drawings and wouldn't even attempt to tackle a turkey fan!

[DonBo]

Make sure to save 1 or 2 fans for a DSD strutter decoy. I wish I had one on order.

Yikes! For $200, I'll probably just stick with my B-Mobile for a while. BTW, I do have a couple different fans for the "B", but I'm hoping the jake fan taken this fall will be the ticket.

[sticknstring]

Yeah, I won't be getting one anytime soon either. Pry a good thing, I'd wake up from a nap and get whiplash seeing that thing out in front of the blind. Best looking dekes on the market though.

I love the texture on that plaque - it would be a great surface to hang a skull mount on as well. Your buddy should start selling those!

[DonBo]

Nap in the blind? Who naps while turkey hunting?

[sticknstring]

After I've been in there for 6-8 hours with the sun up high and 2-3 sandwiches in my belly... I "pretend" to take a nap so the birds feel safe coming in. Works every time.

[engfish]

At my age I don't even need to eat before I fall asleep. All I need is a little fresh air and two mornings of 4 AM wake up times. ZZZZzzzzzzz.

The tail mount is a beauty, Donbo. Maybe you ought to start up your own little cottage industry?!?

[mrklean]

If i get a bird this year how should i cut the rear section off to do a fan mount?

[DonBo]

If i get a bird this year how should i cut the rear section off to do a fan mount?

If you grab hold of the base of the tail, you will feel where the entire tail section joints with the body. It will easily seperate with a knife. Then you just need to fillet as much of the meat away from the UNDERSIDE of the tail, leaving all the feathers on the topside. Be sure to leave enough of the tissue that holds the quills together.

You then may want to remove and save a section of the shorter tail feathers from the topside and again remove as much of the meat as possible. The saved feathers can be hotglued back in place later when you mount the tail. You'll see how easy it is when you have that "bird in the hand".

There are great tips on how to mount one on the NWTF HSOforum.

Maybe, if I shoot one in Kansas, I'll post a photo spread on how it's done, start to finish.

[mrklean]

What day are you heading down to Kansas Don? My buddy and i are going down for opener this year

[DonBo]

What day are you heading down to Kansas Don? My buddy and i are going down for opener this year

A little later, we'll be hunting April 10-12.

[bety0108]

I am a first year turkey hunter and am wondering what everyone uses for calls? I hear slate calls, but what brand? i saw glass, aluminum, the reg grey slate....? idk is the $75 one better than the $25 someone said he likes the cheeper primos ones. thanks