These turkey fan mounting kit instructions are the way I’ve been assembling my mounts for years. I’m not a Taxidermist and do not represent myself as one. If you need professional taxidermist advice then you should contact one in your local area. Thanks.
ITEMS NEEDED
- Rubber gloves
- Sharp knife or razor
- 24” x 36” Styrofoam or cardboard sheet to pin parts
- Approximately 40-two inch nails
- Borax
- Degreaser or non-flammable liquid
- High temp hot glue gun
Standard
*NOTE Always submerge your parts to be mounted in a degreasing or non-flammable liquid solution for about 10 minutes. This is to preserve your mount parts so they will remain in good condition for the years to come.
Separate layers of tail feathers. Cut excess meat and fat from each layer of the tail but leave each layer intact (do not separate into individual feathers). Stretch out each fan into semi-circle using 2” nails to fasten in place.
Mix water and borax to make a paste. Apply the paste liberally to the base area of each fan and beard end. Let dry for approximately 2 weeks for curing purposes. When curing is complete, clean all excess, dried borax from all parts.
When stacking fantails, apply hot glue to the base of each fantail to ensure no movement occurs. When the glue is cool and dry, remove nails. Stack the fantails and secure them by using hot glue. Hot glue your tail into the mount insert making sure to center it and get it how you want it. Cut spurs and hot glue in place. Hot glue the beard in the hole provided.
Half
For your Half Mount, follow the standard mount procedure for processing fantail and beard. If you are displaying the legs on this mount, cut the legs and remove the tendons and as much as the inner material as possible. Soak legs in the degreasing or non-flammable liquid solution for 10 minutes. Make sure your legs are in the form that you want to display them. Apply borax liberally to legs and let sit for 2 weeks. Clean all borax from legs, paint (if preferred) and hot glue into the position desired on the plaque. Enjoy for years to come!
Full
For the full mount, follow the standard mount procedure for processing fantail and beard. The full mount includes wings so you will need to drill out wing bones and soak in the degreaser or non-flammable liquid solution for 10 minutes. When removing the wings from the solution, let drain out. To speed up the process you can use air pressure and or a hairdryer.
Fill areas with borax and pin wings to the desired position. Position the wings to the plaque and use the hot glue.
If you have any question please feel free to contact me. I’m here to help. Thanks.