Turkey mount

[bchilde]

Headed to Wyoming from Kentucky hunting with Trophy Ridge Outfitters. We will be flying out there. Our hunt starts on a Monday and ends Wednesday but we wanted to drive around and see the country while we're out there. My question is what do you do if you kill a turkey and your wanting it mounted? Do I get the outfitter to freeze it then ship it home? Any advise would be appreciated. If we all kill Monday and we don't fly back home until Friday I didn't know what we could do with the turkey.

[Tom007]

First thing is don't gut the bird. Blot up any blood with paper towel. Wipe off any excess blood of feathers. Put baggy over head, just to waddle, so blood does not run all over. Put "dry" turkey carefully into kitchen size garbage bag making sure feathers are laying down nice. Seal bag, put in freezer. Ship to taxidermist on dry ice if you take care of it yourself. I would talk with your outfitter first to see their options. Best of luck....

[Shoreguy]

Upper Bay Taxidermy has some vidoes on this exact situation.  Mike can explain how to treat your bird bettter than I can.  Here is a link to his website and vidoes. http://upperbaytaxidermy.com/PREPERATION.html

[Tom007]

Upper Bay Taxidermy has some vidoes on this exact situation.  Mike can explain how to treat your bird bettter than I can.  Here is a link to his website and vidoes. http://upperbaytaxidermy.com/PREPERATION.html

This is great info, thx

[Goblen]

Dave posted this video on this question.
https://youtu.be/BOqWkjTdyr0

[Tom007]

Upper Bay Taxidermy has some vidoes on this exact situation.  Mike can explain how to treat your bird bettter than I can.  Here is a link to his website and vidoes. http://upperbaytaxidermy.com/PREPERATION.html

That's even better advice, good call..

[Tom007]

Dave posted this video on this question.
https://youtu.be/BOqWkjTdyr0

Great advice too, I am sure he did this once or twice.....lol

[Southerngobbler]

Talk to your taxidermist and see what they recommend. I had one once that allowed me to breast out the turkey; he showed me where and how long of an incision to make before I froze it which really helped with space and I got to eat the breast. Now I wouldn't recommend this for most people, only if you have some degree of taxidermy knowledge and are comfortable with it. It could also dependent on the pose your after. Otherwise dry ice and a cooler will work fine. Maybe your outfitter can freeze it for you till its time to leave. Regular ice is not advisable due to the water.

[bchilde]

Thank you all for your help. Good luck this season

[Tom007]

Thank you all for your help. Good luck this season

Same to you, bring back a big one.....be safe

[GobbleNut]

This question seems to come up every year before the spring season.  I will just say that caping out a turkey ain't rocket science guys and gals.  It is relatively easy to learn to do it.  I would make the suggestion that learning to cape out the bird in one whole piece rather than cutting it up into multiple pieces like some of the videos show is a good idea, too.  It isn't that hard, and depending on who is mounting the turkey and the process they use, it could make a difference to them. 

Once you have learned to cape out your birds, you will find that any concerns you had about keeping them in condition for mounting them, transporting them, and/or taking care of the meat will be eliminated.