My '06 Gobbler Wing Mount

Sweet!!!!!!!!!

LMAO! I never thought of the chalk as a salt lick but man, that gives me a great idea for my next deer mount! Turned head with an open mouth with its tongue out as if it were licking the chalk!!!

Dec, it wasn't that difficult at all. I cut the fan off, just to keep those feathers straight and nice while dealing with the cape, then you reattach it after the preserve process. A lot of guys will tell you to cut your wings off from the cape and then piece the two wings, cape, and tail together when you are finished but I figured I'd leave them attached so it's anatomically correct... For the wings you can either split the skin on the underside of the wing down to the wrist of the turkey, remove all the meat and marrow from the bone, then sew it back.......or I just rolled the skin back and separated the primary feathers from the bone. It took me about 2 hours to cape the whole thing out, but when you are done with the wings you just roll the skin back up the bones........no sewing needed. A lot of guys "rebuild" all the meat around the bones with cotton or batting material....but I didn't see the need on a mount like this. Anyway, after it's fleshed, hit it with a wire brush to break down any remaining fat, wash it in dawn several times, then a rinse with Downy or Snuggle fabric softener....then I soak mine in camp fuel (do this outside away from flames!) for 30 minutes to displace all the water and help degrease it. After the fuel soak, you blow dry it on warm heat (NOT hot) till fluffy again, then powder it with borax or dry preserve (my preference), pose and tack it to a sheet of OSB or plywood for it to dry a couple months. I then remove the hide, brush off the old borax, add fresh borax or DP, then I place batting material under the hide to hold the new borax from leaking out position on wood for final mounting, tuck the fan under the hide as if it wasn't seperated, tack it down with nails and you are done! The only $$$ I have in it was for the hanger for the wall, and a new pack of razor blades that I used when fleshing it out. I'm pretty sure the going rate for something like this at a taxidermist is $200 or better. Why pay when you can do it yourself??? Give it a try next year!

Go for it! If you are doing the cape, than the wings aren't that much more. I placed mine on cedar to add that much more protection against pests, but I have great confidence in borax or dry preserve. I wanted to "trim" the entire thing with wood, like what you wanted to do with the fabric......till I realized how large this thing is! I'd have to use lag screws to bolt it into the studs with a wood panel that large! LOL. One thing I did, that the pic doesn't reall show, is that the entire mount is "off" the wall by 3 inches... The wings have a natural cup to them, so if you try to stick it flat on the wall it wont look right.......so I attached wood on the backside of the cedar planks so it sticks out from the wall and lets the wings cup more naturally. You might keep that in mind if you try one next season. Drop me an e-mail and I can help ya if you get hung up along the way.

-Travis

I like your point about cupping the wings. Makes it look way more natural and gives it more depth.

I do that with my tail fans as well. Most guys mount them flat, but I force them to cup just slightly by using a 3/8" block at the base quills during the drying process. This forces the fan to cup backwards just a little, just like it is when a gobbler struts. I'll have to post up some pictures of my tail fans some time.

Now fall turkey season can't get here soon enough. I'm itching to do a mount similar to yours.

Excellent!

that is an awesome mount