Preserving turkey feet with injectables

[jtoliver43]

interesting. if you look close it appears that the bands caused slight deformities in each of the spurs they sit on top of. Guess that makes sense. What sort of information is the DNR looking for with harvested banded birds?

[duxrus]

If you dont inject them with something like Masters Blend they will shrink and look shriveled up within a few months. They will also need a wash of paint or they will fade over time and look even worse. You can use an epoxy to make the cut end nice and smooth along with attaching hangers if wanted. I charge 25$ to preserve a pair of legs in any position. No sense in saving trophy legs if you arent going to do it the right way. I would just tell your taxidermist to do them and spend a little extra money to get something to be proud to display. IMO

[deerhunt1988]

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to give it a go this weekend.

interesting. if you look close it appears that the bands caused slight deformities in each of the spurs they sit on top of. Guess that makes sense. What sort of information is the DNR looking for with harvested banded birds?

The band had worn a good bit on the spur of the first one.



And this bird had only worn it about 2.5 months. There was no noticeable spur wear on the second one who had the band on for 26 months.

Both birds were also wearing transmitters that had VHF and GPS capabilities. I actually had a 'hunter' GPS on me when I killed the first one. The study is tracking year-round gobbler movements and the effects of hunting pressure on turkey movement. More hens than gobblers are banded/radioed for this study as a major focal point is habitat selection by hens.

[deerhunt1988]

I hope you found someone that is good at mounting turkeys.  I've seen plenty of birds on this site alone that guys were quite proud of, but they weren't even close to what I'd consider a quality turkey mount.

I'm assuming that you were able to get info about the birds from the bands.  How old did both birds turn out to be?

He is fantastic at mounting turkeys. I've always said if I ever mounted another, it'd be a hanging dead mount. Couldn't have harvested a more perfect gobbler for it!

The first one was likely 3. Banded this January. Had slightly over 1" spurs. The second one was banded in January 2014 and had 1" spurs at the time. This spring he was sporting 1 1/4" and slightly under 1 3/8". So he was at least 4, quite possibly 5.