preserving beards and tails

[xbhntr]

What product do you use to prevent rotting on the tail and beard ? Ray.

[wabi]

borax

[vixenmaster]

X2 wabi beat me here to answer

[Cossack]

x3. 20 Mule Team Borax. (laundry detergent) Just submerge the meaty part (after feathers are spread) in borax for several weeks and it will dry it out completely.
I also use it on deer skulls/antlers

[dutchhunter]

i clean them up as best i can and pin them out then cover all the meat with table salt let dry about 10 days i break the crust in the salt every two or three days and add fresh salt .i have done a dozen tails like this and never had a problem .i have two tails from 1992 that i done this way and thy ae still just like new DUTCH

[VixChix]

I did my tail last year and was very happy with how it turned out:

Here is a neat video showing the steps:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-mount ... ail-50870/

Also, here are some instructions I received on the Woman Hunter forum:

http://www.thewomanhunter.com/phpBB2/vi ... .php?t=413

the poster wrote:

As to your spurs... I usually cut the leg bone on either side of the spur and boil the spurs for 5 min. Then pull off the spur sheath and drop the bone and spur core back in boiling water for another 15 minutes. Take them out and dry them, then drop into some household peroxide (*!) for a week or so. Pull them out and they should be nice and white, just make sure you get all meat and membrane off during the boiling, or that part won't be as nice in the finished product. After a week or two, pull the spur bones out of the peroxide and lay in the sun a day or two. Then superglue (a drop or two will do) the sheaths back on the bone. Attach the spurs to your plaque on each side of the beard, or put them onto some leather lacing for display...

(*VixChix's NOTE: I would only paint on the peroxide and only on the bone, not on the spur!!! My spurs bleached and I had to recolour them. Also, I don't like the look of the scaly sheath so I didn't put it back on - I like the nice white bone look.)

And the tail--get off as much meat as possible or you will have problems with bugs down the road. For a fan for a decoy, I wouldn't worry about it. But for a fan mount, take the fan off the turkey, and cut off the feathers that hang down in the back. In the front you will only need the last 2 rows of feathers, unless you want more colors, then you can keep the last 3 rows instead. All depends on preferences... There is a tailbone that will have to be removed and lots of meat and greasy fat. The tailbone is attached mostly to the middle 2 quills of the primary feathers of the fan. Run a sharp knife on either side of it, in between the bone and quills, and work the bone out. After you remove the tail bone, cut between each individual quill and get out as much junk as you can. Then you can use a wire brush or wire wheel to remove the rest of the stuff. You may almost think the fan will fall apart... After getting off as much meat/fat as possible, wash your fan with Dawn dishwashing liquid and warm water. Wash once, rinse, change your water, and wash again. Then rinse, rinse, and rinse again. Make sure you get all the detergent out, or your feathers will not go back together properly. Take a blow dryer and dry your fan until all feathers and fluffy down are completely dry, then work borax up into all the quill ends. Lay the fan out in a nice "fan" and put more borax on the quill ends. Let dry a week or so, then shake off excess borax. Use bondo or hot glue on the quill ends to hold your fan together and attach to a plaque.

As to the beard, take off as much meat as you can, but don't cut the connective tissue that holds the hairs together. Put borax on the end of it too, and let it dry along with your fan.

[sits in trees]

can you use boraxo powdered hand soap??i'm pretty sure its the same stuff.

[trailcamguy]

If it contains borax it will work. Boric acid powder also works.

[xbhntr]

Thanks for the help and the extra information . Ray