Do it yourself Turkey tail.
Contributors to this thread:Turkey
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
If you do your own turkey tails make sure they are clean. A clean Turkey tail will have no meat or fat on it. It should also be washed and properly degreased. If you don't take the steps to clean it and just put borax on it you run the risk of bugs.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
A good way to clean the tail is with a wire brush. You can put the wire brush in a drill and lock it in a vise.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
Lightly run the quills across the brush and it should pull all the meat and fat off the quill.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
You can see from this picture all the fat it pulls off the skin.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
A lot of food for bugs if you don't get it off. This was off one tail.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
From: Tody
22-Jun-16
I wish this was posted two months ago. Great idea on cleaning the tail. I'm interested to see the rest so I can do one next year.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
After they are clean I wash, degrease, blow dry, and position. Hope this helps out for those looking to do their own tails. Get them clean!!!
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From: Charlie Rehor
22-Jun-16
Turkeys are a big problem for trophy rooms when not done properly! How many of you honestly knew how important it is to do this? Not me! Bugs get in the turkey tail fat and the next thing you know they could get in your other mounts. Dennis' motto on his website is "attention to detail"! Amen to that! Thanks for posting.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
Here is a picture of the back of the tail when complete. I used bondo to hold the tail in place.
From: Dennis Razza
22-Jun-16
From: t-roy
22-Jun-16
Very nice Dennis!
Is there a video of this process as well?
From: JohnB
23-Jun-16
Thanks Dennis I know I have never got them that clean.
From: smarba
23-Jun-16
I too have never gotten them that clean. And have the bug chewings to prove it!
From: writer
26-Jun-16
Never went to that much trouble, but did the best I could and really packed it with borax.
Must have gotten lucky.
Had quite a few from the mid to late 90s, and even my first from 1980.
Have used Bondo before, when making fan decoys.
Thanks for taking the time to show the detailed photos.
From: jims
29-Jun-16
Nice summary! There certainly is a lot of junk to clean off turkey tails! Borax does a great job of keeping bugs off tails and beards. Bondo is quick and easy for setting the feathers.