So you've done your homework, found some birds, setup the spread, and then........FINALLY, you've taken that trophy bird.
Now what? There are a couple of things that you can do now to help insure that your taxidermist has the best chance of getting your trophy back to you in the best possible shape. If you'll follow a couple of simple steps,not only will you be your taxidermists favorite customer, but your mounts will be the best they can be. Most taxidermists have a list of suggested practices on their website, you can always check there to see what your taxidermist prefers. Most however say pretty much the same thing. Here a few of the tips that I've found to be preferred by most professionals.
If at all possible retrieve potential trophies yourself. Dogs can be the greatest tool in the world for conservation, but they have a tendency to be hard on feathers. Even the softest mouthed dogs can inadvertently break, damage or remove feathers. That's not to say every bird retrieved by your dog is a total loss, or even a loss at all. Just be aware and get the bird from your dog before they have a chance to shake, or drop the bird and reposition it in their mouth. I have found that taking the bird from your dog while, it's still in the water helps.
Carry trophies by the feet. Never put a potential trophy on a neck strap! If at all possible get the bird wrapped up and placed in a gear bag or something similar (more on this later, so keep reading) so that it won't get damaged, bled on, or soiled by other birds. If a game strap is the only option, hang it by a foot, or both feet if possible.
If the bird is still alive, DO NOT wring it's neck. This will damage and remove feathers, and certainly compromise the final product. There are a couple of different ways to dispatch cripples humanely, and without damaging the bird. The best way I have found is to lay the bird on its stomach on something clean and hard, like a boat bench or solid ground. Kneel on the bird with your knee directly between the birds wings. You'll hear a "pop". This will break the birds back and quickly collapse the lungs. If done correctly the bird will be dead in a matter of seconds. Another way, doing essentially the same thing, is to squeeze the bird with your fingers, directly under the wings in what would be the birds "armpits". This is far less effective on large birds, takes more time and a considerable amount of effort, it is however incredibly effective on smaller birds like teal or bufflehead, where kneeling on them may cause more damage than good . Using either of the above methods does not damage any feathers and dispatches the bird quickly.
Once you have the bird out of the field, you 'll need to get it cooled off and frozen as quickly as possible. If it is still warm outside, I will put the bird unwrapped in the freezer for an hour max. to help remove as much heat from the body as possible. When wrapping birds for storage remember, air is the enemy. Air will dry the bird out, and you want to avoid this. Two things you definitely DO NOT want to wrap your birds in are, pantyhose, and/or newspaper. Pantyhose will do double duty to destroy your trophy. Allowing air to reach the bird, and snagging and tearing feather as well. Newspaper will actually absorb moisture and expedite the drying out process.
The best method I have found, and the one preferred by my taxidermist's is this-
Once the bird has cooled off, remove as much blood and soil as you can (this will be removed by the taxidermist later, but any you can get off now will help). Wrap the birds head and feet in wet paper towels. I like to soak three sheets in water, wring them out and mate each sheet with a dry one. Wrap the head and each foot with a pair of towels, wet side on the bird. Then tuck the wrapped head under a wing, this helps prevent possible damage to the neck or head, while in the freezer. Then place the bird in a plastic garbage sack (for ducks I like the 13 gallon white kind, but most anything will work). I like to start at the back of the bird and squeeze as much of the air out as possible, working my way to the front. Once I reach the front of the bird, I twist the top of the bag, similar to re-wrapping a loaf of bread. After twisting the bag around five or six times, I fold the remainder of the bag back over the bird, and repeat, until I run out of bag. Once I've run out of bag, I use duct tape to seal the bag and keep it wrapped tight. For bigger birds like geese or swans I just use the bigger black bags. Zip-lock or zipper freezer bags work too, just be sure to get as much air out as possible, as straw used to suck the air out can help. I like to use a magic marker to label my birds, once they've been wrapped so that I can easily identify them, without having to unwrap them. I label each bag with, species, sex, date and place taken, and anything else I might want to remember about that bird, or the hunt. I have never had the pleasure, but this could be useful, should you ever have your freezer checked by the fish and game department.
Wrapped like this birds can last for a year or so. However it's always best to get birds to your taxidermist as fast as possible. That way they can assess the bird, and get it properly wrapped and stored.
A little bit of care in the field can go a long way to getting you the best possible mount. In as much as I am always on the look out for trophy birds, I have one pocket of my gear bag designated as my "trophy kit". The kit is simply a collection of paper towels and plastic grocery sacks. I use one of the bags to wrap a dozen or so paper towels in, to help prevent them from getting wet, then I simply put that bag, into the others as I accumulate them. Generally these are the bags I get when I purchase blind "goodies", and other essentials, like Mt. Dew. Toilet paper can be substituted for paper towels, for those of you that are even more utilitarian than me. I use the paper towels to wipe down any badly soiled birds, and I also place a little bit in their mouth to help soak up any blood that may drain out. Then, after I let the bird cool down for a little bit, in a safe place, I wrap it up in a bag and put it in my gear bag for safe transport. Remember however to keep it accessible, in the event you are asked to produce the bird for a bag check.
Happy collecting!
Later,
Kev
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