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Author Topic: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)  (Read 1129 times)

Offline VGJ5

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Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« on: May 10, 2012, 02:36:06 PM »
I've had this idea for a turkey mount stuck in my mind for quite a while, so I finally brought it to life.  I used the tail/skull from a turkey that my Mom killed this year and the feet/beard from a nice one she killed in 2005 that she wanted me to do something with before they fell apart.  I'm almost finished with it, so I'll go ahead and post pictures of its current state.  I still have to put some of the smaller feathers back on, straighten-out the main feathers, seal-up the bone parts, etc..  Let me know what y'all think . . .

Gaines

P.S.  I would appreciate any advice/tips anyone has on straightening turkey feathers (i.e. fixing little imperfections).  My current best method is spit and two fingers,  ;D.



« Last Edit: May 10, 2012, 02:38:55 PM by VGJ5 »
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Offline VGJ5

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2012, 03:15:27 PM »
Here are a couple kill-photos from the 2012 one.  She said he really landed and stayed like this; feet straight up in the air like a cartoon. 

The hunt was the opposite of most of my grueling turkey battles.  She was up at our farm, woke up and put her camo on, but decided not to go because it was so foggy.  So she's out feeding the animals (still in camo, though) when my uncle calls at about 7:00.  He had been hunting down in the swamp (different area) and said he had to leave a gobbling bird to drive back to Mobile for a work thing, but that she should get out there.  She obliged, grabbed her gun, and headed to the woods (about a 3 minute drive).  She likes to drive-in past the gate farther than I'm comfortable with, but I have a messed up shoulder/back, instead of a knee/foot issue, so I understand.  So . . . she parks in her spot behind the pines, right in front of one food plot, facing the power company's easement that runs straight through the property.  She walks down the road, and right on the other side of that easement she hears a bird gobbling CLOSE behind a different food plot/tree house.  She said it was so thick once she got in the woods that she just had to jump down and hope he was willing to come in close (a mistake I made at least twice this season: busting a gobbling bird by trying to find a last minute 'better' spot).  The bird apparently liked her calling because he came running to her, and she called me with a kill before 7:30! 



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"Turkey hunting is a series of instant tactical decisions that are invariably irreversible." - Tom Kelly

Offline TRKYHTR

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2012, 10:03:44 PM »
Nice. Real nice.

TRKYHTR
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Offline AlabamaDave

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2012, 07:50:17 AM »
Very nice display!...Congrats to your mom!..That turkey had some long hooks!
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Offline charlieparrish

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2012, 08:39:09 AM »
Not bad...and you ought to frame that picture of your Mom with the turkey and put it on the wall right next to it *cheers*
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Charlie

Offline FullFanCustomCalls

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2012, 09:00:38 AM »
 *cool*  great idea. Looks nice.
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Mike
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“You don’t hunt turkeys beacuse you want to, you hunt turkeys because you have to.” Colonel Tom Kelly

SurroundedByOutlaws

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2012, 03:10:21 PM »
Cool mount   *up*
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Offline VGJ5

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2012, 11:08:31 AM »
Here are some pics of the finished product . . .





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Offline AlabamaDave

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2012, 10:00:32 PM »
I didnt notice it in the first pics but...Did you skin them legs and feet?...If so...How did you do that?...Ive never seen that before!
Looks kinda cool too!
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Offline VGJ5

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2012, 09:12:04 AM »
Quote from: AlabamaDave on May 12, 2012, 10:00:32 PM
I didnt notice it in the first pics but...Did you skin them legs and feet?...If so...How did you do that?...Ive never seen that before!
Looks kinda cool too!

Yeah Dave, I wrapped the spurs in green tape and soaked the legs in Borax/water for a while, along with the 2012 skull.  They were extremely dried-out (being from 2005), so I would slice a little bit off then soak them again.  The slice-resistant filet glove I picked up probably saved me a few fingers,  ;D.  I used a whitening paste on both the legs and skull, but it had pretty much no effect on those old yellow legs, as you can see in the pictures.  Oh, I did have to reattach all the digits, though.

Also, did anyone notice the pellet on the skull in the final pictures?  I glued that pellet exactly where I found it when fleshing-out the head.  There's a little groove on the skull behind the pellet.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2012, 09:15:11 AM by VGJ5 »
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Offline dublelung

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #10 on: June 05, 2012, 01:25:24 PM »
 *cool* Now I really like that!  *up*
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drenalinld

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #11 on: June 05, 2012, 03:54:04 PM »
A little hair spray gel on the feathers before the two finger method works for me.

Those are some nice hooks!! Cool idea
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Offline ncturkey

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #12 on: June 05, 2012, 08:54:03 PM »
Cool mount. I have never seen one like that before. The fan is perfect. You did well.
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Wingboneman

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #13 on: June 05, 2012, 08:58:09 PM »
I like that  *up* *up*
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Offline triune

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Re: Skull and Cross-Bones Turkey Mount (Mother's Day present)
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2012, 10:37:34 PM »
Once you flesh out the tail, wash it in luke warm water with Dawn, let soak then rinse well.  Pat with towel and them blow dry.  Your tail will come out looking fresh.  You can really degrease and bug proof by soaking in gas before the wash.  But for a tail mount, I wouldn't go through the risk or trouble.
Nice looking job on the mount.
Kenny
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