SKINNING, FLESHING & MOUNTING A TURKEY - GOBBLE STRUT
by Second 2 Nature Taxidermy Supply with Tab Hinton 2½ Hrs
Tab starts skinning the turkey with a breast incision, inverts the legs and inverts half of the wing followed by an incision under the wing to skin out the other half. The bird is cleaned and degreased on a wire wheel, then washed in soapy water, coleman fuel and air dried. Dry Preservative is applied before placing in the tumbler. The final step is blowing off with an air compressor, then drying with a blow dryer. He removes the leg tendons, inserts the leg wires and rebuilds the drumsticks. He inserts wing wires and rebuilds the wings. The tail fan is set in place with bondo. He builds a wrap body starting with a roughly shaped chunk of foam. He inserts the wrap body into the skin and fills out with poly fill. The mount is then placed onto a limb. The freeze dried head is painted and attached to the body. BONUS MATERIAL: Skin preparation for mounting a turkey shoulder.
