Wood duck mount - behind the scenes

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

So in had to mount a hen wood duck today and decided to take a few process photos to show what is involved.

 

Skin the bird, save the carcass for meaaurements.

Flesh the skin on a wire wheel...CAREFULLY! Puddle ducks are let wet toilet paper, and wood ducks are the worst! They rip very easily.

Wash/degrease the bird

Normally I remove the tails from pheasants. Not ducks. But this tail tore off during the wash process.. no big deal.

Tumble the skin to dry it in my homemade bird tumbler and corn cob grit.

Paint bill according to reference photos

Bird is dry enough

Wire the wings/legs/neck

Caulk the wing pockets

Sew it up

Install the artificial head

Install on base

Fan tail and install

Groom the feathers and tape the spacing in the proper place, then hang to dry.

 

Thanks for looking! It will be completed in a few weeks.

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

Edited January 25, 2017 by JerseyJaysTaxidermy

[nb6624]

Cool. Is it hard to skin withoutvripping the hide?

[NJSOG]

Nice very nice you do great work.

 

 

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[TK3333]

Lookin good. Interesting to see the process involved. Cant wait to see the finished product.

[Batsto]

Awesome!

[LPJR]

I heard that birds, especially ducks like that are one pain in the a%$. Lots of guys don't do them for that reason.

 

Great work, looks awesome Jay    

[gobblergetter]

Cool stuff

[Rusty]

Wow, that's so cool to see from start to finish.  Nice work Jay.       

[kmtpr]

Cool seeing the process!! :up:

[Merkel]

Great job, thanks for sharing

[NorthNJHunter]

Great info! 

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

Cool. Is it hard to skin withoutvripping the hide?

Certain areas tear very easy.. so I'm gonna say yes. They are hard to skin.

 

Most of the skinning process is done with my fingers.. (pushing, NOT pulling)

 

Fleshing the fat off the skin is the hardest part. You can easily tear or burn through the skin. If not fleshed and degreased properly the belly of the bird will catch all the grease and feathers eill turn yellow and sticky over time.

 

 

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[mazzgolf]

Really informative! When you look at the amount of time and labor and skill needed to do all those steps, its no wonder taxidermy costs as much as it does. Can I ask how long all of that took you from start to finish? And if it isn't confidential - how much is that duck mount gonna cost?

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

My duck mounts cost the hunters $325 + base / habitat + 7% NJ sales tax

 

This particular duck is mounted on a $35 driftwood base. (Most common, simplest, and cheapest option I offer)

 

Time differs from duck to duck pending how many pieces the duck is in after the fleshing wheel step lol. Just kidding

 

The steps in this photo process are about 5 hours of work. Still needs more work tho.

 

Feet need injected to stop shrinkage, legs need airbrushed, and final grooming of feathers can take hours of tweezering.

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[TDietz]

That is cool. Drake woodies are the prettiest bird on the planet