How Best to Handle a Bird for Full Body Mount?

[Turkeytider]

Guys, if I were fortunate enough to harvest a bird that was truly worthy ( big, super beard, great fan, etc.), I have no idea how to properly care for it before getting it to a taxidermist. Not like you can slip it into the above refrigerator freezer in the kitchen! Would someone be so kind as to tell me OR refer me to something I might read? Thanks much, and happy holidays!!

[eggshell]

I am no expert, but I did take a taxidermy course in college. Other than doing a few of my own birds I never done anything else with the knowledge. For what it is worth, here is my opinion:

Get a cheese cloth meat bag, like you would put quarters in or some stretchy material to put the bird in. Have plenty of paper towels and rap the head and neck with them to catch blood. Then slip the whole bird in the meat bag head first and keeping the feathers laid flat and natural. Then pull the bag tight over the bird and tie it off. After that carry him out in a vest or how ever you want. After typing this I thought of something. I used to carry a piece of panty hose to slip pheasants or other birds in to keep them in good shape. I bet something bigger like stretchy yoga pants would work just fine for a gobbler.

[Ctrize]

Eggshell covers most of it. Some guys suggest supporting the tail feathers with cardboard. Be sure to pull innards to start cooling If your taxidermist is close they can skin and still save the meat.

[Greg Massey]

First off after you kill it , get to it asap , and pray it doesn't flop a whole lot Why because the less feathers it loses the better off you are .. after that just wrap it with something to protect it the best you can and keep it cool and take it to you taxidermy. Most all taxidermy will tell you if it worthy of mounting.

[PalmettoRon]

You'll get some weird looks at the store, but buying an XL pair of panty hose and having them in your vest or truck works great at keeping the feathers from getting damaged. Slide the gobbler in the leg of your choice after you dab away any blood on the feathers and place some tissue in the mouth and around the head and neck. Tuck the head and neck under a wing and slide him in. That's worked well for me. PS: Inform the wife of your purchase. Here's hoping you get a super nice gobbler to try this on.

[GobbleNut]

Good info by others here.  My additional thoughts: 
>  Most birds will lose feathers when dispatched.  Some are relatively unimportant, some are more important.  Tail fan feathers and primary wing feathers, if they fall/break off, should be gathered up and kept.  You definitely want to avoid grabbing the bird such that a large clump of feathers are torn off (example: grabbing the bird by the neck).  A bird can lose quite a few random feathers while flopping around, but that generally will not be an issue.
>  Try not to crumple or break feathers and/or quills on your bird.  Just take a reasonable amount of care with it and it should be fine.  Folks probably worry too much about getting blood and dirt on the feathers.  Be as careful as you can, but the cape will be completely washed, cleaned, and dried in the mounting process so don't get stressed out if you get a little blood or dirt on your bird. 
>  Most people want to use a freeze-dried head in their mount nowadays.  If you are one of the guys that wants to blow the turkeys head off when they shoot it, you will most likely either have to use an artificial head or buy a freeze-dried head for your mount.  Moral of this story: if you are going to mount your turkey, consider using a more open choke so you don't annihilate the gobblers head and neck when you shoot it!  For me, the most difficult damage to fix in mounting a gobbler is having to deal with the feathered neck area below the head from someone shooting a bazooka at it.  Gobblers will die just as dead if you hit them a few times in the head neck area rather than putting a zillion shot in their noggin to satisfy your need for total destruction.
>  Do not let the turkey's cape spoil!  If you can't get the bird to your taxidermist right away, freeze it or otherwise keep it as cold as possible.  If you are going to be out in the woods for several days hunting, have an icebox with lots of ice handy to throw your gobbler in to keep it cold until you get back to civilization.  They will keep several days by doing that.  If that skin on the bird spoils, you are screwed. 

[eggshell]

Do not let the turkey's cape spoil

great catch Gobblennut. There is very little you can do with a spoiled cape (if it's green it gone). I used to grade fur auctions and it always pissed me off when people brought in spoiled hides and expected top dollar. One tug on those green hides and you had a had a hand full of slipped fur....no way to put it back. If you can pull a few feathers or hair out before tanning or washing it'll have a whole bunch of bald spots after. No fixing that. when you graded their fur they'd get mad at you for grading it low grade salvage. I even had a guy take a swing at me once. yeah he got a ride to the county. We always had off duty deputies working, too much money trading hands not too.