So by the time duck season ends, which is just a few short weeks away, you will have spent countless hours before season training your retriever, fixing up old decoys, practicing your calling skills, getting your duck boat ready and working on duck blinds.
Since opening day you have set the alarm clock for 2 or 3 in the morning on most weekends, and have been hard at hunting for months on end. You have swatted mosquitoes, sloshed through the mud, nearly frozen to death, endured chapped lips and dry cracked hands. At some point you were so tired you could barely hold your eyes open, but you pressed on! You have been a trooper even when there were few ducks in the area. If you are like me then you probably had a hit list of ducks you would have liked to bag this season.
Let’s assume that this season brought with it an opportunity to shoot that treasured duck that you were hoping to put on the wall as a constant reminder of a great hunt.
Your lab made a great retrieve and you now have in your hand a flawless specimen of your dream duck and he is in full plumage. What should you do to assure that you end up with a great mount? I have asked my longtime friend and taxidermist Lee Smith, of Gulf Star Taxidermy, for advice in preparing your duck for the taxidermist. Below is what he had to say:
As a taxidermist, I have seen birds brought in to mount in all kinds of packaging from newspaper to frozen solid in a block of ice. No kidding. I had to let the ice melt to get to the birds. Here are a few tips on how it will make life easier on your taxidermist and provide you with a better mount:
- Make sure to wipe off any blood or mud from the feathers.
- Do not ring the birds neck if it is not dead. A knife under the breast bone or squeezing the bird to suffocate is best.
- Do not hang from neck on a strap.
- Get bird to taxidermist ASAP. Do not let sit in freezer for years. I have mounted a 4-year-old bird but it was a pain in the you know what.
- Place bird in a freezer bag with wet paper towels wrapped around feet and bill to prevent freezer burn. Do not wrap in newspaper. For large birds like geese double wrap in garbage bag.
- Try not to bring young birds in or birds with broken wings or shot up. Broken wings can be fixed if not too bad and feet can be substituted with feet of like species.
- Try not to mount early season birds. They are sometimes full of pin feathers and not fully colored. Late season birds make a better mount.
- Expect to pay 50 percent down upon drop off and make sure you have your hunting license on you. Also try to have an idea of how you want bird mounted.
- Also when you get the bird home make sure to hang in a climate controlled area. I have seen many mounts get ruined from humidity from hanging in the garage, shop, or camp with no air conditioning. Also do not hang close to heat source.
- Dusting the mounted bird or blowing off with shop vac is fine. Nothing wet on the feathers.
Follow these tips and you will have a much better mount and a happier taxidermist!
By putting this sound advice to work you should be able to end up with a great mount to hopefully add to your growing collection! If you still haven’t bagged your target duck, don’t give up; there are still a few weeks left! Stick with it until the bitter end! Shoot straight and happy hunting!
•
Brian Johnson, originally of Port Neches, is pastor of the Outdoorsman’s Church in Winnie, owner of DuckDogTrainer.com and outdoors writer for The News.
