After the shot

[Premier Turkey Calls]

I am interested in having a future bird mounted. I was looking for advice on what to do after the shot. I have heard to fill the beak and vent with paper towels and wrap the head with the paper towel and tuck the head under a wing. Anything else?

[Clovis67]

Get the bird up off the ground asap...preferably pick bird up by feet and this will prevent feather damage from flopping on ground.Minimal blood on feathers is what your trying to achieve.Most blood comes from head..so stuff beak with couple paper towels to absorb any blood.Then take a small ziplock bag and insert head into bag and seal bag up ..use a rubber and to seal off bag just below wattles.

[KYHeadhunter02]

Yep.. Don't let him flop on the ground.. Hold him down or pick him up. Had to have the breast feathers on mine replaced due to flopping.

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[GobbleNut]

First thing I would recommend is not shoot the bird with a choke and load that is going to blow up the head and neck (especially if you want to use the bird's actual head for your mount).  Shooting a bird in the head and neck with a tight choke and maximum load will result in damage to the neck area below the head that is difficult to repair.  Similarly, a head shot with same will ruin the head for use in your mount.  However, heads are interchangeable, so if you ruin your birds head, it can be replaced easily enough,...it just would not be YOUR birds head.  (Capes can be replaced, as well, so if you were to kill a gobbler with special characteristics,...such as multiple beards or fantastic spurs,...you could have a mount done using your beards/spurs but with a replacement cape if you wanted to go that route)

Secondly, as others have stated, if your bird is flopping after the shot, try to get to him as quickly as possible and either pin him down to the ground solidly, or grab the feet and hang on for dear life. If the bird is not flopping, don't touch him.  Grabbing an otherwise motionless gobbler will very often set off reflexive flopping.  Just be ready to grab a motionless bird if he starts flopping (that can happen for five minutes or more after a bird is down so don't pick him up too quickly and be ready,...again, pinning him down or grabbing the feet and holding him up). 

Pretty much every bird is going to lose some feathers in this process.  Some feather loss should be expected and losing small amounts of the less important feathers is no big deal.  However, pick up any tail feathers or primary wing feathers to take with you.  Most (if not all) taxidermists that do turkeys will have a supply of replacement feathers on hand to do repairs.

Minimizing blood on the feathers is a good idea, but it is not a deal breaker.  The taxidermy process involves a thorough washing and drying of the cape.  That process will remove the blood from the cape.

Between the shot and the taxidermist, just treat your bird gently.  Dragging him through the mud or briars will likely do damage that will be hard for even the best taxidermist to deal with.  The more of that that occurs before you get him to the taxidermist, the harder he will be to make look good.  Just be as careful with the bird as you can and you should be fine. Don't throw him in the back of your truck and drive around with him rolling about for a few hours,...just use common sense and protect him. 

If you are not going to be able to get him to a taxidermist right away (which is generally the case), if at all possible freeze your bird.  Place him in a trash bag or two, being careful with the feathers while doing so, and put him in a freezer.  If you cannot freeze your bird, you must keep him cold enough so that the cape does not start slipping and the feathers start falling out.  If that happens, you are screwed.  Depending on how cold you can keep a bird (without freezing), it should be delivered to your taxidermist within a few days.  If you can freeze it, it will keep for a few months (or longer),...which should be plenty of time to make your decision on who to use for mounting the bird. 

If you have to ship the bird to your taxidermist, make sure it is placed in waterproof packaging (sealed, heavy trash bags or equal) frozen solid when you ship, and make sure it is packed such that it will be protected and not jostle around in the box, and then ship by a method that will get the bird to your guy in no more than a day or two.  If you ship a bird that, for whatever reason, starts to thaw and the box starts leaking, the shipper will discard it and you will be out of luck.

Finally, one of the ways to make all of this easier is to learn to cape your birds yourself.  Dealing with a cape, both in freezing and shipping, is much easier than dealing with an entire bird, plus you get to eat the meat.  Caping is a pretty simple process.  Anybody can do it. 

[jims]

I really think what happens before the shot is just as important as after the shot!  Obviously if your tom is 15 yards and you shoot him in the head or body it will either mangle the head or body/tail feathers. One thing I would recommend is to make sure the tom is 30+ yards away so the pattern on the head isn't so tight that it messes up the head.  I'm not sure if I agree with the post above about not shooting in the head.  I've shot all of my toms in the head and had them freeze dried and haven't ever noticed pellet marks.  Most of my toms aren't point-blank distance when I've shot them so that helps.  It is fairly easy to find a replacement head but if you put a giant hole in the body or blow up the tail feathers you are somewhat screwed!   I ALWAYS make sure the toms head is up high away from his body and his tail feathers aren't directly behind his head when shooting....especially for close shots.  I can always tell in photos when a tom was shot with tail feathers behind the head when it was shot!  There are usually 4 or 5 tail feathers missing in the middle of the fan! 

Shot distance and placement is key for a great turkey mount!  Another consideration is passing up toms until you find one with the body, feathers, hooks, coloration, etc that will make a great mount.  If you shoot a tom with missing tail or other feathers there's not much that can be done!  Finding a tom that makes a fantastic mount may take time...but is well worth the effort!

[CtRider]

I ALWAYS make sure the toms head is up high away from his body and his tail feathers aren't directly behind his head when shooting....especially for close shots.  I can always tell in photos when a tom was shot with tail feathers behind the head when it was shot!  There are usually 4 or 5 tail feathers missing in the middle of the fan

Been there haha, arrow smashed his face and kept going right through his strutting fan

[aclawrence]

So I have been wondering, do most people that mount a bird sacrifice getting of the meat?  Are there any good video tutorials on how to break the bird down to get the breast meat and still get the bird mounted?


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[ChiefBubba]

So I have been wondering, do most people that mount a bird sacrifice getting of the meat?  Are there any good video tutorials on how to break the bird down to get the breast meat and still get the bird mounted?
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If you use a local Taxidermist they will probably save it for you if you ask. The bird I got mounted he saved it for me. Bubba

[Premier Turkey Calls]

So I have been wondering, do most people that mount a bird sacrifice getting of the meat?  Are there any good video tutorials on how to break the bird down to get the breast meat and still get the bird mounted?

https://youtu.be/T9Tjt0Ba6C0
https://youtu.be/EfLC5eFmQ7A
Watch these videos

[aclawrence]

Thanks for the videos. I will watch them today. Bubba do you freeze your birds with the guys in, then let your taxidermist break the  meat down for you when he thaws it out or do you take it to him right away?


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[eggshell]

I have one more tip. After you have stuffed the beak ,wrapped and bagged the head slip the whole turkey into a cheese  cloth meat bag ( like the ones that are used to put quarters of big game animals in)or cloth bag with some stretch, and pull taught.  It will keep the feathers pressed to the body and secure from damage from ruffling.

[Premier Turkey Calls]

Thanks for the videos. I will watch them today. Bubba do you freeze your birds with the guys in, then let your taxidermist break the  meat down for you when he thaws it out or do you take it to him right away?


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I would leave it to a taxidermist to do it though. Messy and time consuming

[ChiefBubba]

Thanks for the videos. I will watch them today. Bubba do you freeze your birds with the guys in, then let your taxidermist break the  meat down for you when he thaws it out or do you take it to him right away?


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I've only mounted one bird and put it on ice and delivered to Taxerdermist on the same day. Bubba