How to smooth out tail feathers?

[Mossberg90MN]

Doing my first mount. Tail feathers were a little beat up, is there a way to smooth them out? Somewhat restore them? Or it just is what it is?


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[Vintage]

I use a hair dryer to dry them out and steam the ends, Seem's to work for me.

[Timmer]

I put the turkeys in a cooler with ice for the several hour trip back home.  Often I don't go home until the day after I got the bird.  The tail feathers end up looking terrible.  Based on tips and tricks I've read about, here is what I do, using a large cork message board:


1.  Pin the bottom of the tail to the cork board
2.  Fan the tail out and place a pin below each feather to the board to keep them fanned out
3.  Use a toothbrush and blow dryer to smooth out each feather as best as possible
4.  Wait a couple of days for it to dry and take shape
5.  Decide it looks like crap and throw it out
6.  Promise myself that next year I'm going to cut the tail off and bring it home dry and neat
7.  Forget last year's promise, repeat steps

[Tail Feathers]

Well, you could buy me a bourbon and we could sit around a campfire and just visit.  I'm usually a mellow fellow so it should t be hard to smooth me out.   

[SteelCityArcher]

I put the turkeys in a cooler with ice for the several hour trip back home.  Often I don't go home until the day after I got the bird.  The tail feathers end up looking terrible.  Based on tips and tricks I've read about, here is what I do, using a large cork message board:


1.  Pin the bottom of the tail to the cork board
2.  Fan the tail out and place a pin below each feather to the board to keep them fanned out
3.  Use a toothbrush and blow dryer to smooth out each feather as best as possible
4.  Wait a couple of days for it to dry and take shape
5.  Decide it looks like crap and throw it out
6.  Promise myself that next year I'm going to cut the tail off and bring it home dry and neat
7.  Forget last year's promise, repeat steps

Love the humor. Thanks for that!

[MK M GOBL]

Those feathers are really tough, how "bad" are we talking? I have been able to "fix" them up.


MK M GOBL

[RutnNStrutn]

I put the turkeys in a cooler with ice for the several hour trip back home.  Often I don't go home until the day after I got the bird.  The tail feathers end up looking terrible.  Based on tips and tricks I've read about, here is what I do, using a large cork message board:


1.  Pin the bottom of the tail to the cork board
2.  Fan the tail out and place a pin below each feather to the board to keep them fanned out
3.  Use a toothbrush and blow dryer to smooth out each feather as best as possible
4.  Wait a couple of days for it to dry and take shape
5.  Decide it looks like crap and throw it out
6.  Promise myself that next year I'm going to cut the tail off and bring it home dry and neat
7.  Forget last year's promise, repeat steps

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[RutnNStrutn]

Well, you could buy me a bourbon and we could sit around a campfire and just visit.  I'm usually a mellow fellow so it should t be hard to smooth me out.   

ROFL!!!

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[GobbleNut]

Doing my first mount. Tail feathers were a little beat up, is there a way to smooth them out? Somewhat restore them? Or it just is what it is?

If you can't get it looking the way you want it to, just wash the fan in water with a mild detergent like Dawn dish soap, rinse it thoroughly in clean water, and then blow-dry it with a hair dryer.  Unless you have really destroyed the feathers somehow, that should bring it back to life. 

[Mossberg90MN]

It's not really bad, I was just wondering if it's possible to smooth them out a little more.


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